In addition, the company has also made a provision for Rs 50.02 crore on account of customs duty and interest, resulting from the company's inability to fulfill its export obligation required under an order and scheme of the government for import of capital goods at zero or concessional duty. The corresponding figure in the previous year was Rs 32.6 crore.

The CIF (cost insurance freight) value of imports on account of raw materials and components is Rs 807 crore compared with Rs 961 crore in the previous year. The CIF value in lieu of capital goods is Rs 55.8 crore as against Rs 26.2 crore in 1996-97.

According to its future plan of action, Maruti Udyog is expected to develop a new 800 cc engine to meet the competition in the small carsegment.

The development of a four-door Gypsy; an immobiliser system for all models; upgrading/improvement of steering and suspension of various models; and installation of a new set of mass emission lab with chassis dynamometer facility will also be treated as priority.

The company may also have to beef up its dealer and servicing network as this may prove to be a winning edge for it for some time till the newcomers are established.

The domestic automobile market comprising passenger cars and utility vehicles showed a volume gain of around 8,000 units this year to reach a size of 498,000 units. This represented a growth of only 1.6 per cent over the previous year. Maruti Udyog's overall market share stands at 65.8 per cent, a gain of 3.8 per cent over the previous year.

While the passenger car market grew by a modest four per cent to reach a level of almost 388,000 units, Maruti showed an increase of eight per cent to reach 321,000 units. The company's market share increased from 79.6 per cent to82.9 per cent.

The localisation level of most of the models also increased. As on March 31, 1998, the local content of the Esteem was 92.5 per cent, Zen 91 per cent and for the export version -- Alto -- 78.09 per cent. The Gypsy's indigenisation level is 82.45 per cent and that of Maruti 800 and Omni 95 per cent.