Hindustan Construction Wins $60 Million Civil Engineering Contract for Kashang Power Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Hindustan Construction Company Limited (BSE:500185) (HCCL) (Mumbai), a major Indian construction and infrastructure firm, has been awarded a civil works contract by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) (Shimla, Himachal Pradesh) for the integrated Kashang hydroelectric power plant.

The Kashang project, located in the Kinnaur district, will be developed using water from the Kerang and Kashang rivers, which are tributaries of the Sutlej River. The project will be built in four stages and will have a total installed capacity of 243 megawatts (MW), comprising a 48-MW unit in Kerang and three 65-MW units in Kashang. HCCL will carry out civil engineering work for the 195-MW Kashang power project at a cost of $60 million. Construction activities will include the development of an underground powerhouse, head and tailrace tunnels, power and conveyance channels, underground reservoir, intake structures and de-silting basins. Construction is scheduled for completion in the next 45 months.

HPPCL recently initiated the process of inviting bids for electro-chemical work for the Kashang project, which is a part of the state's clean energy initiative. In early 2009, the Asian Development Bank (Manila, Philippines) sanctioned a loan of $800 million toward the clean energy initiative in Himachal Pradesh. The four projects that will benefit from the financial aid include the integrated 243-MW Kashang power project, the 111-MW Sawra Kunda power project, the 402-MW Shontong-Karcham hydropower project and the 100-MW Sainj power project.

HCCL is part of the Hindustan Construction Group, which has been a key player in the construction, real estate and infrastructure sectors in India for the last 76 years. The group specializes in complex state-of-the-art construction and is also a leader in implementing build-operate-transfer and engineering-procurement-construction projects.

HCCL has executed large-scale projects in urban infrastructure, oil and gas, transportation, power and marine industries, having constructed 160 kilometers of tunnels, 2,227 kilometers of roads and highways, 11 nuclear power and 15 hydropower plant complexes, 321 bridges and 43 barrages. The company has built the surge shaft and race tunnel for the 1,500-MW Naphtha-Jhakri hydropower project and the underground powerhouse for the 300-MW Chamera hydroelectric project. A joint venture led by HCCL recently won a turnkey contract to construct the 330-MW Kishenganga power project in Jammu and Kashmir. The $560 million project will take up to 84 months to complete.

In December 2008, the company announced a net profit of $466.1 million for the third quarter of the current fiscal year, registering a year-over-year dip of 7.38%. Net sales surged by 9.26% year over year. HCCL declared an order backlog of $2.44 billion at the end of third quarter, which was 35% higher year over year.

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