Bridge and Roof Company (India) Ltd, a construction company under the Department of Heavy Industry, is looking to re-enter the roads sector and wagon manufacturing.
Power, oil and railways currently contribute a major part of the company’s total turnover, which stood at around ₹3,082 crore in 2018-19.
According to Sunil Kumar Sarder, Chairman and Managing Director, B&R had exited these sectors for a variety of reasons.
For instance, it had got into a dispute with NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) and subsequently exited the roads sector in 2013. However, it has won an arbitration case against NHAI and is exploring re-entry.
“Transport is our main focus area. We are currently not in the road sector; we are trying to enter it. We were also in wagon manufacturing some years back, we are looking to re-enter,” Sarder told newspersons at a press conference to announce the company’s Centenary Celebration Programme here on Thursday.
Order book
B&R has secured several high value orders during the previous year aggregating upto ₹7,462 crore. The company is executing construction work for HPCL – Mittal Energy Ltd at Bathinda for its petrochemical project. It is also executing BS-VI projects at various oil refineries at IOCL Haldia, Paradip, Guwahati, Vadodara; at MRPL Mangalore; at HMEL Bathinda and at CPCL in Chennai.
Other projects which are underway include those for the Indian Railway. This covers doubling of tracks and ancillary work at Howrah and Malda division in West Bengal and in Jharkhand. It is also carrying out railway station development at Santragachi for the South Eastern Railway.
“To ensure sustainable growth we plan to expand the field of activities to SMART cities, water distribution network, cross-country pipeline and non-conventional power among others,” he said.
The company is hopeful of achieving a turnover of ₹3,500 crore by March 2020. B&R, which has been able to report profits for four consecutive years, is also planning to approach the central government to take a relook into its disinvestment plan.