Maytas Infra bets big on oil, gas

Hyderabad: The company has roped in a Ukrainian company for technical knowhow.

A Rs 310-crore pipeline project currently being executed for the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) by Hyderabad-based Maytas Infra Limited is just a beginning as the company is eyeing a bigger pie from the $3-billion opportunity it sees in the transportation and installation (T&I) in the oil and gas industry in the immediate future.

Energy, which includes oil and gas industry, is one of the four verticals that the company aims to even out in terms of value and operations in the next 3-5 years from the predominantly irrigation projects-led turnover at present.

It would focus on oil and gas operations under NELP V and NELP VI that have started reaching the T&I level, according to PK Madhav, director and chief executive officer (CEO), Maytas Infra.

Maytas, which recently went public, has already roped in a Ukrainian company to bring technical knowhow for building pipelines and stations. 'We want to undertake both offshore and onshore T&I projects,' Madhav told the media here on Tuesday, while stating that they may have to either acquire companies or access the assets related to execution of such projects some time in future.

According to him, this segment would offer opportunities for a longer time since it's counting on oil and gas exploration and production operations under NELP V and NELP VI for the next 3-4 years.

This is in addition to the downstream opportunities, such as refinery construction, the company is looking at.

The company, which is currently executing 30 projects in all with a total project cost of about Rs 4,800 crore, excluding the joint venture partners' share, also proposes to look for more opportunities in the transportation segment including airports and ports.

It has already been awarded a couple of small airports projects in Karnataka and Machilipatnam port in Andhra Pradesh. It has tied up with Vienna Airport for bidding for airport projects in the near term.

Though the company is comfortable with the average margin of 13 per cent being offered by the four verticals, it plans to move up the value chain by increasing the ticket size of the projects.

Last year, the company recorded a turnover of Rs 800 crore, which was 100 per cent higher compared with the previous year. It is maintaining the trend this year and is targeting the same in the near future as well.

The company, however, sees no need for larger infusion of funds while scaling up its operations at present since close to 70 per cent of the projects on hand are cash contracts.

'You can do a Rs 1,000-crore project with Rs 100 crore on hand as most of them are cash contracts. But as we go forward, the company would become equity- intensive with more projects, including roads, being taken in build, operate, transfer (BOT) mode,' he said.

As for its overseas foray, the company expects to get a couple of big building projects in the United Arab Emirates in the next couple of months.

The company CEO said they would want to take up only special projects. According to him, Maytas Infra is currently chasing 10-12 projects under various verticals with a total value of around Rs 3,000 crore.