SPML Infra wins orders worth Rs1,232 crore

Mumbai: SPML Infra Ltd, a Gurgaon-based infrastructure developer, has got orders worth Rs.1,232 crore from Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam and Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, the company said on Tuesday.

SPML Infra is in the business of water supply and management, waste water treatment and reuse, sewer-line maintenance and repair and power development, transmission and distribution.

The contracts from UP Jal Nigam are worth Rs.1,002 crore and are for augmenting drinking water supply to Agra city. This involves laying 128km of water pipeline.

The contract from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam, worth Rs.230 crore, is for infrastructure development of three hydro power-generating units at Kutch, Gujarat, with a combined capacity of 23 mega watts (MW), SPML said in a filing to BSE.

For the Agra water supply project, 150 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of Ganga water will be transported from Palra Fall on the upper Ganga Canal to Mathura and 140 cusecs onward to Agra. The project also involves reduction in water leakage and further savings in water wastage, the company added.

The water infrastructure market in India is still nascent, but the opportunities are huge. To tap into this demand, many large companies, including Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T), Thermax Ltd, Ramky Infrastructure Ltd, Praj Industries Ltd and VA Tech Wabag Ltd, to name a few, have strengthened their presence in the market.

According to a 21 July report by Barclays Research, the market size for water supply and sanitation is $6 billion and is expected to reach around $10 billion to $12 billion a year by 2016-17, according to Planning Commission estimates. "We see demand being driven by five major segments-fresh water supply, waste water management, water recycling and reuse, desalination plants and equipment (pipes, pumps, irrigation equipment)," the Barclays report said.

IL&FS Water Ltd (IWL), an infrastructure firm specializing in water and waste water projects, said that it is targeting to expand its portfolio to $1 billion, or around Rs.6,000 crore, by the end of the current fiscal, Mint reported in August. IWL is a unit of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS).

At 11.50am, SPML Infra rose 4.8% to Rs.65 on BSE, while the exchange's benchmark Sensex gained 0.33% to 26,955.26 points.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.