BEML to spend 3 pc of earnings on R&D

MUMBAI: Mini-ratna Bharat Earth Movers (BEML) has decided to treble its annual spendings on Research and Development, raising it to three per cent of total earnings from the present level of less than one per cent.

The move is to boost productivity and bring out better and sophisticated products across the basket, BEML's Chairman and Managing Director V R S Natarajan said.

The company generated a revenue of Rs 2,600 crore last fiscal and will invest Rs 78 crore towards R&D in the current fiscal, he said.

Natarajan said that the increase in R&D expenditure was imperative to meet its revenue target of Rs 5,000 crore by 2013-14.

BEML manufactures hundreds of products in its three factories in Karnataka for sectors like defence, mining and construction, rail and metro.

All three manufacturing bases of the company are equipped with separate R&D units, and the best one is located at its Kolar Gold Fields factory.

Natarajan said that the company currently employs around 150 R&D professionals in all.

"Last year, we inducted 75 professionals and hope that the trend would continue in the current fiscal as well," Natarajan said.