CCCL Infra eyes PE funding

CCCL Infrastructure Ltd, part of Chennai-based Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd, is looking at private equity funding for its proposed Rs 2,000 crore expansion plan.

Speaking to Business Standard, E Viswanathan, chief executive officer of CCCL Infrastructure, said over the next 18 months the company was planning to invest Rs 1,500-2,000 crore in various projects in logistics and power segments.

 “We are looking at private equity to partly fund the investment. The company is currently in the process of evaluating the value and proposed dilution,” he said.

 The proposed investment includes Rs 153 crore to create infrastructure at Pearl City FoodPort, a special economic zone (SEZ) for the food processing industry at the port city of Tuticorin. The company has acquired around 900 acres for setting up the SEZ, which will also have a residential complex, helipad, hotels and golf course among others.

The first unit in the SEZ, being set up by honey maker Hexa, is likely to start production by the end of this month.

“Since the SEZ would cater to the export market, especially to quality sensitive markets, no vehicles would be allowed inside. The entire SEZ will be automated whereby any movement of goods within the SEZ will be through conveyor,” said Viswanathan.

On the other hand, the housing project would cost around Rs 400 crore, which would be taken up as part of phase II development, he added. The company is also scouting for partners for schools and other commercial developments inside the SEZ.

Automatic car parking facility
The other major projects are an automatic car parking facility in Delhi at an estimated cost of Rs 272 crore and a ro-ro facility for handling cars at Chennai port for Rs 150 crore.

“The automatic car parking facility will handle 1,500 cars. It would be executed on a 30-year build, operate and transfer (BOT) model,” said Viswanathan.

The company would jointly bid for the ro-ro facility at Chennai port. It has also tied up with a Korean company to create automatic ro-ro facilities at other Indian ports. Viswanathan did not reveal the name of the Korean partner.

Chennai-Tirupati road connectivity project
The company is also executing the Chennai-Tirupati road connectivity project and is likely to take up two more road projects. The total aggregate value of these projects would be around Rs 1,500 crore.

The other major diversification, he said, was into the power segment. The company is planning to set up a one mega watt solar-based power plant, expandable to 5 Mw, at Tuticorin. “We will finalise the papers by March.”

It would also look at bio-mass based power plants in Tuticorin once the SEZ gets 60-70 per cent occupancy. “We can source raw material for the power plant from the SEZ,” Viswanathan said, adding they plan to go for an IPO in 2015.