RITES turnover rises to Rs672 crore, profit dips

RITES Ltd, a public sector undertaking under the ministry of railways, has achieved a gross turnover of Rs672 crore during 2008-09, against Rs661 crore in the previous year. Profit after tax for the year, however, stood lower at Rs94 crore compared with Rs104 crore in the previous year.

The company attributes the fall in profit to the implementation of the pay commission recommendations and the economic meltdown. RITES has paid a dividend of Rs20 crore for the year.

The company secured new business worth Rs1,097 crore. RITES also managed to recover Rs117 crore as part of outstanding dues from Iraq. It won a $74-million project from the Sri Lankan transport ministry as a part of the tsunami-affected Southern Railway Line Upgrade project. This order envisaged the supply of 15 diesel multiple units (DMU) and train sets for introducing new passenger services on the Colombo-Matara line, and the setting up of new DMU maintenance facilities in Sri Lanka, , an official release said today.  

RITES also secured a contract to supply meter gauge air-conditioned diesel multiple units to Senegal. Besides, the company conceptualised, designed and manufactured a high horsepower locomotive on cape gauge for export to Mozambique. The concessioning project in Mozambique, awarded during 2004-05 for operating the Beira rail system for 25 years, is progressing well, the company said in its release.

RITE, which has ventured into consultancy, has clients in Asia and the Middle East. The company is currently preparing a detailed project report on railway and port infrastructure development for a leading Saudi cement company. It is also engaged on a feasibility study on the setting up of rail and port facilities for their coal project in Indonesia for the Reliance Energy group.

In the UAE, RITES is carrying out studies for a freight railway and a railway line connecting the GCC countries and linking to the Middle East rail network. RITES also provides technical consultancy services in transportation to clients in Afghanistan, Senegal, Angola, Botswana, Nepal, etc.

At the national level, RITES is involved in conducting a 'Total Transportation System Study' on traffic flows and modal costs covering all modes of transport for the Planning Commission; advisory consultancy for Taj Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra; general consultancy for the Bangalore metro, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Phase II and Airport Express Link for Delhi; project management for laying water transmission lines for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation; design and execution of an Intelligent Traffic System for Delhi Police; development of rail infrastructure for SAIL, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, NTPC and DVC; and feasibility studies for the setting up of multimodal logistics parks. 

The Department of Public Enterprises has rated the current performance of RITES  'excellent', based on MOU for the year 2008-09 and in view of continuous growth and overall performance.