Kirby gets Rs 1,900-mn contract from Renault-Nissan

Hyderabad: Pre-engineered building (PEB) maker Kirby Systems has secured the mandate to execute infrastructure for Renault-Nissan automotive project coming up near Chennai.

The deal, valued at Rs 190 crore, builds on similar projects that the company executed for Nokia, Foxconn, Skoda, BMW, Ford and the Suzlon group.

The Chairman of Kirby Building Systems India, Mr Praveen K. Tandon, said this is a significant win for the company and covers material input of around 20,000 tonnes and a built-up area of 3 lakh square meters.

The PEB requirement for the proposed car project includes buildings for stampings, trims and chassis, body shop, power train and painting areas.

Unlike traditional construction mode, the PEB will enable Kirby to complete the work from concept to finish in less than nine months, thereby cutting short overall project implementation time.

Typically, when construction is more than 10,000 tonnes, the cost of the project works out similar to other structures, but brings in huge savings in time and maintenance costs, he said.

Mr Tandon said that the company is in the process of holding parleys for similar projects. Kirby has executed over 2,500 PEB projects in the country and is on course to earn revenues of Rs 1,200 crore this year.

Part of the Kuwait-based Alghanim Industries, a multi-billion conglomerate, Kirby has five plants, two in India at Hyderabad and Haridwar, two in West Asia, and one coming up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Referring to Kirby’s plans for expansion, Mr Tandon said, “the company currently accounts for about 55 per cent of market share. With new generation buildings coming up, we are looking at structural steel building base. However, rising steel costs has been a cause for concern.”

PEBs offer several advantages, including faster deployment, flexibility in expanding and dismantling and environment friendliness. Therefore, this is the ideal option for not just factory sites, manufacturing units, and warehouses, but also commercial and housing segments, he said.