TRANSCRIPT OF THE 76TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD
THROUGH AUDIO-VISUAL MEANS, ON AUGUST 5, 2021, COMMENCED AT 3:30 P.M. AND CONCLUDED AT 6:10 P.M.
COMPANY PARTICIPANTS:
Sr. | Name | Designation | ||||||
No | ||||||||
1 | Mr. A. M. Naik | Chairman | ||||||
2 | Mr. S. N. Subrahmanyan | Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director | ||||||
3 | Mr. R. Shankar Raman | Whole-time Director & Chief Financial Officer | ||||||
4 | Mr. D. K. Sen | Whole-time | Director | & | Sr. EVP | (Development | ||
Projects) | ||||||||
5 | Mr. M. V. Satish | Whole-time Director & Sr. EVP (Buildings) | ||||||
6 | Mr. J. D. Patil | Whole-time Director & Sr. EVP (Defence & Smart | ||||||
Technologies) | ||||||||
7 | Mr. Subramanian Sarma | Whole-time Director & Sr. EVP (Energy) | ||||||
8 | Mr. S.V. Desai | Whole-time Director & Sr. EVP (Civil Infrastructure) | ||||||
9 | Mr. T. Madhava Das | Whole-time Director & Sr. EVP (Utilities) | ||||||
10 | Mr. M. M. Chitale | Independent | Director | and | Chairperson | of | Audit | and |
Corporate Social Responsibility Committee | ||||||||
11 | Mr. Subodh Bhargava | Independent Director and Chairperson of Nomination | ||||||
and Remuneration Committee | ||||||||
12 | Mr. M. Damodaran | Independent Director | ||||||
13 | Mr. Vikram Singh Mehta | Independent Director | ||||||
14 | Mr. Adil Zainulbhai | Independent | Director | and Chairperson | of | Risk | ||
Management Committee | ||||||||
15 | Mr. Sanjeev Aga | Independent Director | ||||||
16 | Mr. N. Kumar | Independent Director and Chairperson of Stakeholders | ||||||
Relationship Committee | ||||||||
17 | Mr. Hemant Bhargava | Nominee of LIC | ||||||
18 | Mrs. Preetha Reddy | Independent Director | ||||||
19 | Mr. Sivaram Nair A | Company Secretary |
Other key executives, senior management officials and shareholders of the Company were present
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Larsen & Toubro Limited | |
August 5, 2021 | |
Welcome Address: | |
A. M. Naik: | Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now 3:30 p.m. and time to commence the meeting. I am |
happy to welcome you all to the 76th Annual General Meeting of the Company being held | |
through audio-visual means. I hope you and your family are staying healthy and safe in this | |
unprecedented pandemic situation. Let me now introduce my colleagues on the Board. Mr. S.N. | |
Subrahmanyan - Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director. | |
S.N. Subrahmanyan: | Namaste. I am speaking from Landmark office, Mumbai. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. R. Shankar Raman, Whole-time Director & Chief Financial Officer. |
R. Shankar Raman: | Good afternoon. I am speaking from our office at Landmark, Mumbai. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. D. K. Sen, Whole-time Director & Senior Executive Vice President for Development |
Projects. | |
D.K. Sen: | Namaste, I am speaking from Larsen & Toubro office at Landmark building. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. M. V. Satish, Whole-time Director & Senior Executive Vice President, Buildings. |
M.V. Satish: | Namaste. I am attending from our Chennai headquarters, L&T Construction office. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. J. D. Patil Whole-time Director &. Senior Executive Vice President (Defence & Smart |
Technologies) | |
J.D. Patil: | Namaste. Patil here. Joining from Landmark office, Andheri. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. Subramanian Sarma, Whole-time Director & Senior Executive Vice President, Energy. |
Subramanian Sarma: | Good Afternoon. I am speaking from A. M. Naik Tower, Powai office of Larsen & Toubro. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. S.V. Desai, Whole-time Director & Senior Executive Vice President, Civil Infrastructure. |
S.V. Desai: | Namaste, Good Afternoon, I am Desai here, speaking from Manapakkam Campus of Larsen & |
Toubro, Chennai. | |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. T. Madhava Das, Whole-time Director & Senior Executive Vice President, Utilities. |
T. Madhava Das: | Namaste. Madhava Das here. I am speaking from our L&T Mumbai, Andheri office, Landmark. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. M. M. Chitale, Independent Director and Chairperson of Audit and Corporate Social |
Responsibility Committee. |
- Chitale:Namaste. I am M. M. Chitale, speaking from my office in Mumbai. Thank you.
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Larsen & Toubro Limited | |
August 5, 2021 | |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Independent Director and Chairperson of the Nomination and |
Remuneration Committee. | |
Subodh Bhargava: | Good Afternoon. I am attending this AGM from my residence in Gurgaon. Thank you. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. M. Damodaran, Independent Director. |
M. Damodaran: | Namaste. This is Damodaran, I am attending the AGM from my house in New Delhi. |
A. M. Naik: | Vikram Singh Mehta, Independent Director. |
(Mr. Mehta's audio was not working) | |
Moderator: | Sir, while we are checking with Mr. Vikram Singh Mehta, you can move on to the next member. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. Adil Zainulbhai, Independent Director and Chairperson of the Risk Management |
Committee. | |
Adil Zainulbhai | Namaste and Good Afternoon. I am joining from Washington D.C. |
A. M. Naik: | Sanjeev Aga, Independent Director. |
Sanjeev Aga: | Namaskar, I am Sanjeev Aga attending this meeting from my residence in Mumbai. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. Narayanan Kumar, Independent Director and Chairperson of the Stakeholders' Relationship |
Committee. | |
Narayanan Kumar: | Good afternoon. This is N. Kumar. I am joining from my residence in Chennai. |
A. M. Naik: | Mr. Hemant Bhargava, Nominee of LIC. |
Hemant Bhargava: | Namaskar. Hemant Bhargava. I am attending this AGM from my residence in Mumbai. |
A. M. Naik: | Mrs. Preetha Reddy, Independent Director. |
Preetha Reddy: | Namaste. I am Preetha Reddy and I am attending this meeting from Chennai office of Apollo |
Hospitals. | |
A. M. Naik: | I want to say good luck to all of you. Wish you well. Stay healthy and whatever you do, I wish |
the only way to do is safely. The requisite quorum is present. No, proxies are allowed in this | |
virtual AGM. Representative of the Statutory Auditors, Secretarial Auditors, Cost Auditors and | |
senior management officials of the Company are attending this meeting from their respective | |
locations. The Annual Report including the Notice of the meeting and the unqualified Auditors | |
Report on the financial statements have already been sent to the shareholders through electronic | |
means and I suggest that the Notice and Auditors Report be taken as read. |
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Larsen & Toubro Limited
August 5, 2021
Chairman's Speech:
A. M. Naik: | Now, let me give some introductory viewpoints. I am addressing you all at a time when the |
nation has been impacted by the second wave of the Corona Virus. Undoubtedly this is the most | |
severe test ever faced by all of us - households, corporate, civil society and the Government. | |
At this critical juncture, as important as observing health and safety measure is to remain | |
psychologically strong, guard against cynical despair and stay united in our shared sense of | |
purpose. | |
Your Company reiterates its commitment to serve the people of this country and express its | |
solidarity with the nation and its leadership. | |
L&T's first priority has revolved around taking every possible care of its employees, contract | |
workers and society at large. For our employees, we have initiated a broad spectrum of measures | |
that encompass financial, medical and insurance assistance as well as education support. | |
In addition, quarantine centers have been set up for our employees, their families as well as | |
contract workmen. We have continued to pay our contract workers, their wages, provide food, | |
shelter and medical assistance. All this was done while maintaining the prescribed COVID | |
protocols. | |
In addition to donation to the Prime Minister's CARES funds of Rs. 150 crore at the onset of the | |
crisis, L&T Group has also supplied test, medical and PPE kits to location around the country. | |
We have spent already Rs. 50 crore by providing this to various states. When the second wave | |
threw up a shortage of oxygen, we responded by supplying oxygen generators to various | |
hospitals. We also supplied oxygen concentrators, ventilators and ambulances, in addition to | |
what I said above, worth Rs. 35 crore. | |
Further our construction business has converted many hospitals to COVID care centers. Our | |
smart technologies in over 20 cities are helping State Governments and the local authorities | |
contain the spread of the virus. These initiatives have been widely acknowledged by the State | |
Governments. | |
Capex Spends: | |
Given the scale of India's infrastructure deficit, we remain optimistic about the Government's | |
intent to complete the project as envisaged in the National Infrastructure Pipeline. The project | |
pipeline is expected to be collectively funded by the Central Government, International Financial | |
Institutions, State Governments, PSUs and of course the private sector. |
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Larsen & Toubro Limited
August 5, 2021
Since infrastructure investments serve the twin benefits of improving productivity and generating employment, we believe that the underlying metro drivers for the investment in India remain intact. Your Company is poised to capitalize on these opportunities as they emerge.
Details of your Company's performance have already been published in the Annual Report which is available online and I will therefore not go into them now.
The Company continues to focus on shareholder value creation by divesting non-core assets, capturing cost efficiencies and leveraging technology and productivity gain. The Company's strategically diversified business portfolio, geographical dispersion, robust Balance Sheet and strong order book are reliable signposts to a brighter future.
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of Rs. 18 per share for FY21. This is in addition to the Rs. 18 per share of special dividend declared earlier during the year.
Therefore I can say we have given Rs. 36 per share as dividend which is one of the best you can get in the industry.
International Business:
The Company has gradually expanded its international footprint through geographical dispersion and a conscious de-risking strategy. While the Middle East region has remained an area of focus, the Company has turned its attention to many countries in Africa as well as South East Asia. Currently the Middle East region constitutes 61% of the international order book of Rs. 68,773 crore and in addition to this, our technology services businesses are growing in double digit through LTI, LTTS and Mindtree. And collectively therefore together nearly 38% of the turnover of the group comes from services.
Sustainable Development:
Our group is over 8 decades old and we have been at the forefront of many sustainability initiatives, long before they were mandated by law. In other words we internalized the spirit behind ESG and were among the early companies who turned percepts into practice.
On our part, we are helping to provide better access to potable water and improved level of sanitation and facilities for health, education and skill building.
Turning to the governance, our core values devote around the principles based on transparency, accountability, responsibility, compliance, ethics and trust. In recognition of our efforts, we received the 'Grant Thornton Bharat SABERA' award for Best Integrated Reporting.
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Larsen & Toubro Limited published this content on 27 August 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 27 August 2021 06:00:07 UTC.