Is also looking at executing hydel projects in Madhya Pradesh
City-based NAR Road Equipment Leasing and Infrastructure will add equipment and machinery worth Rs 10 crore in a month.
“We have a fleet of about 40 road equipment and will add another ten in a month,” said NAR founder N Anil Kumar. The company is strengthening its fleet in view of several national and state highways being taken up on a large scale. This apart, there are also projects for upgrading and widening the existing roads.
Set up in 1998, NAR attempts to fill the gap in the availability of road equipment when projects overlap for bigger contractors across the country. It has put up a maintenance network at various places and deputes people to the site for service and repair.
The firm, which first started its operations by executing road contracts and later moved to equipment leasing, is now looking at real estate as a major driver of growth. It has a land bank of about 100 acre near the international airport at Shamshabad. “The real estate segment is bouncing back after a lull. Commercial and residential properties are our focus,” Anil Kumar said.
The company is also looking to raise money from venture capitalists and private equity funds for its real estate and commercial projects. “We are in talks with a few players for raising capital but are not desperate to close the deals immediately,” he said.
Among the various projects, it has secured a sub-contract for overlaying a build operate and transfer highway project on the NH 5 from Nellore to Thada.
Kumar said the company had also applied for hydel projects involving 120 Mw in identified drops (canal or a water body suitable for power production) in Madhya Pradesh. Each project would have 3 to 25 Mw capacity. The projects are under evaluation by a third party and would be finalised soon.
For executing these projects, NAR has roped in city-based AMR Constructions and a US company as consortium partners for financial and technical support. Typically, a hydel plant installation costs work out to about Rs 6 crore per Mw.
