Ahluwalia Contracts to step up infra play

New Delhi-based Ahlu-walia Contracts is looking at shifting its focus away from real estate to opportunities in the infrastructure segment, its chief executive officer Arun Sahai said.

Realty contracting has so far been the company’s mainstay with nearly 40% of its Rs 4,500 crore order book consisting real estate projects. “We are not taking up any more realty projects. Though developers are coming to us we are not too keen because their cash flows are still not great,” Sahai told DNA Money.  He said the company is, in turn, looking at core infrastructure projects such as highways, metros and urban development.

Since September, Ahluwalia has bagged contracts to construct four stations and a depot workshop for the Bangalore Metro Rail Corp and a depot workshop for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corp. The company’s first metro contract was to build four stations for the New Delhi Metro Rail Corp. The firm has plans for the road sector, too.

“We are not ruling out highway contracts in the near future because of the volumes available there,” Sahai said. Ahluwalia presently does not have road contracts. 

The company is also looking at bidding for water and sewage-treatment projects.  “Ahluwalia would like to have BOT projects. They would initially be in the urban development space and then, maybe highways,” Sahai said.