BEL CMD & Director (Fin) Dinesh Batra wins ‘Innovative CFO of the Year’ Award

Bengaluru/Mumbai: Dinesh Kumar Batra, Chairman & Managing Director, and Director (Finance) & CFO, of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), has been conferred the "Innovative CFO Award" at the 2nd edition of "The Business Leadership Awards", organised on Thursday in Mumbai.

Dinesh Kumar Batra has been a change agent for BEL. His most noteworthy contributions to the Company include an increase in the wealth of shareholders, steering BEL to become the first Defence PSU to cross the landmark market capitalisation figure of Rs.80,000 Crores (from Rs.24,000 Crores at the time of his taking over as CFO) and declaring the highest ever dividend of 450%. He steered the Board, Administrative Ministry and Shareholders' approval to increase the authorised capital three-fold to Rs.750 Cr and issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 2:1.

Under Batra's leadership, BEL achieved its highest ever turnover of Rs.15,044 Crores in FY 2022, a growth of 9% over the previous year, despite challenges posed by the pandemic, global semiconductor shortage and stiff competition. This has instilled confidence among stakeholders, resulting in the highest PE ratio of 29 of BEL's share price among all manufacturing PSUs.

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He has managed working capital requirements and new capital infrastructure investment requirements from internal accruals and kept BEL debt-free. He has brought structural reforms to manage debtors to achieve the highest ever cash flow from operations. He was instrumental in BEL taking revolutionary initiatives to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As CFO, Batra's focus has been to ensure the growth of 15 to 17% in topline. He has supported BEL's diversification into several non-defence areas ensuring funds are available to invest in infrastructure, manpower and technology.

Batra also regularly interacts with stakeholders and has evolved teams, structures and strategies for bringing business transformation. He has guided BEL to the 79th position in the Top 100 Listed Companies of the country, based on market capitalisation.

Disclaimer: This story is a press release and is being published with minor changes made by the Defence Watch desk)

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