Construction companies bet big on water infra projects

With the formation of a Water Ministry – Jan Shakti -- to bring various waterschemes under one roof, domestic engineering and construction companies are expecting big ticket deals in water-related projects in the near future.

Welspun Enterprises, for instance, expects water projects to contribute to its current order book of ₹5,240 crore, and in the next two years it will look to build a robust order book of about ₹5,000 crore under the water infrastructure vertical, said MD & CEO Sandeep Garg. SPML infra, with an order book of ₹4000 crore for water infra projects, is currently executing 25 water projects in different states. It received ₹783 crore largest single order in 2019 for SAUNI Yojana, phase 3 projects in Gujarat, informed Mr. Subhash Sethi, Chairman, SPML Infra Limited. The company has completed over 500 projects exclusively in water supply segment, so far, providing drinking water facility to over 50 million people in India.

Others, like KEC International have reactivated their water vertical team and hired officials, informed Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been one of the largest beneficiaries of water projects in India so far as in FY 2018-19, it added six new customers and is currently executing around 150 projects. Other players are hopeful that with the Centre‘s intervention, issues related to payments and clearances will get ironed out.