BHEL presents Dividend Cheque of Rs.364.66 crore

(PIB NEWS) A Dividend Cheque of Rs. 364.66 crores towards the interim divided for the year 2009-10 on the equity (67.72%) was presented to Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises by Shri B.P Rao, CMD, Bhart Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) here today. This represents interim Dividend of 110 per cent on the advanced Equity capital post-bonus for fiscal 2009-10. Shri Arun Yadav, the Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and Dr. Satyanaranyana Dash, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries were also present on the occasion. Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh said that the Government needs to protect the Domestic Power Equipment Industry by putting Custom Duties upto 10 per cent and special duties (SAD) of 4 per cent on import of power machines. CMD, BHEL said that the company has maintained its unmatched track record of earning profits rewarding investors by paying dividends uninterruptedly for over three decades without a break. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the growth momentum achieved by BHEL in 2008-09 is to be accelerated in the current fiscal. At the end of the third quarter, the company expects to achieve robust growth in future. Earlier in a meeting with the officials and workers of the HMT Machine Tools Ltd., the Minister said that the Government is abreast of the problems afflicting the Public Sector Enterprise HMT and studying all options available to see the turnaround of the company. He said that closure of any unit will be the last alternative. HMT will be provided Government support in coming out of the loss and utilize the expertise of HMT in making precession tools for Automobile Defence, Aerospace and General Engineering Industry. ======================================================