By IANS
Bangalore : Aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has climbed 11 places to reach the 34th position in the list of top 100 defence companies in the world.
The list, released by US-based Defence News magazine, saw HAL improving its position from 45th with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAe Systems, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon occupying the top five slots in that order.
The ratings are based on a company’s sales and turnover, and HAL’s leap forward is being attributed to a series of upgrade programmes and new projects.
Reacting to the new rating, HAL chairperson Ashok K. Baweja said: “These are exciting days for us and the current ranking is a testimony to our renewed focus on all fronts. We are hopeful of breaking into the top 25 next year and our current order book position is just a pointer to that.”
HAL, now a Navratna company, recorded a sales turnover of Rs.77.84 billion ($1.82 billion) during the 2006-07 fiscal to March 31 and recorded a growth of 46 percent over the previous year.
The company’s profits before tax soared to Rs.17.44 billion, a jump of 55 percent over the last year, while exports registered a growth of 45 percent at Rs.2.71 billion.