Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

The company was founded by Bikramjit Ahluwalia and incorporated on June 2, 1979 under the Companies Act as a private company by the name of ‘Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Private Limited’ with the ROC. In July 1979, the company acquired the business of four partnership firms engaged in construction of which its Chairman and Managing Director, Bikramjit Ahluwalia, was a member.

In the year 1989, by virtue of its high turnover, the company became a deemed public limited company under section 43-A(IA) of the Companies Act and subsequently converted itself into a public limited company on September 6, 1990 and changed its name to ‘Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited’.

In 1996, it offered 800,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a price of Rs 40 per share aggregating Rs 32 million, and the shares were listed on Delhi Stock Exchange, CSE and the JSE.

With specialized experience in the construction industry for more than 40 years, Ahluwalia Contracts an ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:1999 Company have carved a niche for itself in the industry as one of the leading Civil Contractors of the country.

The total group operations is over Rs 1000 crore and works in hand worth Rs 3000 crore is indicative of its high ranking in the industry. The company’s ideological foundations in respect of commitment to time bound completion of projects and high quality construction have been the corner stones to its rapid growth over the years. Its consistent pursuit of customer satisfaction has won it several prestigious awards and all-round acclaim in the past.

The construction services provided by the company consist of the erection of structures and allied services which include planning and scheduling manpower, equipment, materials and the appointment of sub-contractors required for the timely completion of a project in accordance with the terms, plans and specifications contained in the construction contracts and allied documentation. It provide these services by using fixed price and cost plus fee contracts and, to a lesser extent, construction management or design-build contracting arrangements.It is associated with most of the leading architects and consultants of the country such as Mahendra Raj, Rajinder Kumar, C.P.Kukreja, Raja Aederi, Stein Doshi Bhalla, Jasbir Sawhney, Charles Corrhea, Hafiz Contractor, Raj Rewal, Kanvinde Rai Chaudhary, Jacobs H&G, Tata Projects, Tata Consulting Engineers and others for building large institutional buildings and corporate office complexes, industrial complex buildings, multi-storied housing complexes and township development projects, hospitals, medical colleges and laboratory buildings, 5-star hotels, educational and technical institutes, schools and auditoriums, gymnasiums and sport complexes etc.

It is among a selected group of 3-4 contractors who are pre-qualified to bid for most of the mega building projects in India. At present, the company has around 70 projects under execution with a strong net order book of around Rs 2,309 crore (as on Mar 31, 2008).

Business Divisions:

The company has developed various divisions to achieve specialization. These are:

• In-House Electrical Division - ACIL developed in house Engineering Division to undertake complete marketing, commercial scrutiny, costing, designing, basic and system engineering, procurement, construction, erection, commissioning and project management, coordination assignments for the separate electrical works.
• In House Aluminium Division - Its Aluminium Division functions under the name of Ahlcon India. The professionally managed company undertakes designing, supply and installation of aluminium doors, windows, channels and curtain walls along with marketing, project management, quality management and coordination with other works.
• In House Plumbing Division - It had developed in house Plumbing Division to undertake complete marketing, commercial scrutiny, costing, designing, basic and system engineering.
• Ready Mix Concrete Division - Its Ready Mix Concrete unit is functioning under the name of Ahlcon Ready Mix Concrete. The unit is operating 3 plants, in Plant having combined capacity of 100 Cum/Hr, which is also the largest installed capacity in Northern India. The unit is supported by 22 Nos. Transit Mixer, 5 Nos. Concrete Pump and adequate pipe line. The plant follows strict quality measure to produce high quality concrete of various grades and various high performance concrete. Also the unit has its own state of the art laboratory to conduct all test related to concrete and is activity involved in research and development in the field of concrete.
• Quality Control Division - At Ahluwalia Contracts, for each project there is a fully equipped laboratory at site under a senior Quality Control Engineer. Regular inspections and quality audits are carried out both at sites and in the head office for quality assurance.

Projects Executed:

Some of the prestigious projects executed by the company are:-

• Commonwealth Games 2010 Village Residential at New Delhi, costing Rs 688 crore
• Dr S.P.M. Swimming Pool Complex (Talkatora Stadium) at New Delhi, costing Rs 229.7 crore
• Chalet Hotels (K. Raheja Corp.) at Powai, Mumbai costing Rs 111.6 crore
• India Exposition Center and Mart Complex at Greater Noida (UP) (Ph-I & II), costing Rs 260 crore
• Singapore High Commission Building at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, costing Rs 37 crore
• Office Building for SEBI, Government of India at Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai, costing Rs 54 crore
• Multi-Storeyed Housing Complex for Southcity Projects at Kolkata, costing Rs 82 crore
• Five Star Hotel Building for Hotel Scopevista at Lodhi Road, New Delhi, costing Rs 55 crore
• Design and construction of ‘Milon Mela’ Permanent Trade Fair Complex at Kolkata, costing Rs 44 crore
• Brigade Metropolis Housing Complex, Bangalore, costing Rs 90 crore
• Housing Complex “Gateway Towers” for Pearls Infrastructure at Sector-44, Noida, costing Rs 107.50 crore
• “Festival City” Multiplex with Integrated Entertainment cum Shopping Complex at Ludhiana for Aerens, costing Rs 98.50 crore

Awards /Achievements:

• 1982 Appreciation certificate for valuable services rendered to the Special Organising Committee, 9th Asian Games, 1982.
• 1985 Awarded trophy by the Finance Minister of India for successful completion of Finance Ministry’s building complex, ‘National Institute of Public Finance and Policy’, New Delhi.
• 1985 Best building award for construction of India Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.
• 1991 Silver Salver award by Professor J.S. Bajaj, Member Planning Commission for quality construction of National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi.
• It is the only construction company in India to earn three quality recognitions - ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:1999 and ISO 9001:2000.
• Credit rating agency CARE assigned ‘PR1’ (PR one) and ‘CARE A’ (Single A) rating to the company.

Subsidiary:

In July 2008, ACIL acquired 100% equity stake of Ahlcon Ready Mix Concrete and made it a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. The company is currently in the process of transferring its RMC division to the new company.

On August 1, 2008, Ahluwalia acquired 50,000 equity shares of five companies in Kolkata -- Premsagar Merchants, Splendor Distributors, Paramount Dealcomm, Jiwan Jyoti Traders and Dipesh Mining.

Milestones of the company

• 1979 - Company was incorporated as a private limited company.
• 1990 - Company was converted into a public limited company under the name of 'Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited'.
• 1992 - Completed the Chancery building for the High Commission of India, Dubai.
• 1996 - Launched its first public issue of 800,000 equity shares and listed on Delhi Stock Exchange, CSE and JSE.
• 1998 -Completed the Goa legislative assembly project.
• 1999 -Completed the Signature Tower complex project, Gurgaon.• Completed phase-I of construction of the Apollo Hospital project, Kolkata.
• 2000 -Completed construction of the Apollo Tyres Limited corporate house, Gurgaon.
• 2001- Turnover for fiscal 2001 crossed Rs 840 million.
• 2002 - Completed office building for Asian Development Bank, New Delhi.• Completed construction of five star hotel Sonar Bangala for ITC Hotels Limited.• Completed factory building of Moser Baer Limited, Noida.
• 2003 - Turnover for fiscal 2003 crossed Rs1,750 million.• Developed in-house plumbing division to undertake complete marketing, commercial scrutiny,costing, designing and system engineering.• Executed many prestigious projects, including:- ITC Grand Central Hotel, Mumbai;- DPS International School, New Delhi; and- Corporate office for Xansa India Limited, Noida.
• 2004 - Turnover for fiscal 2004 crossed Rs 2,600 million.• Ventured into the RMC business by establishing a plant in Loni in May, 2004.• Received the ISO 9001: 2000 certification from DNV.
• 2005- Turnover for fiscal 2005 crossed Rs 3,000 million.• Completed construction of Pitampura, Rohini East and Rohini West stations for DMRC.• Completed phase-I of the India Exposition Mart project, Noida.

In 2008 Ahluwalia Contractors bagged contracts worth Rs.354 crore collectively from

• Vedanta Alumina for construction work at aluminium smelter project at Jharsuguda in Orissa. (contract value: Rs.118.50 crore)
• Hotel Leelaventure for construction of a 5 star hotel in Delhi. (contract value: Rs.78 crore)
• Ansal API for construction of IT Park in Greater Noida. 9contract value: Rs.47.90 crore)
• Indiabulls Properties for construction work at Elphinston Mills. (contract value: Rs.30 crore)
• Mudra Communications for construction of office complex in Mumbai. (contract value: Rs.15.01 crore)
• Tech Mahindra for construction and piling work of IT Campus in Kolkata. (contract value: Rs.14.82 crore)
• For construction of residential apartments cum club house in Chennai. (contract value: Rs.49.50 crore)

Recent Developments:

• Ahluwalia Contracts bagged an order worth Rs 219 crore from National Building Construction Corporation in May 2009.
• The company also bagged new projects to the tune of Rs 352.98 crore in April 2009.