Feb 4 (Reuters) - Engine maker Cummins India

reported a nearly 6% rise in adjusted quarterly profit on

Wednesday, helped by lower expenses despite a drop in revenue

from a year ago.

The ‌company, a unit of U.S.-based truck engine maker Cummins

Inc ( CMI ), posted ​consolidated profit before tax and

exceptional items of 6.95 ‍billion rupees ($76.89 million), up

from 6.57 billion ⁠rupees a ⁠year ago.

Profit after tax fell nearly 13% to 4.86 billion rupees, ‌due

to a one-time charge ​of 1.27 billion rupees related to India's

new labour codes.

Cummins' Indian unit is a ⁠key supplier of power ‍generation

equipment ​to industrial clients and also produces engines for

trucks and ships, as well as propulsion systems for ‍trains.

India's industrial output picked up towards the end of the

quarter along with manufacturing activity. After a 0.5% rise in

October, output jumped 7.2% in November and 7.8% in December.

Analysts had said ​they ‍expect modest sales growth for

Cummins in the quarter due to a high base in ​the year-ago

period, noting a slowdown in orders for power generating

equipment from data centres due to "front-ending" of deliveries

in the second quarter.

Cummins' income from operations fell 1.5% to 30.06

billion rupees. Expenses dropped nearly 3% for the quarter, to

24.75 ​billion rupees.

Shares of the company closed 0.88% higher ahead of the

results.

($1 = 90.3920 Indian rupees)