Mumbai, July 21, 2003: Larsen & Toubro Limited sustained the brisk tempo of its order booking performance of the previous year during the first quarter of the current year. The Company's E&C segment secured orders valued at Rs.1968 crore as against Rs.1337 crore achieved in the corresponding period last year, reflecting an increase of 47%. It is to be noted that the growth achieved in order booking in the first quarter may not be reflective of the annual trend.

Domestic order booking of the E&C segment for the quarter was Rs.1738 crore, showing a y-o-y increase of 42%, and includes orders from oil & refinery sectors and one from TISCO for a sinter plant and blast furnace. These and other orders are from diverse industries such as airlines (construction of a hangar for Jet Airways), railways (substructure for the New Yamuna bridge for Northern Railways), core sector (aluminium smelter expansion for BALCO), and reflect the wide range of technical and execution capabilities of the Company that enable successful handling of complex projects.

E&C's export order booking continues to be impressive, and has doubled to Rs.230 crore during the quarter April-June 2003, as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The orders received include a transmission line project in Bangladesh and several orders for process equipment supplies secured against international competition.

The thrust on market diversification as part of a geographical de-risking strategy will continue and is expected to yield encouraging results as the year progresses.

Details of major orders received by the E&C segment during April-June 2003 are as follows :

The Electrical & Electronics segment of the Company also continued its thrust on export business, resulting in a three-fold increase in order booking to Rs.21 crore during the quarter ended 30th June, 2003.