Our revenue has crossed the Rs 1,000 crore mark

Sunil Agarwal, President & CEO, ARSS Infrastructure Incorporated as ARSS Stones Pvt Ltd in 2000 and subsequently branching into the field of major construction work within a span of two years, ARSS Infrastructure is truly a name to reckon with. Over the past ten years, the company has executed a host of projects in infrastructure development and construction. Known for laying new rail tracks, construction of rail and road bridges, signalling and telecommunication work for railways and road widening, the company has had over 102 per cent CAGR of revenue in the past four years. Indeed, it is this unfailing commitment to improving the infrastructural base of the country that led it to be awarded the Fastest Growing Construction Company (medium category) at the recently conducted CW Annual Awards 2010. In a candid conversation with Pia Sinha, Sunil Agarwal, President & CEO, ARSS Infrastructure, reveals the company's activities, core focus and prestigious projects. Excerpts.... The journey ARSS stands for the names of the four Agarwal brothers who initiated this prolific business almost a decade ago: Anil, Rajesh, Sunil and Subhash. At the very outset, we had a crystal clear vision about the kind of work we wanted to get involved in. We knew that sooner or later infrastructure had to boom in the country. With that in mind, we started operations in railways and slowly branched into roads, bridges and even irrigation projects. We are based in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, and have undertaken massive infrastructural work in the eastern and north-eastern segment of the country. In 2000, we became a private limited company and assumed the name ARSS Stone Pvt Ltd, and installed our very first crusher plant in Dhenkanal, Orissa. We continued expansion and added two more crusher plants in Ganjam and Khurda in 2002. The turning point came in 2003, when we were awarded major bridge works in Orissa that allowed us to diversify into earthwork, rock excavation, bridges, roadways and boring piles. Our tryst with success continued, as we began taking greater leaps and strides and creating a niche for ourselves. In 2004, we formed a JV with Triveni Engicons for railway projects. We also have international partnerships with Indonesian company PT Adhi Karya. With an ISO 9001:2008 certification, we converted to a public limited company in 2006. We decided to broaden our horizons further and expanded our operations in Rajasthan, Haryana, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu in 2007, in addition to forming a JV with Patel Engineering Ltd. The year 2008 witnessed another interesting JV with Somdutta Builders for road project execution. Today, our revenue has crossed the Rs 1,000 crore mark and our order book stands at Rs 6,000 crore. Key focus We think, India's infrastructure is lagging behind and hardly at par with other countries and this was essentially our motivation for furthering our business in railways, and further branching out into roads and irrigation as well. We started with very small projects in remote and interior towns and have slowly grown. We are currently operating 40-50 per cent of our projects in railways, about 40-50 per cent in state highways and about 5-7 per cent in irrigation projects. We are working on government as well as private sector projects. Our client list includes, Jindal, Vedanta, HPCL and IOCL. So far, we have completed about 85-90 projects and around 130 projects are currently going on. Project galore Of the total outlay of $39 billion for railways in the Eleventh Plan, 35 per cent or $14.6 billion relates to areas where ARSS has expertise. Further investment is expected by railways post 2012 as it strives to achieve its 2015 mission to double volume of freight and increase train speeds and efficiency. We are currently involved in a host of prestigious projects. Some of our rail projects include the construction of earthwork, bridges, supply of P-way material and linking, ballast, etc, at NTPC, Nagpur, at a contract value of Rs 114 crore; construction of a new BG railway line from New Maynaguri to New Coochbehar, Assam, etc . We are also involved in many projects like doubling of the railway line between Barang-Rajatgarh-Cuttack-Khurda (under JV) in Orissa for the Rail Vikas Nigam. The total contract value of this project is about Rs 424 crore. Road projects include the widening of the two-lane road from Paralakhumundi-R Udayagiri-Mohana in Orissa which was to the tune of Rs 153 crore and the widening and reconstruction of Shahdol-Singhpur-Tulra-Oandariva road up to the Chhattisgarh border. Three major road projects that comprise the construction of the New Road Development under the World Bank at an estimated value of Rs 403.7 crore is also in progress. A project based on the PPP model which includes the development of a modern bus terminal at Baramunda, Bhubaneswar is also underway and has a contract value of Rs 1,360 crore. Turnkey irrigation projects are among our list of specialisations. We recently got involved in the construction of the Kaushalya Dam in the Panchkula district in Haryana. Moreover, we are actively involved in a host of irrigation projects in Orissa as well. We have currently bid for two international projects adjoining India. These include railway projects in Bangladesh and Nepal, although they are yet to be finalised. Creating the distinction Some key strengths that have inspired the company to move forward is the vision of the promoters and their dedication towards work. Employees of the company have also played an integral role in propelling the company to newer heights. Our uniqueness lies in our mixed bag of projects which range from railways, roadways and national highways to irrigation, each with a ticker size of Rs 35-40 crore. Second, we are based in the eastern part of the country, which had witnessed little development since independence. Since we are based here, we are involved in a lot of work and of our total order book, almost 40-50 per cent of our projects are in eastern India. Greenfield projects We are hugely involved in greenfield projects for railways, i.e. working from scratch to completing the total railway line, including major bridge, minor bridge, overhead electrical signalling and telecommunications. We are doing greenfield projects like these in many places including Rajasthan, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Surely, with over 86 projects, 300 km of roads and over 200 km of rail tracks already in their kitty, coupled with the timely delivery of projects to clients in the most cost-effective manner, there is no doubt that ARSS is heading only in one direction: UP! Fact sheet: Established: 2000Top management (promoters): Subhash Agarwal, Rajesh Agarwal, Sunil Agarwal, Anil Agarwal No. of employees: 3,186 (as in September 2010)Current order book position: Rs 6,000 croreCentres of operation: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Delhi. Turnover: Rs 1,013 crore.