Railways upgrade project to benefit Kolkata-based GPT Infra

ET INTELLIGENCE GROUP: Little known Kolkata-based GPT Infra has benefitted from the government’s renewed thrust on improving the functioning of the railways system.

The government has placed large orders to implement electronic signals replacing manual ones, improve tracks and revamp decades-old bridges in its effort to make the railway ride a hassle-free experience. GPT Infra, promoted by second generation entrepreneurs and Wharton graduates Atul Tantia and Viabhav Tantia, is among the first concrete sleeper manufacturers in the country, and a leading one at that.

Sleepers are slabs used between two steel bars to hold the rail tracks. GPT also has experience in building railway, road and airport infrastructure projects, and has constructed the longest rail-cumroad bridge at Patna, spanning across the Ganga.

The company recently received an order worth Rs 360 crore to build sleepers. It also has Rs 1,400 crore revenues from building bridges and other projects, taking its total order book size to about Rs 1,800 crore.

GPT Infra has business presence in other Asian and African markets and has plants in West Bengal, South Africa and Namibia. Currently, the market capitalisation of the company is Rs 312 crore. In the first half, it made a profit of Rs 6 crore on sales of Rs 202 crore.