39. Crompton Greaves (Digital)

For CG-Digital, a Thappar Group company, it was a silent year. The company

did a total business of Rs 190.50 crore from Systems Integration (SI) and

telecom businesses. While its informatics division accounted for Rs 35 crore,

its telecom division accounted for Rs 155.50 crore of revenue. The company had a

silent year, primarily because the SI business of informatics did not take off

as per expectations.

Bulk of telecom division’s revenue came from the sale of switching

equipment, which accounted for Rs 122 crore of revenue. With sales of over

46,000 ports, CG netted a total revenue of Rs 19.50 crore in EPABX/KTS segment.

Though DoT continues to be the largest buyer on the telecom front, it sees a

cautious future in the growth of indigenous technologies.

CG’s success comes from its strategy of ‘value-for-money’ turnkey

solutions. Though the year was not very euphoric in terms of its projected

growth, it made up for it with internal consolidation. It is believed to be the

only company to have been awarded the self-certification status for 256-port RAX,

and got TEC type approvals for three in-house products and ISDN EPABX. Further,

it made significant inroads into the call center business. It has recently

bagged an order worth Rs 4 crore from MTNL. With a quiet year 2000-01, CG would

in all proportions be looking at reversing the trend by further moving up the

value-chain with tight controls and focused approach.