IRB core strength lies in our ability to execute BoT road and highway projects, through our in-house domain knowledge, expertise, and capabilities.

1. IRBCommitted
to Create World-class
Roads & Highways
Infrastructure for India
“Our core strength lies in our ability to execute
BoT road and highway projects, through our
in-house domain knowledge, expertise, and
capabilities. We have one of the largest
BoT portfolios in the country with a
total length of around 9,846 km.
Our robust orderbook reinforces
our confidence and enthusiasm
in our construction vertical
and we’re committed to create
world class roads & highways
infrastructure for India,” says
Mr. Sudhir R Hoshing, Joint
Managing Director, IRB
Infrastructure Developers
Ltd. in an interview with
S.A.Faridi & Maria R.
IRB Infrastructure has carved out
niche in the Roads, Highways and
Bridges segment by completing
numerous projects on BOT basis.
Kindly retrace the fruitful journey.
Incorporated in 1998, IRB
Infrastructure Developers Ltd.
is India’s leading infrastructure
development company in the Roads
and Highways sector.
Since our first project, our
actions have been guided by the
sole objective of delivering value.
Over the years, we have reinforced
our commitment by delivering large,
technically complex projects across
India, on difficult terrains, and in a
tough industry environment.
Building seamless connections
and facilitating economic and social
progress, we are proud to be a part of
India’s transformation.
How has the business performance
been of IRB in the last 3 – 4 years and
what steps have kept you insulated
from economic downturn?
IRB Group has been a consistent
performer over the last decade. The
consolidated turnover of the Group
has increased from `732.71 crs in FY
2007-08 to `5,130.23 crs in FY 2015-
16, achieving CAGR of 24%.
The Consolidated Profit after tax
has increased from `126.57 crs in FY
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68 NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2016

2. Ahmedabad-Vadodara
2007-08 to `636.27 crs in FY 2015-16,
achieving CAGR of 20%.
The consolidated net-worth has
increased from `1,620.70 crs in FY
2007-08 to `4,827.23 crs in FY 2015-16.
Various achievements and steps
taken by IRB which have kept us
insulated from economic downturn in
the last 3-4 years are discussed below:
Increasing our geographic
presence has been our focus for
several reasons. When we extend
our footprint, we are expanding and
diversifying our revenue streams,
thereby generating sustainable value
for all our stakeholders and taking
us on the trajectory of higher growth.
IRB’s projects are now operational or
under implementation in eight states,
with plans in the anvil to extend
operations across more states.
Recognizing the fact that
execution capability was key for the
success of these projects, IRB built
a large equipment bank over the time
consisting of sophisticated plants &
equipments required for undertaking
multiple projects. Keeping pace with
the growing order book, the work
force is also ramped up to approx.
6184 strong hands and is growing.
Appropriate measures taken in design
stage itself to get effective design
and optimization of the cost of the
Project. The good planning and
utilization of resources like manpower,
materials and equipment has seen
the timely completion of India’s first
mega highway project, namely the
development of 2 laning to 6 laning
of NH-8 section and improvement,
O&M of Ahmedabad – Vadodara
Expressway within 35 months, one
month ahead of schedule.
Inorganic growth through
acquisition of BOT (Build, Operate,
Transfer) projects in the secondary
market has been an integral part of
our evolving growth strategy. IRB
has acquired 74% holding of MVR
Infrastructure & Tollways Private Ltd
in 2012. MVR Infra, a subsidiary of
IRB, is the concessionaire for Omalur
Salem–Namakkal BOT road project
in Tamil Nadu. The project stretch of
68.625kms is located in Tamil Nadu
on the busy Bangalore–Kanyakumari
section of NH 7.
IRB has taken various innovative
steps to secure the funding – IRB
raised `440 Crores through QIP in
2015inachallengingmarketcondition.
This resulted in an equity dilution of
around 5.7%. The funds utilized to
finance current and future projects. In
2016, Securities and Exchange Board
of India (SEBI) has approved IRB
Infrastructure Developers’ application
for Infrastructure Investment Trust
(InvIT), paving the way for launch of
India’s first such instrument.
The Centre has set an ambitious
target of constructing 40km of road
per day in 2016-17. Do you think
that we have this much expertise,
technologies and workforce to make
this happen? How is IRB prepared
to be a part of this initiative?
Infrastructure development in India
is riding a new wave of optimism. To
achieve the objective, the year saw
the Government and the National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
taking a series of steps to revive
weakening private sector interest in
road projects.
So, we feel that the ambitious
target of constructing 40km of roads
per day in 2016-17 looks challenging
but attainable. At IRB, we are proud
to partner this positivity, pace and
progress by bidding for BoT projects,
which leverage best our in-house
domain knowledge, expertise and
capabilities.
Interview
72 NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2016

3. Interview
74 NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2016
Don’t you think that with only
Hybrid Annuity Model, the
government can’t build 40km of
roads per day and have to review
BoT/PPP model to attract private
involvement? What, according to
you, are the aspects government
should address in the BoT/PPP
model?
It will be probably a mixed bag of EPC,
BoT and Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM)
based on the criticality of the projects.
The challenges at present include
high interest rates, delays encountered
in securing environmental and other
clearances, hurdles in land acquisition
and various other procedural issues.
Quality of DPR still remains to be
improved.
What is IRB’s core strength?
Our core strength lies in our ability to
execute Build-Operate-Transfer (BoT)
road and highway projects, through
our in-house richly experienced
human resources and domain
knowledge.
Some of our prestigious projects
include sections of the Golden
Quadrilateral and the National
Highways.
We have one of the largest
BoT portfolios (operational projects
and projects under construction)
in the country with a total length of
around 9,846 km. We also maintain
the infrastructure assets as per
concession agreement requirements,
enhancing sustainability for all
stakeholders – Community, Client
and the Company. The Company has
good debt equity ratio considering the
Infrastructure industry standards.
Tell us about your orderbook and
major projects in hand.
Our Order book as on March 31, 2016
stood at around `10,000 crs.
Such a robust order book which
is to be executed over the next 3-4
years reinforces our confidence and
enthusiasm in our construction vertical.
Major projects include Sholapur
Yedeshi (Maharashtra), Yedeshi
Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Kaithal
Rajasthan (Haryana), Karwar Kundapur
(Karnataka) and Agra Etawah (Uttar
Pradesh) which has recently achieved
financial closure.
Technology plays a big role in
executing sustainable projects. What
is your equipment bank strength and
what advance equipment are you
planning to induct in your fleet in the
near future?
IRB is having its own adequate nos.
of Asphalt Plants; Wet Mix Plants;
Concrete Batch Mix Plants; Crushing
Plants; Crushing Plants of different
capacities; Truck Mounts; Asphalt
Pavers; Tandem Rollers; Pneumatic

4. Interview
NBM&CW SEPTEMBER 2016 75
Tumkar-Chitradurga
Tyre Rollers, and Sand Classifiers.
All the equipment are of latest
technology to meet any challenges
arising out of execution of project.
Being one of the prominent builders
of the country, how do you assess
government’s last two years efforts
to bring the infrastructure sector’s
glory on backtrack in general and in
the roads sector in particular?
Both the Government and the National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
have focused on development of roads
and highways sector of the country.
The Ministry of Road Transport
& Highways has set a target of
constructing 15,000 km of highways
in FY17, which is more than double of
the kilometers of highways awarded in
FY16.
Around 25,000 km of road
projects are expected to be awarded
by the government in FY17, as against
10,000 km awarded in FY16.