L&T to invest Rs. 18,000-mn in new ventures

Kolkata: Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said it would invest around Rs. 1,800 crore in the oil and gas and port sectors.

The company would invest around Rs. 650 crore ($165 million) for building an installation vessel for the upstream sector, L&T President (operations) K Venkataramanan told reporters on the sidelines of Chemical Congress 2007 here.

L&T was keen to acquire technological strength in deep water exploration through collaboration with foreign companies, he said.

The company is upgrading its facility at Hazira.

Venkataramanan said the company would also invest Rs 1,000 crore for constructing a shipyard and was also building a port at Sohar near Oman at an investment of around Rs 118 crore ($30 million).

Besides the energy sector, the company is engaged in the construction of greenfield airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The official said as more foreign companies would bid under the new exploration licensing policy, L&T would have an enormous opportunity for providing onshore and offshore rigs for drilling.

It is coming up with a project management institute at Baroda.