Symbol. Local contractors see New Delhi’s Baha’i Temple as an early indicator of Indian construction prowess. In his first visit to India as World Bank president this summer, Paul Wolfowitz singled out infrastructure as a growth impediment for the world’s second-biggest nation. Indians already knew that and have been trying to catch up on years of neglect. Despite bureaucracy and limited budgets, infrastructure development is helping fuel a boom. Large Indian contractors are reporting annual sales rising over 30%, and margins are fatter than those in the West. "Less than 6 to 7% [after tax] may not be acceptable in
Good Fit. T. Venkatesh signed up for training program after reading about it in a newspaper. Almost as big as Califor-nia’s population, India’s construction work force is vast but largely untrained. The questionable quality of much work testifies to the fact that only some 15% of India’s estimated 30 million construction workers has been through structured training, according to the Mumbai-based Construction Industry Development Council. The problem is exacerbated by Indian contractors reliance on simply mobilizing large numbers of workers. Paying them about $5 a day, contractors compensate for low productivity and limited equipment with big crews. But as construction
Highways and More. L&T moves into fledgling domestic BOT market for transportation jobs. (Photo courtesy of Larsen & Toubro) Three years before India’s in-dependence, two Danish engineers predicted the need for an indigenous contractor to fill voids left by the departing British. Their hunch paid off. Their creation, Larsen & Toubro Ltd., now is by far India’s largest construction group, growing ever bigger on the back of buoyant home market and cultivating more business abroad. In size, L&T is unrivaled at home. With sales last year growing 35%, to about $3 billion, the company is nearly five times bigger than
Gulabchand Having seen his firm, Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd., grow tenfold in the last seven years, Chairman and Managing Director Ajit Gulabchand forecasts continuing expansion in infrastructure construction for a decade or more. As he looks forward to increasing business for the rest of his career, his problem is mainly acquiring good, qualified people to handle the work. While Gulabchand is relaxed about finding engineers, even by importing them, he is more concerned about a dearth of skilled labor. Labor productivity in India is one-twentieth that of the U.S., he reports. He says he is lobbying the government to support
Contractor "We have never seen such good times for the industry in this country," says Hafeez Contractor, one of India’s most vocal architects. With a staff of 280 people and growing, his firm is overflowing its Mumbai office to new promises. And the work keeps coming. "At least for my lifetime, we are OK," says the 55-year-old graduate of Mumbai University and New York City’s Columbia University. Living in the densely populated island city of Mumbai, Contractor sees high-rise construction as the only way for populous India to develop and leave green space. But the 710-meter-tall cluster of spiky towers
Breakthrough. Delhi Metro had first machine-driven subway tunnel in India. (Photo left courtesy of Dywidag International, right by AP/Wideworld) Contractors and design firms are now preparing to bid for the next phase of the rapidly expanding metro system in India’s capital. The first underground section, completed this summer, is impressing locals and visitors with its spacious, air-conditioned calm, contrasting with the frenetic atmosphere above in Old Delhi’s teeming streets. Costing about $2.3 billion, the metro’s 66-kilometer first phase was completed in stages over some seven years, starting in October 1998. That included the underground north-south Line Two, with 6.6-km of
Gridlock Buster. Sea link viaduct will bypass congestion that snarls roads down the tapering island that forms Mumbai. (Photo left courtesy of Hindustan Construction Co.) Exerting surprising influence, operators of a small fishing fleet halted and reshaped one of India’s most significant viaducts, being built to ease Mumbai’s chronic congestion. Other obstacles also impeded progress, but the contractor now is pushing the 6-kilometer-long concrete viaduct of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link across the mouth of Mahim Bay. The link will run north-south across the bay’s mouth on the city’s west side. Its twin decks each will carry four lanes of traffic
Gupta With the Himalayas on its northern border, India will rely increasingly on hydro power to plug its energy gap. Building these plants now is the main business line of Jaypee Group, one of India’s largest contractors. Of the 50,000 MW of hydro the government says it wants in the next 10 years, "the group alone could do 5,000 MW," claims R.L. Gupta, a director of the group’s design division, Jaypee Ventures Ltd. "No company in India is capable of doing [hydro] EPC or BOT…except Jaypee," he claims. New Delhi-based Jaypee is close to securing the first two build-operate-transfer projects
Related Links: A Rebound in Nonresidential Building Markets Keeps Growth Going Commerce Predicts Housing Will Hold On NAHB Predicts That Higher Interest Rates Will Cool Off Housing PCA Says Inflation Will Be a Problem Markets Will Retrench in 2006 Shortage of Big Machinery Continues Amid Explosive Buying Spree Forecast 2006 The complete Forecast 2006 cover story with all data and analysis is free to ENR subscribers but can also be purchased for only $17.95. click here for more information. One of the most optimistic forecasts for next year comes from FMI Corp. The Denver-based industry management consultant predicts that the
Related Links: A Rebound in Nonresidential Building Markets Keeps Growth Going Commerce Predicts Housing Will Hold On FMI�s Forecast Leads the Bulls NAHB Predicts That Higher Interest Rates Will Cool Off Housing Markets Will Retrench in 2006 Shortage of Big Machinery Continues Amid Explosive Buying Spree Forecast 2006 The complete Forecast 2006 cover story with all data and analysis is free to ENR subscribers but can also be purchased for only $17.95. click here for more information. The Portland Cement Association predicts that inflation will take a big bite out of construction growth next year. "The hurricanes this year helped
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