In its profit after tax (PAT) statement reported Thursday, the state-managed Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) said that in the financial year that ended March 31, 2009, the company's year-on-year PAT figures showed an increase of 6.9 percent.

While Indian power equipment maker's profit after tax was Rs. 2,859 crore in the financial year 2007, the figures this time round touched Rs. 3,039 crore.

The earnings of the public-sector company increased from Rs. 21,401 crore in 2007-08 to Rs. 27,505 crore in the most recent fiscal year. Talking about the orders with the company, the BHEL Chairman K. Ravi Kumar said that, at the end of March, the company had total orders worth about Rs. 1.17 trillion ($23.3 billion).

Kumar also said that, according to estimates, the sales of BHEL are expected to increase by 20-25 percent in the year to March 2010.