The plan, once implemented, is expected to yield a total turnover of Rs 120 crore from the domestic and export markets over the next five years. Announcing this at the company's 37th annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday, chairman BN Kalyani said the dual areas to be concentrated on will be exports of existing products and the non-automotive segment, both, for the domestic and export markets. Bharat Forge has targeted a 25 per cent sales turnover through exports in the next three years.

As reported earlier, the company has de-emphasised its financial services activity. Kalyani told share holders that cross-investments made by Bharat Forge in subsidiaries were of a strategic nature and not market-related investments. In this context, he added that the Rs 9.6 crore investment in the wheel rim project undertaken via the joint venture, Kalyani Lemmerz, has yielded Rs 68 crore through Kalyani reducing its stake to 15 per cent. Lemmerz now holds the balance 85 per cent.

By the end of fiscal 1999-2000, Kalyani said the company will have totally withdrawn from financial services. Bharat Forge has disposed off up to 70 per cent of its financial services without registering losses. The remainder, in the form of loans and other financial instruments, will also be reduced. This was being done since the field of financial services is a very competitive and specialised one and investments had been made more to circumvent the problems of section 372 of the Companies Act than for market related activities.

Kalyani highlighted the effect of the continuing slowdown in the heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) segment and its effect on manufacturers like Bharat Forge, since the industry does not expect to sell more than 75,000 vehicles in the current financial year, against the 1996-97 figure of 1.52 lakh. Therefore, the company, which has entered the oil and natural gas business in the US, has also identified the small forgings, construction equipment and the after and spare parts businesses as part of its Project 150.

Bharat Forge, which is restructuring -- strategically and operationally -- to emerge as a leaner organisation, is effecting a `quantum enhancement' in the use of information technology (IT). The exercise is aimed at contributing to cost reduction and cheaper and accurate communications. Its efforts at rationalising finance costs, which saw interest costs on borrowings decline by 14 per cent in 1997-98 over the previous year, is expected to be carried on this year. Kalyani said the company's debt will be brought down to Rs 350 crore (from Rs 460 crore at present) over the next two years.

He admitted that exports were marginally down in the first quarter of the current fiscal. However, Kalyani was confident that for the full year the export performance will be greater than in 1997-98, when it rose a phenomenal 87 per cent.

With addition of the 3.60 lakh per annum crankshaft machining capacity at Chakan, Bharat Forge has emerged the largest crankshaft manufacturer in the world, he added.