The Hindu Business Line : Quipo to diversify, invest Rs 300 cr

INDIAN Infrastructure Equipment Ltd (IIEL), India's first equipment bank and rental solutions company, plans to diversify into ports and railways in the next 8-9 months.

The company, which has invested Rs 171 crore since inception in 2001, is targeting to invest up to Rs 300 crore by the end of the current financial year.

The funds would be raised through equity and loans, according to Mr S.K. Agarwal, Head, Marketing and Operations.

Providing equipment on rent and maintaining an equipment bank to meet the needs of the growing construction activity as well as helping the infrastructure development is the main focus of IIEL, which had a turnover of Rs 48 crore during the last fiscal 2004-05, Mr Agarwal told newspersons on Tuesday.

For contractors, the burdensome task of buying a large number of equipment is over.

For companies, having excess equipment, they can now have a bank or even better sell it off, with IIEL's help, as the company has a joint venture with Henry Butcher of the UK, the second largest auctioneer of used equipment in the world, he explained.

Mr Agarwal said IIEL had recently bought a US made, used oil rig for excess of $3 million. The rig would be deployed in Barmer region to work for Cairn Energy, which has major exploration and drilling sites in Rajasthan.

The company, also known by its brand `Quipo', is already involved in nuclear plants to road projects, from hydroelectric projects in Kanyakumari to infrastructure projects in Subhanshri in Assam.

It has 1,200 people and operates from 5 yards, where the equipment is housed. The number of yards would be increased to 12 by the end of current fiscal.

Mr Agarwal said IIEL is the first equipment rental bank in the country, though according to estimates there are nearly 5,000 equipment banks in the unorganised sector.

The IIEL has a 50 per cent stake in the NACIEL, established by the Andhra Pradesh Government with a consortium led by the National Academy of Construction (NAC), housed in Madhapur, Hitec City.

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