Shonkh Tech eyes Rs 1500 crore turnover

End-to-end IT solutions provider Shonkh Technologies International Ltd, which has focussed on government sector, is eyeing a turnover of over Rs 1,500 crore by the end of the next five years.

Of the five states that have introduced smart optical card vehicle registration books in their transport systems, Shonkh Technologies has bagged orders from three states.

Besides working with state governments in providing smart optical card registration books, Shonkh Technologies has also set up two high security registration plate (HSRP) manufacturing units and hopes to take the lead, when these registration plates are made mandatory. The Union government had earlier set January 1, 2004, as the deadline for implementing HSRP, but this has been extended further.

"Shonkh Technologies registered a turnover of about Rs 180 crore in the past fiscal and we aim to achieve this number in the present fiscal too. However, with orders worth Rs 1,500 crore already given to the company to be implemented in four states over the next five years, our turnover is expected to see a big jump," said Navnit Gulati, chief operating officer of Shonkh Technologies.

Besides Gujarat, where Shonkh has already issued over 1.85 lakh smart optical card vehicle registration books, the company has bagged such a contract for Maharashtra and Delhi too.

Gulati said that Shonkh is the only company that offers 1.5 MB optical memory on the smart optical card registration books, while the central government has specified that such cards must have a minimum storage capacity of 4 KB.

In all the states, the contract bagged is on a built operate own transfer basis, where the state government does not spend any amount on the project.

"Our projection is that we will issue at least 10 lakh smart cards every year. The contract with the Gujarat government, awarded in August 2001, is for a period of 15 years or for issuing of 60 lakh cards, whichever is achieved earlier.

In Maharashtra, the contract is for issuing one crore smart optical cards and the implementation is likely to begin in February. In Delhi too, the contract is for five years wherein 40 lakh cards have to be issued.

"We earn money from charging as low as Rs 200 for two wheelers, Rs 400 for four wheelers and Rs 600 for commercial vehicles. All infrastructure and other costs are borne by us," said Gulati.

He added that besides being convenient to carry, smart optical cards have all data of the vehicle, including the picture of the owner, the tax status and other details.

Other states that have already begun the process of introducing smart optical cards for vehicle registration are Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Jharkhand and West Bengal.