KEC International which is the flagship infrastructure company of RPG has diversified into civil construction as orders in its core business of power transmission have slowed down and it expects opportunities in railway electrification to be limited, a top company executive said.
KEC International has, so far, primarily focused on engineering, procurement and construction work for power transmission and distribution and railways electrification projects. It is now looking to leverage on its capabilities in these sectors to bid for construction projects.
Managing Director, Vimal Kejriwal, said that KEC International has observed that the railways is moving towards civil and signalling jobs. There is a huge potential for civil projects in railways. So for, the last few months KEC International has started looking at civil jobs related to railways — conventional and metro and regional rapid transport — and it has started getting some orders, too.
Earlier this week, the company announced it has won a Rs 580 crores contract to build an elevated viaduct and stations for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor, from National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), and another order worth Rs 265 crores from Kochi Metro Rail. In July, rail minister Piyush Goyal had said in the Lok Sabha that 1,253 railway stations have been identified for upgradation under the ‘Adarsh’ station scheme. KEC will look at tapping this opportunity, said Kejriwal, who is also the company’s CEO.
On the company’s core business of power T&D, Kejriwal said that transmission orders have slowed down this year; except for some urgent projects that happened has very fast. It is lowest bidder in orders worth Rs 3,000 crores, so it hopes it is finalised soon.
KEC has been diversifying its portfolio to de-risk its exposure to the local power transmission sector by expanding to new geographies and new businesses, like the ‘smart city’ segment.
IDFC Securities said in a report earlier this month, “KEC’s diversification into new segments and sustained traction in T&D have resulted in strong revenue visibility.
Source: Economic Times