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HAL to invest about Rs 17,500 crore over 5 to 6 years

Company said it has contributed over Rs 5,000 crore to govt exchequer through buyback option.

Bengaluru: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd today said its overall investment over the next five to six years is expected to be about Rs 17,500 crore, and it may go for loans from banks soon to fund its projects.

The company also said it has contributed over Rs 5000 crore to the government exchequer through the buyback option. "...we will be happy if we get more funds, but we will present the case. Not waiting for two or three years till CCS sanctions to meet the current expectations and requirements, we are funding from our own reserves," HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju told reporters.

Responding to a question at the Aero India 2017 air show here, he said "you may watch during the month of March, maybe we are going to take loan from the banks for our projects."

"Overall expected investment as of now, approximately is Rs 17,500 crore, spread over five to six years," he added. On disinvestment activity of the company based on the government approval of 10 per cent of the shareholding in 2013, Raju said progress has been made in this regard with the identification of Book Running Lead Managers and preparation of draft red herring prospectus. Necessary documents are in place.

"...10 per cent of the equity capital that is 3.615 crore of equity at the face value of Rs 10 would be considered for the IPO, the valuation will be done by the BRLMS and the other financial experts. We are awaiting for the valuations from them," a senior company official added.

Responding to a question about when the company will be filing red herring prospectus with SEBI, Raju said by the end of this financial year. Raju also said the option of buyback of 25 per cent of share capital and reserves of the company has been executed through which the company has contributed over Rs 5000 crore to the government exchequer.

"During 2015-16 twelve crore five lakh shares have been offered for buyback amounting to Rs 4,284 crore apart from Rs 981 crore as buyback plan, in all amounting to Rs 5,265 crore. This is what we have paid back to the government by offering 25 per cent of the equity capital," a company official said.

Speaking about the financial performance of the company for 2015-16, Raju said it recorded the highest ever turnover of Rs 16,736 crore and registered a growth of 7.14 per cent compared with the previous year.

He said the profit before tax of the company for the year was Rs 3288 crore, adding, against the target turnover of Rs 17,100 crore at the end of January 2017, the company has achieved sales of Rs 10,086 crore with a healthy profit of Rs 1,621 crore.

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