HFCL INFOTEL LIMITED
ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Chairman's Statement at the 56th Annual General Meting of the Company:
(At the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on Thursday, the 25th
day of September, 2003 at Music Academy, "Mini Hall", 306, T.T.K. Road,
Chennai-600 034.)
Dear Shareholders
The year 2002-03 was an eventful year as your Company went through a major
restructuring of its business post sale of its holding in Pioneer ITI AMC
Limited. HFCL Infotel Limited, a telecom service provider operating in the
Punjab Circle, was amalgamated with the Company as per the scheme of merger
approved by the respective High Courts. The Company's core business of hire
purchase, finance, leasing and securities trading was transferred as a
going concern to its wholly owned subsidiary, Rajam Finance & Investment
Company (India) Limited, which has since been renamed as 'The Investment
Trust of India Limited'. The amalgamation has given the Company an
opportunity to diversify into the sunrise sector of Telecommunication.
Though the growing competition in this sector will throw up numerous
challenges before us, we strongly believe that with continued stress on
operational excellence, economy in costs and revenue maximization the
prospects of your Company's growth are very bright. Various aspects of the
Company's operations have been discussed in the Annual Report and I would
like take this opportunity to share the important ones with you briefly.
Your Company was Ranked as the No.1 Telecom Operator in the State of Punjab
by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for customer satisfaction
with overall service;
The milestone of one-lac subscribers was reached in October 2002, within
two years of commercial launch. The Telecom operations of the Company
started generating operating profits during the financial year 2002-03.
With its foray into the Telecommunication sector your Company now aspires
"To become most Admired Telecommunication Company through Innovation and
Excellence". Driven by this vision, the focus would be on:
Delivering Quality Products and Services for Customers' delight:
Developing and nurturing Customer Relationships;
Providing one stop solution for all telecommunication needs of individual,
Business and Corporate customers in its circle of operation and
Creating Significant value for the Shareholders.
The road map to grow, both in terms of subscriber numbers and revenues, has
been worked out in detail. The State of Punjab, with its attractive
demographics and high income levels, is amongst the most attractive telecom
circles in the Country. Here we see a big opportunity for your Company in
establishing a highly successful and financially sustainable single circle
operation. Having achieved a critical mass of subscribers and with an
established state of art network, your Company plans to embark upon an
aggressive expansion drive into newer areas in the State. The plan is to
increase its presence from the existing 27 towns to over 150 towns in the
next twelve month. Your Company's average revenue per line (ARPL) is
already amongst the highest in the country. With a clear focus on acquiring
quality subscriber through targeted roll out and by using revenue oriented
marketing plans this trend would be maintained in future. The wide array of
innovative products and services in the data and broadband segment would
further help your Company in its revenue maximizing drive.
Having earned the distinction of being the best service provider in the
state in terms of quality and customer satisfaction your Company would
continue to strive for improvement in the customer service levels and
setting new benchmarks in service quality.
Your Company lays emphasis on a high performance professional culture, with
full empowerment at the operational level, backed by a system of rewards
and censures. The compensation structure now increasingly reflects a
variable component to help the Company in creating a result-oriented team.
Your Company truly believes in fundamentals of accountability and
transparency and will continue to strive for the highest corporate
standards thereby ensuring value creation for all. I am confident that over
a period, our emphasis on consistent performance, revenue maximization and
financial conservatism will contribute to enhancement of overall value for
our shareholders.
With your continued encouragement and support, I am confident that your
Company will go from strength to strength in the years to come.
Mahendra Nahata
Chairman