Astra Microwave Products Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

Astra Microwave Products Limited (AMPL) was incorporated in 1991 by a team of distinguished scientists with experience in RF/Microwave/Digital electronics and management of projects with high technology content. The three promoters had back then sensed a need for a sound, technically powerful private company that can design, develop and produce highly end RF and Microwave subsystems and systems for strategic applications.

AMPL thus came into existence with a handful of highly motivated individuals, the path of progress being clear from the beginning. Starting operations from what is now called Unit I, the company has grown substantially with continuous investment in infrastructure, captive test facilities and other resources.

Being a company with a strong R&D Back ground, AMPL has undertaken production of equipment from R&D labs to reduce the production lead times. The company has also demonstrated its capability to provide complete solutions from concept to product realization using in house engineering. Starting with a diverse range of microwave products like filters, transmitters, receivers, antennas etc., the achievement in producing actual space-borne hardware that has flown on Indian satellites was a dream come true for the promoters and for the company and an endeavor to be proud of for the entire AMPL team.

Business area of the company

The company is engaged in designing and manufacturing of high value added RF and microwave super components and sub-systems finding applications in Defense, Space, Telecom, Meteorology and Civil communication systems.

Products of the company

Defense

• Radar Electronics
• Electronic Warfare
• Strategic Electronics
• Telemetry

Space

• Ground Based
• Flight Model

Meteorology

Homeland Security

• Perimeter Intrusion Detection Radar

Systems

• Multi-Function Radar Systems
• Instrumentation Radar & Telemetry Systems
• Perimeter Intrusion Detection Radar
• Meteorology Radar Systems
• Air Traffic Management Radar Systems

Milestones

• 1991: Though Astra Microwave was founded with an interest to work on Defense opportunities, the telecom revolution in India coinciding with the company’s inception meant the early years was marked by a lot of requirements coming in from the customers who needed products for setting up their telecom base stations. It helped the company get a head start and also provided it with required time to make its mark in the tough defense electronics market.
• 1993: Components and sub-systems for Radars were always a focus area for the company and the first few components that were built by Astra found their way into sub-systems of Radars developed by DRDO.
• 1993: While addressing the requirements of the telecom industry, the promoters were also working with DRDO to get opportunities to design products for military applications. The first opportunities were received by the company to build products for Telemetry / Missile application.
• 1995: Good orders from Telecom combined with fact that potential opportunities were already being generated in the defense area meant that there was an immediate need for Astra to invest in infrastructure, people and test facilities. This was the reason the company went public quite early. Astra Microwave was listed in the stock exchange in India in 1995.
• 1997: 1997 marked the first deliveries of modules that found application in Telemetry/Missile Electronics for a Surface to Air Missile program of the DRDO.
• 2000: Astra Microwave started working in the complex field of EW in the year 2000. From a nominal start, Astra Microwave today has grown to be one of the important partners for DRDO, having supplied many critical and wide band products for EW application, especially in the Naval domain.
• 2003: The invitation from ISRO for the Indian Private Industry to enter into the Space business in 2004 provided the right impetus for Astra Microwave to take up challenging work for components and sub-systems for Satellite Application. Astra Microwave is proud to have associated with all the major satellite launches in India since 2008.
• 2005: In 2005, Astra Microwave decided to have a fabless design team in-house in order to design and develop critical MMIC’s for getting advantages of cost, design flexibility to help miniaturize modules and the ability to control production requirements of critical devices in house.
• 2007: Thanks to the offset rule introduced by DPP 2006, many foreign OEM’s showed interest to work with Astra Microwave for discharging their offset requirements. The process of audits and vendor capability mapping starting in the year 2007.
• 2010: Astra Microwave became one of the first beneficiaries of an offset contract having bagged the contract to manufacture receiver side modules in the year 2009 for radar application. The first products under this contract were delivered to the customer in 2010.
• 2013: On the basis of domestic and offset work in the ratio of 50-50%, Astra Microwave crossed an annual turnover of 500 crore for the first time.
• 2018: With an objective to be closer to its customers and to help them with higher level hardware integration, Astra Microwave developed its latest facility in Bengaluru