Punj Lloyd eyes Rs 1 lakh cr worth road projects

Statement follows easy exit norms approved by govt, allowing 100% equity divestment after 2 yrs of completion of BOT projects

Confident over turnaround in the infrastructure space, engineering and construction major Punj Lloyd will bid for road projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore in this fiscal, its top official has said.

"Right now highways is moving. We are finally seeing a fair amount of movement in that sector... We would be bidding for more than Rs 100,000 crore worth projects in next six to seven months," Punj Lloyd Group Chairman Atul Punj told PTI.

"We are looking at a large number of projects right now ... Success rate is typically between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of all the projects we bid," he added.

His comments came days after government approved easy exit norms from highways projects for developers. The government, last week, permitted 100 per cent equity divestment after two years of completion for all BOT (build, operate and transfer) projects, irrespective of year of award.

The approval would allow developers to use proceeds from the sale of divested equity in incomplete projects of NHAI or any other road project besides any power sector project or to retire their debt to financial institutions in any other infrastructure projects.

Punj said that he was confident over revival of infrastructure space with a slew of steps taken by government in the highways sector to boost investors' confidence.

"We hope the railways will follow and on the back of that other infrastructure projects as well... We are looking at all the opportunities as and when they come," Punj said.

Punj Lloyd has executed over 16 highway projects of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) so far. The group's order backlog stands at about Rs 20,000 crore.

The company has executed portions of the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South and East-West Corridor.

On financial front, the company saw widening of its net loss to Rs 597.84 crore for the April-June quarter on sharp decline in income.

Punj, however, said that based on the corrective measures things would be rectified soon.