KEC International eyes major infrastructure projects
Hiran H. Senewiratne
KEC International Limited, one of the largest power transmission
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies in the world,
is exploring opportunities in infrastructure development projects here.
KEC International is eyeing a significant share of the expected
growth in the global Railway industry. Leveraging strong client
relationships in over 40 countries, KEC International is making
way to emerge as a vendor-of-choice. With an enviable reputation
to its credit, the Company is well-positioned to ‘electrify’ the
Railway sector. |
“We are very interested in Sri Lanka because this country has the
potential to emerge as one of the major economies in the region, which
prompted us to come here,” its Managing Director/CEO Ramesh Chandak told
the Daily News Business.
He said they have successfully completed the Kerawalapitiya-Kotugoda
transmission line project for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) which
was commissioned in August 2008. This project has enabled the timely
supply of 300 megawatts of power from the Kerawalapitiya combine cycle
power plant into the national grid.
Chandak said KEC International was awarded this turnkey 220 KV double
circuit project by the CEB through an international competitive bidding
process in February 2007 which was funded by the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC).
He said the transmission line was constructed through the
Muthurajawela marsh and adjoining thickly populated areas which required
special designing for tower foundation using innovative technology of
the cast in pile foundation used for the first time by the CEB for
transmission line projects in Sri Lanka.
The company is also into other areas including telecom, railway and
substation design and exploring major infrastructure projects in Sri
Lanka as many such infrastructures projects are in the pipeline, he
said.
he company is also working closely with Indian telecom giant Bharati
Airtel as well, he said.
“We are also happy to be part of the nation building efforts in Sri
Lanka and look forward to working on many such power infrastructure
projects in the future.
We also exploring other projects in the telecom, railway sectors as
well,” he said.
According to Chandak, the KEC recently bagged the largest-ever
international order in the company’s history from Egypt worth US$ 129
million. They also entered Tajikistan in Central Asia by bagging an US$
18 million order and re-entered Australia by bagging orders worth US$ 8
million for EPC projects.
KEC International Ltd is a global leader in the EPC business. With
global operations spanning over 40 countries, KEC international is the
flagship company in the transmission sector of the US$ 3 billion RPG
Enterprise. |