DS Constructions, a player in road and urban infrastructure projects, has come a long way since it started 20 years back. DSC director Manhad Narula, in an exclusive chat with FE?s Rajat Guha, shares his vision about the company and various projects the company has completed and will develop in future. Excerpts:

How has been the journey so far for the group?

We have been in the infrastructure business for more than 30 years now. We started building mega projects in countries like Libya and the West Asia. After running successful businesses overseas, we ventured into infrastructure projects in India almost eight years back and since then, have successfully undertaken seven milestone projects in India. We have emerged as a leading infrastructure developer in the country. Our focus is to create infra-wealth in the country.

What kind of strategy has ensured growth of the company?

What set us really apart from others are overseas experience, our ability to identify and pick the projects that set industry benchmarks, such as Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, and our project management skills. With overseas experience of developing infrastructure projects, we had set up our Indian operations in 2002 to take advantage of opportunities which had opened up in the Indian Infrastructure arena in the late nineties. We bid for big projects and since then, have undertaken seven projects on a pan-India basis. We have done well in the BOT space with full service capabilities in both EPC and Asset Management. We have already committed an investment of $ 1.25 billion in seven projects in India.

Why is your company largely focussed on infratsructure only?

Our expertise in using state-of-the-art technology with project management skills and global experience give us an edge in infrastructure sector. We have successfully used Norwegian technology in constructing Barapulla bridge project in Delhi that drastically reduced the project time from 36 to 18 months.

We have also successfully executed first railway BOT project in India. It required conversion of existing 90 km of meter gauge line to broad gauge in Gujarat.

How do you fund your projects? What are the main fundraising methods you employ?

We fund our projects through a combination of internal accruals and debt. But, at present, a significant 50% of the required funding is being pumped through internal accruals. We also plan to access ECB window at a later stage.

Any plans to venture into other growth sectors such as power?

Yes, we are already developing 4,300-mw hydro power in Arunachal Pradesh. We have concessions from the Arunachal Pradesh government to develop four hydro power plants with an investment of $6700 million. These projects are under various stages of development.

We would also look into thermal power generation in time to come.