Indian President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam presented the prestigious national award to ECIL chairman and managing director V H Ron in New Delhi at a ceremony today.

Commenting on the recognition, Ron, the prime mover in turning around the company, said: "It gives us immense pleasure to be recognised for the efforts that have been put into regrouping the company into a potential force in the public sector unit (PSU) segment. The initiatives that we took consistently over a period of time ensured the turnaround and a steady growth. We have now created a platform for ourselves to attain the status of being a national asset."

ECIL saw a lean phase during 1997-99, incurring losses and was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) due to the embargo placed on several PSUs after the Pokran test. However, the leadership of Ron resulted in ECIL achieving a break-even in 1999-2000, a profit of Rs 12 crore in 2000-01 and a profit of Rs 79 crore in 2001-02, while 2002-03 is also set towards a significant growth path in turnover and profit.

The Scope awards committee, comprising a distinguished line of judges with Justice P N Bhagavathi as its chairman, evaluated organisations in the turnaround category for business of the company, leadership and policy, customer satisfaction measurement, customer value management, environmental management, systems and strategies, corporate social responsibility and corporate image.