Patel Engineering bags Rs 2,500 crore arbitration award

Construction company Patel Engineering has won arbitration awards of over Rs 2,500 crore and expects its debt to halve on Cabinet's decision to revive the construction sector.  The company's total standalone debt as on March 31, 2016 stood at nearly Rs 4,535 crore. Further, as per reports, claims approximating to Rs 5,000 crore are in the arbitration process and are expected to be monetised within next 12 to 18 months based on the Cabinet decision. The funds will be utilised to reduce the debt even further, says reports.Rupen Patel, Managing Director, Patel Engineering, which is an integrated construction company specialising in hydro-power generation, irrigation and urban infrastructure projects, believes that the Cabinet's decision on payment of arbitration awards to infrastructure companies will support construction companies to infuse liquidity into the stressed and help create more jobs. The company, that has executed projects across Arabian Gulf, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, will shortly be able to reduce the debt by 55-60 per cent and even further within the next 12-18 months. According to reports, this additional liquidity with the help the company strengthen its balance sheet and enable to participate in large infrastructure projects.