Atul Ltd 2020-21

29 Corporate Overview 01 - 21 Statutory Report 22 - 87 Financial Statements 88 - 229 1.2 Technology absorption 1.2.1 Research and Development i) Specific areas in which Research and Development (R&D) was carried out by the Company: T he Company focused its R&D efforts on process improvement of its existing products, recovery of products from pollutants and process development of new products and formulations. ii) Benefits derived from R&D: T he Company increased yield of four products, decreased consumption of raw materials in eight products, decreased consumption charge of solvent in one product, recovered one product from pollutants and introduced 24 new products. iii) Future plan: T he Company is investing further in people and equipment so as to strengthen its R&D and thereby enhance its capability. iv) R&D expenditure: ( ` cr ) Capital Recurring Total Total R&D expenditure as a percentage of total sales 3.24 25.98 29.22 0.84% 1.2.2 Technology absorption, adaptation and innovation i) Efforts in brief, made towards technology absorption, adaptation and innovation: T he Company upgraded many of its processes and operations by imbibing new technology using more efficient equipment and automation. ii) Benefits derived as a result of the above efforts, for example, product improvement, cost reduction, product development and import substitution: T he above efforts have resulted in improvement in quality, increase in yield, increase in throughput and decrease in manpower. iii) Technology, if any, imported during the last three years reckoned from the beginning of the financial year: The Company did not import any technology. 1.3 Foreign exchange earnings and outgo 1.3.1 Export sales: activities, development initiatives and future plans The Company sold its products in 87 countries, directly and through its subsidiary companies in the USA, the UK, the UAE, China and Brazil. Sales outside India* decreased by 14% from ` 1,794 cr to ` 1,535 cr, mainly due to lower volume on account of outbreak of the pandemic across the world. The Company is taking further steps to strengthen its international marketing network. *Free On Board (FOB) value 1.3.2 Total foreign exchange earnings and outgo ( ` cr ) Particulars 2020-21 2019-20 Earnings Exports – FOB value 1,534.61 1,794.40 Dividends, etc - 2.15 Outgo Payment for raw materials, books and periodicals, dividend, etc 549.12 683.39