Ramky Infra: The Road Ahead

Given the industry dynamics, Ramky Infra will continue to focus on quality and timely execution of projects, said Mr. Y.R. Nagaraja, MD, Ramky Infra, in an interview with S.K.Khanna.

Please let us know in brief Ramky Infra's progression so far to emerge as a formidable player in integrated construction, infrastructure development and management having successfully executed and implemented important civil and environmental infrastructure projects in the country.

Ramky Infra, as a formidable player in integrated construction, infrastructure development and management, since its commencement in the year 1994, has been concentrating in a wide range of construction and infrastructure space in various sectors such as water and waste water, transportation (including terminals), irrigation, industrial construction (including SEZs & industrial parks), power transmission and distribution, buildings (including residential, commercial & retail property). Headquartered in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Ramky Infra has five zonal offices to manage its business operations throughout India and an office at Sharjah in United Arab Emirates (UAE) to manage international operations. The pan-India presence has enabled the company to service the growing infrastructure needs across the country.

Ramky Infra operates through three principal business segments; the construction business operated directly by the Company; the developer business operated through 20 subsidiaries and 2 associates and the International Business is operated by the Ramky Infra's wholly owned subsidiary in the UAE, Ramky Engineering and Consulting Services FZC, which takes up activities of overseas business explorations in areas such as infrastructure development, roads, water & waste water.

Ramky Infra is ISO 9001:2008 & ISO 14001:2007, OHSAS 18001 certified for Quality Management Systems, Environmental Management Systems and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems which the Company applies to the design, development, engineering, procurement and construction of projects.

What are company's important business areas being pursued in the infrastructure space?

RIL's important business areas in the infrastructure space are:

1. Water and waste water projects including water treatment plants, water transmission and distribution systems, elevated and ground level service reservoirs, sewage treatment plants, common effluent treatment plants, tertiary treatment plants, underground drainage systems and lake restorations;
2. Roads and Bridges projects covering expressways, highways, bridges, flyovers, rural roads and dedicated service corridors;
3. Building construction including residential, public, mass housing, high-rises, health infrastructure, commercial, institutional complexes and corporate houses;
4. Power transmission and distribution projects covering electricity transmission networks, substation feeder lines and high and low tension distribution lines.
5. Irrigation projects covering canals, barrages, cross drainage works, feeder channels, lift irrigation projects, dams and
6. Industrial projects including aluminum, textile, pharmaceutical, power, petroleum, waste management, industrial parks, SEZ's and related works

Your company has actively been associated with NHAI's roads and highways projects. What are company recent caches in the road and highway projects across the country?

We have currently four NHAI road projects on BOT basis which are under various stages of implementation. Following are the four NHAI projects:

• Four Laning of Jorabat - Shillong (Barapani) section of NH - 40 from km o.ooo to km 61.800 in the state of Assam & Meghalaya on DBFOT pattern under SARDP - NE on BOT (Annuity) basis, at a total project cost of Rs.550 Cr
• Rehabilitation, Strengthening and Four Laying of Srinagar to Banihal Section of NH - 1A,from Km 187.00 to Km 189.350 (Banihal Bypass) & Km 220.70 to Km 286.11 on DBFOT (Annuity) basis, in the state of Jammu & Kashmir (Pkg No:NHDP-Phase-II/BOT/I/J&K), at a total project cost of Rs.1175 Cr
• Four Laning of Hospet - Chitradurga section of NH - 13 from km.299.000 to km. 418.600 in the state of Karnataka under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase III on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT/BOT) basis in BOT (Toll), at a total project cost of Rs.1033.65 Cr
• Six Laning of Agra - Etawah Bypass Section from Km 199.600 to Km 323.525 of NH - 2 in the State of Uttar Pradesh under NHDP Phase V to be executed on BOT (Toll) Basis on DBFOT pattern, at a total project cost of Rs.1207 Cr

Your company has presence in power transmission and distribution segment. What are the important projects in this segment being executed by the company?

The important projects in power transmission and distribution segment being executed by the company are:

• Projects from Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited Viz; a) Combined package of Up-gradation of 33/11kV Sub-station to 2X10MVA, 110/11kV Sub-station at Kagwad; 2X5 MVA, 33/11kV Sub-station to 2X10MVA, 110/11kV Sub-station at Sulthanpur and construction of 110kV LILO line from 110kv Mahalingapur - Raibag 2nd circuit line, b) Construction of 110kv DC line from 220kv Ambewadi Station to Supa Generating Station in the existing line corridor for distance of 13.715kms in Haliyal Taluk, c) Establishing 2x100 MVA, 220/110/11 kV and 1x10 MVA substation at Koppal (Halvarthi) in Koppal District along with the connected 220 KV and 110 KV lines, d) System improvement, Strengthening and Augmentation for bringing down AT&C Losses and improve consumer supply of Bulandsahar, Debai & Khurja Towns in EDC-1 Bulandsahar under R-APDRP Part-B scheme at a total project cost of Rs.125.23 Cr
• Maha infra-2 Pkg 30, Pkg 32 & Pkg 34 - Supply, test, transport, Construction, erection, testing, and commissioning of sub-transmission lines, distribution lines, power transformers, new Sub Stations, augmentation of existing Sub Station, distribution transformers, at a total project cost of Rs.442.93Cr
• Supply of material, survey, consumer indexing, installation, testing & commissioning of 11 KV feeder under Feeders Separation Program; Installation of distribution transformers, & L.T works for segregation of domestic & agricultural consumers in Betul (South) - (Betul-II-Lot-IX), Betul (North) - (Betul-1-Lot-VIII), Jabalpur (Lot-XII), Jabalpur (Lot-V) and in Jabalpur (Lot-XI) at a total project cost of Rs.234.33 Cr

It is really heartening to know that your company has an impressive inventory of state-of-the-art construction equipment. What is the investment gone into this acquisition and how has it been enabling the company to provide comprehensive back up support in executing project to ensure hassle-free operations?

Ramky Infra's proprietary plant and machinery asset base is the result of holistic backward integration planning. It enables Ramky Infra to execute projects of no scale with no time and cost overruns, while adhering to international quality standards. We have incorporated the state of the art equipment worth around Rs.400 crores in the mode of Crushing Plants, Asphalt Batch Mix Plants, WMM Plants, Concrete Batching Plants, Hydraulic Rigs, Concrete Pumps, Excavators, Motor Graders, Paver Finishers, Soil Compactors, Tower Cranes, etc which are used for different construction activities.


The state-of-the-art construction equipment is an important resource center for the smooth functioning of an infrastructure development company, it is a focal point which helps to optimize productivity and ensure hassle free operations.

Recently, Ramky Infrastructure was conferred with 5th CIDC Vishwakarma awards under two categories. What was the benchmark on which these awards were conferred for the company?

Yes, Ramky Infra was conferred with the Achievement Award for Best Professionally Managed Company and Achievement Award for Best Construction Project (87.5 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant, Koparkhairane, Mumbai), as a testimony to the excellence that the company has been delivering.

We believe that our experience and expertise in planning, engineering, designing and constructing environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects is a competitive strength that differentiates us from many of our competitors. Constructing and operating environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects, particularly in the area of Water and Waste Water, has been a significant area of focus for our business.

Infrastructure companies in the country are plagued by poor liquidity, lack of order, high interest rates and declining margin hurting their business, how different is your company from the rest negotiating the economics headwinds successfully. What is your business outlook for the remaining quarter of this year and beyond?

Given the bleak external environment, high inflation, high interest rate, declining corporate investment, poor liquidity, lack of orders; there is not much likelihood of change in the performance of most infrastructure companies. Even so, there are few possible solutions available to mitigate these problems such as having control on fixed costs and focusing more on execution of the projects.

But the economics headwinds should not deter from the opportunity to push through further reforms create infrastructure and generate economic opportunities. Our business outlook is to be one of the top five leading Engineering and Construction companies in India in the next 5 years and we will endeavor to achieve this objective by adoption of best practices such as project management, superior engineering and design, excellence in delivery, efficient procurement of resources and risk management.