THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM
Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL) of which P.M. Chandriah is MD, BCPL has achieved a gross margin of Rs. 23 crore in 2016-17 against a gross loss of Rs. 20.36 crore reported in 2013-14 thereby improving its financial position to the tune of more than Rs.43 crore and net generation of cash. Achieving of Net Profit of Rs. 4 crore in 2016-17 which is highest ever profit achieved by the Company in its history and also in its history of Government Company, is a rare achievement in the history of Corporate World. Company achieved a Gross Margin/PBDIT of Rs. 23 Crore, which is the first time in the history of Company. Since the company has enough cash generation and paid all liabilities of employees and suppliers payments were also updated, with the cash generation amount during 2016-17, Company has repaid the Bank Loan of Rs.13 crore to United Bank of India (reduction in Cash Credit Limits). BCPL MD, PM Chandraiah says that with the above actions, BCPL reduced procurement costs and stopped financial leakages in the company, which can be seen from the reduction in Direct Costs to 48% of Gross Sales in 2016-17 from 76% in 2013-14. Further, after his joining BCPL in November 2014 as Director (Finance), Chandraiah, who is the architect of developing financial discipline and transparency in the company, has taken a number of initiatives to improve the overall performance of the company like: Stoppage of Cash Transactions by opening more than 200 Salary Accounts; Closure of more than 30 Inoperative Bank accounts; Introduction of Biometric Attendance System; Introduction of Annual Appraisal System of Employees; Finalization of Quarterly Financial Results; Half-yearly Internal Audit system; Quarterly Bank Transaction Audit & Cross Audit System, etc. The BCPL was established in 1901 by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray and was running in profits till 1940s. After the death of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray in 1944, company was slowly turned into a loss making company in the early 1950s and due to continuous reporting of losses and Industrial Relation problems, the company was taken over by Government of India in 1977 and was referred to BIFR in 1992. Even after its nationalization in 1981 and after release of funds by Government of India in the year 2006 for modernizing its century-old plants, company’s performance was not improved and its turnover dipped to Rs.17 crore in 2013-14.