New Delhi: India multinational, multi-sector major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its revenue from the defence sector during the third quarter this fiscal had witnessed a decline of 66 per cent over the correspondng quarter of last year, as the company received orders worth Rs 168 crore ($23.5 million) during the period

The company’s blamed the gap between the Narendra Modi government’s aspiration and policy prescriptions, coupled with fund shortage for the negative impact on the order flows from this sector.

“Defence Engineering Segment received orders of Rs 168 crore during the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, representing a decline of 66 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. International orders constituted 45 per cent of the total order inflow of the segment,” L&T said in a statement.

“The gap between government’s aspiration and policy prescriptions, coupled with fund shortage continues to impact the order flows in this sector.”

The Order Book of the segment stood at Rs 9,666 crore ($1.35 billion) as on Dec. 31, 2019, with the international order book constituting 18 per cent of the total.

Defence Engineering Segment recorded customer revenue of Rs 1,063 crore ($150 million) registering a year-on-year growth of six per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year led by noteworthy progress in execution of a marquee order for tracked artillery guns. International Revenue constituted nine per cent of the total customer revenue of the segment.

The EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization) margin of the segment at 20.5 per cent was higher for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019, as compared to corresponding quarter of the previous year at 9.0 per cent, with operational efficiencies and better project mix, it said.

In the second quarter of this fiscal, L&T had won orders worth ₹573 crore ($81 million) through its defence engineering segment during the quarter ending Sep. 30, 2019, representing a decline of 52 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year.