Chariman's Speech

Mr. Kamal K Singh, Chairman & Managing Director of Rolta India Limited at the Annual General Meeting on November 16, 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have great pleasure in extending you all a warm welcome to the Seventeenth Annual General Meeting of your Company.

The Financial Results of the Company for the year 2006-07 have been with you for sometime and with your permission, I take them as read.

Economic Scene

The Mid Term review of Monetary Policy of Reserve Bank of India for 2007-08 has affirmed that the domestic macroeconomic developments have exhibited enduring strength and resilience. The review has pointed out that the growth has been sustained and has broadened. Considerable success has been achieved in lowering inflation and in anchoring inflation expectations. Real GDP growth currently at 9.2% is poised to maintain the performance over the rest of the year and accordingly RBI has placed the forecast for real GDP growth in 2007-08 at 8.5 per cent.

According to the annual NASSCOM survey, the Indian IT-ITES industry recorded an overall growth of 30.7% as against a projected growth of 27%, clocking revenues of USD 39.6 billion in FY 2006-07 up from USD 30.3 billion in FY 2005-06. The software and services exports segment grew by 33% to register revenues of USD 31.4 billion in FY 2006-07 up from USD 23.6 billion in FY 2005-06. The domestic segment grew by 23% to register revenues of USD 8.2 billion in FY 06-07 up from USD 6.7 billion. The survey also projects that the overall IT software and services sector will grow by 24-27% clocking revenues of USD 49-50 billion in FY08.

Performance

As Rolta celebrates its silver jubilee, I am proud of many accomplishments of your Company. From a small beginning, we have grown to become a leader in the markets we serve. Your Company has maintained a sustained growth since its inception and we have achieved many landmarks and crossed several milestones. I take this opportunity to look back with satisfaction at your Company's achievements and seek inspiration from our successes. Over these years, your Company has emerged as a market leader in India for GeoSpatial and engineering segments, offering a unique combination of IT based solutions and services.

I am pleased to inform you that a robust corporate strategy of pursuing multiple growth drivers led to a healthy performance during the year. Your Company's ongoing empowerment and transformation initiatives have translated into healthy growth during the year. A prudent selection of key business areas has made your Company a major player, both in India and internationally, in infrastructure, Defence, Homeland Security and Enterprise Information & Communication Technology sectors.

Your Company achieved an excellent performance during the year 2006-07. The total consolidated revenue for the year was Rs. 721.67 Crores, as against Rs. 543.39 Crores for year ended June 30, 2006. This represents a growth of 32.6 percent. The Net profit after tax was Rs. 172.64 Crores against Rs. 127.32 Crores in the previous year and this represents a strong growth of 35.6 per cent.

I am delighted to apprise you of the successful completion of your Company's Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCB) issue of USD 150 Million during the year. These zero-coupon FCCBs have tenure of 5 years and 1 day and are convertible at a price of Rs 737.40 per share, a premium of 50 % over the closing price of shares on the date of closure of issue. Your Company's net worth continues to be strong and stands at more than Rs. 1000 Crores with a marker capitalization of over Rs 5000 Crores, thereby crossing the USD 1.25 billion mark.

In line with Company's philosophy of adopting best international regulatory practices and high standards of corporate governance, your Company has also published consolidated accounts for 2006-07, drawn under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which have been audited by Grant Thornton.

Recognizing the need for diverse industry experience to succeed in today's business environment, your Company has in place strategic long-term alliances with world technology leaders, such as Intergraph, Z/I Imaging, PTC, Microsoft, Oracle, CA and others. Your Company's joint venture company in India, Stone & Webster Rolta Limited with Shaw's affiliate, Stone & Webster, Inc, has profitably completed its second full year of operations in Engineering Design Services, particularly in refinery, process, petrochemicals and power sectors. Your Company's Joint Venture with Thales, France, has been established and this JV owned 51% by Rolta and 49% by Thales, is well poised to provide state-of-the-art C4ISTAR information systems for Defence, Aerospace and Security markets worldwide.

Your Company has set up the Training Academy with an investment of millions of dollars, to provide training to Roltaites in a very formal and structured manner, using dedicated faculty and the latest state-of-the-art software tools. This academy is an important facility in helping us ramp our people strength to almost 15,000 professionals in next 3 to 4 years.

Thirst for growth is not just a distinctive feature, but also prevailing attitude at Rolta. Your Company plans to continue with our expansion thrust by adopting an approach that includes both organic and inorganic growth. We have begun acquisitions with the recent purchase of Orion Technology, Canada, and to further accelerate this momentum, we currently have with us cash and cash equivalents exceeding US $200 million.

Your Company is listed on NSE & BSE "A" Group and the shares are also traded under the "Equity Options" and "Equity Futures" in the F&O segments of NSE. Rolta forms part of BSE Midcap, BSE 200, BSE 500, BSE Teck, BSE IT, NIFTY Midcap 50, CNX IT & S&P CNX 500 indices of BSE & NSE. The Company's GDRs are listed on London Stock Exchange & FCCBs are listed on Singapore Stock Exchange.

Your Directors have recommended a dividend of Rs. 5.00 per share for the year 2006-07 as against Rs. 4.00 per share for the previous year. I am very pleased to inform you that your Directors have recommended for the issue of silver jubilee bonus in the ratio of one equity share for every share held, fulfilling your long-standing demand in this regard.

Future Outlook

The NASSCOM strategic Review 2007 has estimated that Indian IT industry has large untapped growth potential in the emerging global IT off -shoring market with an addressable market size in excess of USD 330 billion. In the engineering services sector the NASSCOM/Booz Allen study "Globalisation of Engineering Services" has projected the global spending on engineering services to increase from the current level of USD 750 billion to USD 1.1 trillion by 2020. The potential off shoring market available in India is US $ 2 billion and the same is projected to increase to USD 60 billion by 2020. This presents immense possibilities of growth to your Company in the years to come.

Investments in Indian Infrastructure are expected to cross US $ 1 trillion in the medium term to sustain the GDP growth of over 9%. Geospatial technology and data will be required and play an important role for infrastructural development in sectors such as core infrastructure, airports, seaports, highways, bridges etc. Exponential growth is expected in oil and gas, conventional and non-conventional power sector in India. The Indian Defence and Homeland Security sector is emerging as the biggest buyers worldwide and expected to spend over USD 100 billion in next five years. Your Company is in unique position to capitalize on these huge opportunities due to its leadership position in these sectors and also on account of its joint ventures with world-class organisations like Stone & Webster (USA) and Thales (France).

To day, your Company with its inbuilt solid foundation in terms of an established track record, empowered people, domain knowledge, world class infrastructure, enduring partnerships and healthy financials is well positioned to address the huge opportunities and stands at the threshold of a new growth era. I look forward to bring about a quantum jump in the value Rolta brings to all its stakeholders, concurrently providing meaningful service to our Nation.

Acknowledgements

I express my sincere appreciation to my colleagues on the Board, the Management Team and Roltaites at all levels for their invaluable contribution in driving your Company towards greater heights of excellence. I also thank our Bankers, Business Partners and Customers for their support and cooperation.

Finally, I thank you shareholders for your consistent support. I believe we are heading towards the path of accelerated growth and I look forward to your continued support in achieving our goal. I particularly thank all of you who have come personally to this meeting, sparing your precious time.

Thank you,

Kamal K Singh
Chairman & Managing Director