Ahluwalia Contracts India to foray into highways

Ahluwalia Contracts India, which is primarily into civil construction, urban infrastructure, industrial contracts and real estate contracting, plans to become a highway developer, said chief executive Arun Sahai.

“We have already put in pre-qualification bids for some highway projects,” he added.

The New Delhi-based company also plans to bid for water & sewage treatment projects. “We have been doing water treatment for the houses we build but we want to take up bigger, city-level projects,” Sahai said. The company is targeting an acquisition in this space.

Currently, the only development project the company is executing is a bus terminus in Kota, Rajasthan.

Ahluwalia has unexecuted orders worth Rs 5,500 crore, which it plans to complete in two years. Nearly 40% of the order-book is government contracts.

According to a Systemtarix Instutional Research report dated March 10, Ahluwalia is the lowest bidder for projects worth Rs 300 crore and is targeting to increase its order-book size by 30% next fiscal.

The company will by June finish construction of a Rs 1,000 crore village for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the capital. The village consists of 1,178 dwelling units for players. “We have already started handing over blocks to the developer,” Sahai said.