IVRCL set to ink pact with Russian firm

50:50 joint venture, to be called GEO-IVRCL, to offer oil & gas engineering consultancy

City-based IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects Limited, the Rs 775-crore infrastructure and engineering major, is slated to enter into a 50:50 joint venture agreement with a Russian oil and gas engineering consultancy company, GEO Engineering.

The joint venture, to be called GEO-IVRCL, will offer oil and gas engineering consultancy to companies that are operating in the domestic market.

E Sudhir Reddy, vice-chairman and managing director of IVRCL, told Business Standard that the agreement with the Russian company would be inked in the near future.

"The market for such services is growing in our country and we want to be a major player. The discussions for the tie-up are at an advanced stage and an agreement will be signed very shortly," he said.

On the investment side, Reddy pointed out that typically consultancy companies of the kind GEO-IVRCL would not be highly capital intensive and the investment required would be only around Rs 2 crore.

"We will offer clients, through this joint venture, drawings related to oil and gas exploration and high-end engineering consultancy," Reddy said.

IVRCL recently bagged new orders worth Rs 216.26 crore bringing the total value of the order book to over Rs 1,800 crore. The company is now aiming to more than double its order book position in the next three years to touch Rs 4,000 crore by 2007.

Interestingly, the company plans to halve the number of projects it has on hand. "We want to increase the value of projects that we are handling, rather than just handle more projects. Also, we expect close to 10 per cent of our order book position by 2007 to be coming from the international market," Reddy said.

This apart, IVRCL, according to Reddy, was increasing its footprint in India to cover the eastern block of states, which include Bihar, West Bengal, and the northeastern block of states.

The company had recently bagged a Rs 65.37-crore housing scheme at Surya Nagar, Banahalli, in Bangalore. Engineering Projects India Limited awarded the order.

In Uttaranchal also, IVRCL had recently bagged a hydroelectric power project valued at Rs 59.3 crore. The project is to be taken up at Bhilangana. IVRCL also secured an order worth Rs 58.72 crore for laying a water distribution network under Sujalam Suphalam Drinking Water Supply Scheme in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Water Supply & Sewerage Board has awarded the project to IVRCL.

The other projects bagged by the company include the Rs 24-crore remodeling of primary and secondary storm water drain in Bangalore from Bangalore Mahanagar Palika and miscellaneous works valued at Rs 8.87 crore.