Mumbai, Jan. 30 -- India's largest engineering and infrastructure conglomerate Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) reported a record high inflow of new orders during the third fiscal quarter ended 31 December. Another record: L&T's overall order book swelled by a fifth since the beginning of the financial year to close at Rs.5.64 trillion as of 31 December.

The company's fresh orders of Rs.1.16 trillion during Q3 were 53% more than the same period last year. Just over half of these orders came from overseas, mainly the Middle East, where governments are commissioning mega projects at a frenzied pace in their push to move away from oil revenues. A big-ticket order from state-owned power major NTPC Ltd added heft to the order book.

"We expect the M...