BEL expects new orders worth Rs 5,000 cr by March

Defence electronics firm Bharat Electronics today said that it expects to bag orders valued at Rs 5,000 crore, including a contract for six squadrons of Akash missile system worth Rs 3,500 crore, by March.

The company expects to secure a contract, worth Rs 700 crore to Rs 800 crore, next month for delivery of coastal surveillance system in the first phase, he said.

"The coastal surveillance system is very crucial to the country's security," BEL Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Kumar Datt he said.

Sources in the Bangalore-headquartered firm, under the Ministry of Defence, said under this contract for Coastguard, surveillance stations would come up in 46 locations in sensitive areas along the coast-line in the first phase. BEL would supply the surveillance system, consisting of radars, electro-optic sensors and command and control systems.

Datt said the company's current order book position is to the tune of around Rs 12,000 crore.

By March next year, BEL hopes to pick up orders of at least Rs 5,000 crore more, he added.