HAL, 45th in world's top 100 defence firms

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has climbed six notches to reach the 45th position in the list of top 100 defence companies in the world.

The list released by US-based Defense News has Lockheed Martin in the number one position followed by Boeing, Northrop Grumman, BAe Systems and Raytheon in the top five, according to a HAL release in Bangalore on Monday.

The ratings were given based on a company's sales and turnover, and HAL's 'leap forward' from the 51st slot is being attributed to a series of upgradation programmes and new projects, the Bangalore-headquartered company said.

Reacting to the rating, HAL Chairman Ashok K Baweja said: ". . . we are hopeful of breaking into the top 25-35 next year."

HAL's director (finance) D Shivamurti said, "We will further our rankings next year and our current order book position is just a pointer to that."

The state-run company has joined the select group of billion-dollar firms by recording annual sales of over Rs 5,335 crore (Rs 53.35 billion) in 2005-06, marking a 18.5 per cent growth over the previous year.

The value of production has gone up by 16.4 per cent at Rs 5,750 crore (Rs 57.50 billion), while HAL's profit before tax soared to Rs 1,250 crore (Rs 12.50 billion), an increase of over 32 per cent over the last year's performance, the release said.