The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, one of the oldest industrial houses in the country, is giving a greater thrust on "owned" infrastructure in the power, roads and ports sectors as the company approaches its 150th year of operations.
"We have done a lot of projects under our company Afcons as contractors; now we will give a greater push for ownership-based infrastructure projects," group Managing Director Shapoor Mistry told PTI on the sidelines of a function here today.
Constructing power plants, roads and ports would be the key focus areas for the diversified privately-owned group, Mistry said, adding, "we have already done some work in these areas, but owning projects would be our key focus in the times to come."
The multi-billion dollar group has interests spanning real estate, construction, textiles, apparel, shipping and water purification appliances, among others.
Chairman Pallonji Mistry, who is Shapoor's father, is one of the largest shareholders in Tata Sons with an 18.5 per cent stake in the salt-to-software corporate behemoth.
All the companies in the group are privately held. The group had initiated proceedings to list infrastructure firm Afcons in 2007 by filing a draft red herring prospectus but had not moved on that front since then.
When asked about the same, Mistry said, "we do not plan to list it any time soon, but are not against listing."
Group firm Eureka Forbes, which clocked revenue in excess of Rs 1,200 crore in the last fiscal, is currently looking at overseas acquisitions to help it grow to having a presence in 80 countries from the current 30, Mistry said, adding the group wants to make it the "largest direct selling company on the planet".
"We are celebrating our 150th anniversary in 2015 and have set lofty goals for ourselves," he said.
