SQL Star strode up to the 20% ceiling at Rs 8.65 in morning trades following a substantial order from the Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Board. By 11:45 IST, the outstanding buy position in the scrip of the small-sized computer software company was 62,066 shares on BSE.

A total of 20,888 shares changed hands so far The stock of SQL Star has now risen 116.25% from its 52-week low of Rs 4 (in a month-and-a-half).

The company has bagged a pathbreaking " E-Agricultural Marketing " project on a Build -Own-Operate (BOO) basis, worth Rs 80 crore from the Madhya Pradesh Agricultural Marketing Board. Under this project, all operations of the 229 mandis in Madhya Pradesh will be available online.

The project, the first of its kind in the country, is a unique model of public-private participation in the information technology for agriculture sector. This project is a part of the MP government's objective to promote E-governance. SQL Star has been entrusted with the task of ensuring that IT applications are provided for provisioning of services to farmers efficiently.

Through this E-Agricultural Marketing project - named E Krishi Vipan (EKVI) - SQL Star is endeavouring to establish a new generation of fully transparent agricultural marketing practices.

SQL Star International is an information technology company, involved in integrated operations of software development, education and IT consulting.

The order bagged by the company is more than double that of the company's full year's sales. For the full year ended 31 December 2002, the company registered a dismal performance by recording a 90% fall in net profit to Rs 0.03 crore (Rs 0.29 crore) on a 28% drop in net sales to Rs 33.72 crore (Rs 46.99 crore).

For Q1 ended 31 March 2003, the company registered a 67% fall in net profit to Rs 0.03 crore (Rs 0.09 crore) on a 2.4% decline in net sales to Rs 8.58 crore (Rs 8.79 crore).

As on 31 March 2003, promoters held 56.43% stake in the equity of the company, while the public and institutions held 35.74% and 1.68%, respectively.