‘It is always better to spread your wings’

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: At the helm of Lanco Infratech, Madhusudhan Rao appears set to chart a fresh course for his company, which was set up in 1993 with an initial focus on construction. With 23 subsidiaries across 12 states and a market capitalisation of $4 billion, this Lanco Group company today rides chairman Rao’s acumen for meeting ambitious business targets in areas as diverse as wind power, finance and development. In an exclusive interview with FE’s Kavitha Venkatraman, Rao talks about what Lanco wants to accomplish with its new projects. Excerpts:

What are your plans for the power business?

Lanco Infratech has recently entered the wind power business, both as manufacturer and developer of projects. It is, by and large, the largest vertical of the company. Nearly 500 mw of power projects are already operational and about 7,500 mw of projects are under various stages of implementation. The company is qualified to handle power projects of at least 10,000 mw. We will bid for this over the next six to seven months across India. Besides, as part of a business development initiative, 5,000-mw thermal and hydel projects are under various stages of implementation.

We are going to bid for projects in Uttar Pradesh. These projects will be of about 3,000 mw. Besides, we are qualified to bid for projects in Punjab and Karnataka and an ultra-mega power project in Jharkhand. We are also adding 400 mw to our Lanco Kondapalli Power Project. Construction has begun and the idea is to generate power by 2009. The project will be implemented through balance sheet funding.

Our vision is to have power projects of 15,000 mw up and running by 2015. We are confident of achieving this goal. If five years are considered gestation period for any power project, we will need another 6,000 mw of projects in the next three years. We are positive of achieving that, looking at the number of projects we are qualified for.

In recent years, the company has been laying a lot of emphasis on property development. What are your current projects and how much space are you planning to develop?