Afcons Infrastructure - India's Most Admired Companies 2013

"We will definitely like to soon be a respectable size company of not less than a billion dollars. But more than the size part of it, the way we deliver the projects needs to be our real focus point. Our objective is to set certain bench marks by creating high levels of value for everybody." - K Subrahmanian, Managing Director

For sheer chutzpah you have got to hand it to the flagship company of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Over the last 54 years, Afcons Infrastructure has successfully emerged as a global EPC firm executing projects both in India and the MENA region - which include rail bridges, tunnels, marine and hydro projects - that are growing in size and complexity. In the wake of debilitated economic conditions around the world, Afcons has earned admiration for doing smart business by taking on select, large sized, technically challenging projects - average order size is over Rs 500 crore - and impressing its customers on its timely delivery and the resultant subtraction in costs. In 2008, Afcons entered into one of the most challenging EPC environments - Offshore Oil and Gas. Additionally within infrastructure it is continually evaluating new segments and has recently moved into areas like underground metro and tunnels. As part of its growth strategy, Afcons has formed strategic alliances with global EPC players to penetrate new markets and also absorb new technologies within its fold. No surprise then that Afcons is widely regarded as a significant player on the construction scene today. K Subrahmanian, Managing Director, Afcons Infrastructure is underlining the company's aplomb when he says, "We are one of the few EPC firms in India who have strong delivery experience in overseas markets. Over the last few years, 20-25 per cent of our revenue has come from overseas markets and we look towards increasing it to 40 per cent over the next two to three years."

On innovation: "Innovation is an integral part of our culture and a way of life at Afcons. It is not treated as a separate process but is included in the DNA of our company - from strategy development to day-to-day operations at sites. The company looks at adopting innovative solutions either by itself or by any of its partners. The innovations we have introduced include concrete pumping at Vallarpadam Rail Bridge for a stretch of 2.1 km, which was a national record, adoption of Rowa technology in Rohtang tunnel; in-house manufacturing of the Jack-up barge; cable crane set up in Chenab railway bridge project which is, perhaps, a record, mobilising the world's third-largest Hermod barge to achieve offshore installation (of the ICP-R Process Platform) at the shortest time and adoption of floatover technology for the HRD process platform."

Vision statement: "Fostering an environment that helps in the creation of knowledge and its application to work. We seek to excel in all our business activities and strive to build a creative organisation."

Year of establishment: 1959
Top management: Shapoor P Mistry, Chairman; K Subrahmanian, Managing Director; S Paramasivan, Deputy Managing Director
No. of employees: 6,500
Centres of operation: India, UAE, Oman, Mauritius, Madagascar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Liberia, Jordan, Indonesia
Range of projects handled: Marine and industrial, surface transport, rail & metros, oil and gas, LNG and downstream hydrocarbon, hydro and underground
Turnover: Rs 3,080 crore (provisional for year 2012-13)
Current year order book: Approx Rs 7,500 crore (as on March 31, 2013)
Landmark projects: Conversion of Wet Docks into Dry Docks at Pipavav, Gujarat; ICP-R Process Platform for MHS redevelopment Phase-II project; Engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of maritime facilities LNG terminal-Kochi