Essar Constructions In Pact With Malaysian Firm

Essar Constructions Ltd (ECL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with United Engineers (Malaysia) Bhd (UEM) during the recent visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Malaysia. The MoU envisages formation of a joint venture company in the country under the name Essar-UEM Infrastructure Ltd.

The MoU was signed by ECL chief executive officer V N Paradkar and UEM chairman Tan Sri Radin Soenarno in the presence of Union minister of state for commerce Omar Abdullah and Malaysian minister of primary industries Lim Keng Yaik.

The proposed joint venture Essar-UEM Infrastructure Ltd would have access to the technical and managerial support of UEM in bidding for and implementing the national highway, expressway and other infrastructure projects.

UEM is a leading infrastructure conglomerate of Malaysia and is a part of the renowned Renong Group. Some of the major contracts executed by UEM in Malaysia include 848-km North-South Expressway, NSE Central Link, 13.5-km long Penang Bridge, 44-km Malaysia-Singapore second crossing, National Sports Complex and a IT City Cyberjaya. The current market capitalisation of UEM is over RM 5 billion.

Paradkar said ECL's focus on highway and expressway projects and UEM's experience in these fields give the proposed JV a unique edge. "We would like to participate in projects open for private investments on a EPCM, BOT and BOOT basis," he added.