For ITI Ltd, the oldest public sector enterprise and the largest telecom-manufacturing monolith in the country, the passing fiscal meant change. It posted a record turnover of Rs 2,184.97 crore for the year ending March 2001, earning a net profit of Rs 25.23 crore, and maintaining its leadership position in the landline network by supplying 4.78 million lines. It continued to be the largest supplier of SDH fiber optic terminals by supplying 4,200 terminals, an increase of 52 percent over the previous year. And nearly accounted for 60 percent of the total SDH market in the country. The SDH revenue alone is estimated in the range of Rs 280 crore.

While the landline market has always been its forte, FY 2000-01 signaled the entry of ITI into other arms of telephony services. It won the turnkey project of MTNL Cellular GSM in Delhi and Mumbai, for a total capacity of 8 lakh lines to the tune of Rs 570 crore spread over three years. Out of which 2 lakh lines have already been supplied. With the focus on GSM for urban sector and WLL for rural access, it also concentrated on other technologies like TDMA-PMP systems based on C-DOT design for rural telecom needs, and HDSL from ITI R&D, DLC-SDH for MTNL. These confirm ITI’s emergence as a major telecom total solutions provider.

During the year, the company’s service and trading business grew by 35 percent over the previous year, bringing in revenue of Rs 139 crore from DoT and non-DoT customers. The revenue from installation and commissioning undertaken by it touched Rs 128 crore, representing an increase of 85 percent. Excess manpower, which used to be the biggest cost issue, was also being turned into an advantage. It plans to utilize its excess capacity by entering and exploring the contract manufacturing in which many MNCs have shown interest. Further, its foray into the IT business has also yielded good results. It bagged the BSNL pilot project order of Rs 7 crore for introducing VoIP in six cities. Meanwhile to give a fillip to its IT diversification, it initiated in-house development of products like info kiosks, IP PABX, e-commerce platforms and NMS. It targets Rs 100 crore revenue from IT business in the current year.

Clearly, the future of the company is bright, as now it has emerged as a total solutions provider. But positioning apart, it still needs to undergo a major attitudinal change in becoming market-savvy to tap the export market opportunities. While it has the government’s blessing in silence, if it can turn around to tap the non-DoT markets, it will signal the making of a true giant.