ABB India, in a statement, said that its order inflow in the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2017 grew year-on-year by 44 per cent. Likewise, orders in 2017 as a whole were up 19 per cent.
It should be noted here that this comparison does not include two exceptionally large orders received in 2016. A mega HVDC order received in Q4 of 2016 and a large traction transformer order received in Q3 of 2016 have been excluded for facilitating “like-for-like” comparison. The two orders were together valued at Rs.4,467 crore.
Orders in the second half of the year benefited from reviving industrial activity; however, base orders developed well throughout 2017, and short cycle activity was strong, ABB said, adding that export orders reached an all-time high in the year, significantly more than doubling in 2017.
The total value of orders received in the fourth quarter was Rs.2,911 crore while the outstanding order book position as of December 31, 2017 was Rs.11,534 crore.
Major orders were secured from both domestic and international customers, comprising propulsion equipment for railways in India, and substations for electric transport from South East Asian countries.
The efforts in getting customers digital-ready yielded results in 2017 with smart factory pilots, including remote monitoring solutions, established across several sectors including cement, paint, pharma, oil and gas and two-wheeler manufacturers, the statement noted.
“We have delivered balanced performance in 2017, and built a solid foundation for future growth and profitability as our nation’s and global markets improve. The year was marked by our success in landmark nation-building projects across the country from Kashmir to Kerala. In addition, our collaboration with customers for charting their digitalization and higher productivity roadmaps resulted in significant engagement and business traction. ABB India will continue to deliver next level solutions and enabling technologies for nation building through our partners and customers for the energy and the fourth industrial revolution,” said said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India.
Featured photograph shows a GIS substation by ABB
