Cash balance of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. was nearly wiped out over the last one year at Rs 140.49 crore as of March 2019, according to its exchange filings. Its receivables—or payments from clients—jumped two-fold to Rs 13,938 crore. The receivables now account for 70 percent of the company’s annual consolidated revenue from operations, 98 percent of which comes from the Ministry of Defence, according to its 2018 annual report.

HAL’s revenue from operations rose 6.82 percent over the last year to Rs 19,894 crore in 2018-19. Its profit after tax also rose 13.8 percent to Rs 2,264.77 crore.

Despite this, the company raised short-term loans to meet its working capital needs as receivables rose. Short-term borrowings jumped fivefold over the last year to Rs 4,058.1 crore as of March 2019, the filing showed. Borrowings had declined to Rs 21 crore in September.