Statutory Reports
Corporate Overview
69th Annual Report 2013-14
66
Financial Statements
C.
TECHNOLOGY ABSORPTION, ADAPTATION AND
INNOVATION
Efforts made towards technology absorption,
adaptation and innovation
The Company is putting continuous efforts in acquisition,
development, assimilation and utilization of technological
knowledge through its wide advance engineering project
portfolio. The projects in the advance engineering portfolio
are focused around the technologies and innovations which
the Company might need in the years to come and the
current thrust areas being automotive applications like light
weighting, fuel efficiency improvement and Hybridization
with alternate fuel like CNG, LPG, Ethanol, bio-diesel, electric
traction, Hydrogen etc. The Company is actively working on
various hybrid and electric power trains for hybrid, electric and
fuel cell electric vehicles for both commercial and passenger
car applications and making good progress.
The Company took initiatives by various interventions
at Powertrain and vehicle level to improve upon the
performance, refinement, meeting and exceeding the
current prevalent norms of emission, fuel economy and
reduction in carbon footprint of the products launched
recently as well as the future products and platforms. The
Company continues to work on the already initiated new
generation powertrain programmes which would meet the
Expenditure on R & D
(
`
in crores)
Expenditure incurred on research and development :
2013-14
2012-13
(a) Revenue Expenditure - charged to Statment of Profit and Loss
413.55
500.15
(b) Revenue Expenditure - capitalised
1,618.76
1,142.38
(c) Capital Expenditure
112.04
116.78
2,144.35
1,759.31
Revenue from Operations
34,288.11
44,765.72
R&D cost as a % to Revenue from Operations
6.3%
3.9%
design, driving pleasure and connected car technologies and
for the commercial vehicle product range the focus is to be the
market leaders by enhancing fuel efficiency and minimizing
total cost of ownership.
All the R&D activities that the Company is currently undertaking
takes into account the current and likely future regulatory norms
alongwithmeeting and exceeding the prescribed and prevalent
vehicle safety regulations. The company also continues its R&D
efforts in developing vehicles which are powered by alternate
fuels like CNG, LPG, Bio-diesel, electric traction and Hydrogen
some of which was showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo in
February 2014 as well.
Benefits derived as a result of the above R&D
The Company maintains requisite R&D facilities, core
competence and skill sets enabling it for compliance of
regulations and reducing product development time to meet
market requirements. Increasing use of ‘digital validation’
techniques has enabled a reduction in the number of physical
prototypes required. All existing Company products and
engines are compliant with the prevalent regulatory norms.
During the FY 2013-14, the Company filed 73 Patent
Applications and 157 Design applications. In respect of
applications filed in earlier years, 18 Patents were granted and
20 Designs were registered.
Future Plan of Action
The Company continues its effort on developing new products
and technologies to meet growing customer expectations. The
existing products will be refreshed at regular intervals to suit
upcoming trends. In the long term, the Company is focusing
on improving driving comfort, fuel efficiency, performance
and design aesthetics. Company’s R&D is also committed to
minimize the environmental impact and carbon footprint of its
products and manufacturing operations, with Greenhouse Gas
(GHG) emissions in particular. The Company is uniquely placed
to meet this commitment, with its comprehensive product
line-up and indigenous manufacturing base.
