L&T plans foray in Africa for power transmission lines

NEW DELHI: Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro is planning a foray in the African continent for setting up inter-country power transmission lines as part of its overseas expansion plan.

"Our next stage of expansion will be in Africa, where we are looking at projects for setting up transmission lines. However, this is at a preliminary stage," L&T President (Construction) and Board Member K V Rangaswami told PTI here.

He said the company was planning to have a presence in Ghana initially and cater to the surrounding nations.

The company is currently handling about 200 projects, of which some are in the West Asia, South-East Asia and SAARC countries.

"In Africa, it is not possible to restrict ones self to only one country. Inevitably, one would have to enter into inter-country power transmission lines," he added.

About the planned investments for the African foray, he said since the matter was yet to be cleared by the company's committee of Directors it was premature to comment.

Rangaswami, however, said this year the company had earmarked Rs 800 crore for its various ongoing projects.

Currently, it has an order book of Rs 26,000 crore.

About the expected growth, Rangaswami declined to give forward looking statement, but said: "Under the present market situation, it is possible for construction firms to expect a growth of 30-40 per cent in its turnover."

Faced with skilled manpower crunch, he said L&T has decided to cut down on number of project sites and focus on big value constructions.

"Going forward, we will restrict ourselves to big projects. Already we are not taking up projects that are below Rs 50 crore. We are going to extend it to project not less than Rs 100 crore," he said.