BK Dhar, CEO, MFAR Constructions MFAR Constructions, born in 1996, is the brainchild of Dr P Mohamed Ali, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Galfar Engineering and Contracting SAOG, and CD George, who is at the helm of the Chemmanur Group of Companies. BK Dhar, CEO, MFAR Constructions, who has had a long association with the parent firm Galfar Engineering and Contracting SAOG, is scaling new heights for the company since its inception here. He discusses his company’s plan of action with Jayanthi Nararyan…. Strong status Most of our projects have been residential but we are into a diversification spree this year and will be handling more government project - either commercial or residential. Recently, we bagged a project from GAIL at its commercial signature building at Noida. We also bagged an army accommodation project in Bhubaneswar. We are diversifying in industrial projects too. We are also trying for a few road projects. We applied for qualification for a few jobs and are awaiting the results. We are bringing foreign companions to work with us. Our sister concern Wade Adam may also join hands in some projects. Our current order book position stands at Rs 1,200 crore. Though we do not have projects in the power sector, we are planning to go in for other infrastructure projects in a big way. We quoted for the Kolkata Metro and are quoting a tender for Chennai Metro too. We have a pan-India presence and have around 52 projects on hand, of which 25 are residential. We have worked for around 79 lakh sq ft last year; this year our target is 225 lakh sq ft. Core strengths We are a highly safety-conscious company. This culture has come from Galfar. Galfar is internationally known as a highly safety-conscious organisation and we have received various accolades for it too. Many people in the industry are following this approach and have become better than us. We are so happy to see that a safety revolution has started! Quality, speed, safety and modernisation are the hallmarks of our company. We aim to contribute to the nation-building effort in a substantial way by providing quality construction for the betterment of the society and by dedicating ourselves to perfecting construction by adopting modern technology and the latest construction techniques. CSR initiatives Even though we are a small organisation, we lay a lot of emphasis on corporate social responsibility. At present, we are building 100 houses in flood-affected areas of Bihar, although we don’t have any business there. Work is on; almost 40 houses have been completed. The government has already allotted the land and the names of the people for whom it has to be constructed. We will hand the houses over to the local villagers. For 100 houses, our budget was Rs 1 crore; we allotted Rs 1 lakh per building. We have also helped in a lot of relief operations. Currently, we have started to make houses in a village called Gadag, which is near Hubli. We have about 500 houses to construct, for which we have partnered with Mangalore Builders’ Community. The work has already started. We understand dignity of labour and take care of all the basic necessities of the workers on site. Equipment and technology As per the business plan, we chart our capital budget every year and buy the required equipment accordingly. We do have a set per cent that is finalised in the beginning of the year. We have been planning to buy modern machinery as we know it will increase the quality and speed of work. This will be very useful as construction workers are not easily available. Labour cost is going up and every year there is a 50 per cent increase in wages. Going international We have quoted a few tenders for government projects in Abu Dhabi. By 2010-2011 we have plans to concentrate in the Middle East region. It will be easy for us to establish ourselves there as we already have our affiliated organisation there. Energy-saving issues As we are contractors we carry out work as per the developers’ specifications. But we also take the initiative to make green and sustainable buildings. We try to protect the top soil and use recycled material as far as possible. Our construction sites are completely different. We take care of the debris, we ensure not to disturb the trees around and we do not contaminate the soil or underground water. These efforts have gained us recognition. Awards and accolades We have bagged various awards for safety and quality consciousness. These include the International Safety Award-2009 from the British Safety Council; the NSC Silver Safety Award 2007 for the ACS Vasundhara Project, Phase II and South City Garden Project; and the Safety Innovation Award for three consecutive years (2006 to 2008) from the Safety and Quality Forum of the Institution of Engineers (India). What’s more, we have also bagged the Golden Peacock Award 2008 for Occupational Health and Safety, along with Greentech Safety Gold Award 2008, among many others. Future strategies We follow our parent organisation Galfar as it does everything from commercial institutions, residential projects and roads to pipelines, revised hospital plans, refineries, cross-country pipelines and roads. Our ultimate aim is to do the same in India. We are growing slowly and not being aggressive as we want to consolidate the business first. Fact sheet Established: 1996Top management: Dr P Mohamed Ali, Chairman; B K Dhar, CEO No. of employees: 1,000Centres of operation: All India (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, West Bengal, NCR, Orissa, Bihar and Chhatisgarh)Major projects: Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital (Cancer Wing), Bengaluru; Jaypee Greens, Noida; City Centre Mall, Mangalore; The Gateway Hotel, Kolkata; Daaj Hotel, Hyderabad; Yenopaya Medical College & Hospital, Mangalore; Sesa Goa -Steel Plant (blast furnace & coke oven), Goa; Brigade Gardenia, Bengaluru; Salarpuria Sanctity, Bengaluru.