CCCL Infra looking at PE for Rs 2,000 cr investment

Business Standard: March 10, 2010

Chennai: CCCL Infrastructure Ltd, part of the Chennai-based Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd, is planning to raise money through private equity for its proposed investments to the tune of around Rs 1,500-2,000 crore. Besides, the company is also planning to foray into power generation and logistics business.

Speaking to Business Standard E Viswanathan, chief executive officer, CCCL Infrastructure Ltd said over the next 18 months the company is planning to invest around Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore in various projects.

“We are looking for private equity fund to partly fund the investment.” The company is presently in the process of evaluating the value and proposed dilution, he added.

The proposed investment includes Rs 153 crore to create infrastructure at Pearl City Food Port (SEZ), a special economic zone for food processing industry being set up by the company at the port city of Tuticorin in south Tamil Nadu.

“The first unit, being set up by Hexa, a honey maker, is likely to start production by end of this month in the SEZ.”

The company has acquired around 900 acres for setting up the SEZ which will also have a residential project, helipad, hotels, golf course and others.

“One of the first of its kind infrastructure would be automated movements of goods within SEZ.” Since the SEZ will cater to export market, especially to quality-sensitive markets, no vehicle will be allowed inside the SEZ, and the entire SEZ will be automated whereby any movement within the SEZ will be on conveyor, said Viswanathan.

“Housing project would cost around Rs 400 crore, which will be taken as part of phase II development,” he added. The company is also scouting for partners for schools and other commercial developments inside the SEZs.

The other projects, in which the company is planning to invest are automatic car parking facility in Delhi for an estimated cost of around Rs 272 crore and a Ro-Ro facility, for handling cars, at Chennai port for an estimated cost of around Rs 150 crore.

“We got L1 for setting up the automatic car parking facility, which will handle 1,500 cars. The project will be executed on a 30 year BOT model,” said Viswanathan.

Commenting on the proposed foray into logistics business, he said, the company has tied-up with a Korean-company, he declined to reveal the name, to create automatic RoRo facilities at Indian ports. “We will jointly bid for Chennai Port project first, which is estimated to be around Rs 150 crore.”

The company won Chennai-Tirupathi road connectivity project and likely to take up two more road projects. “Total aggregate value of these projects would be around Rs 1,500 crore.”

“The other major diversification would be power,” said Viswanathan. The company is planning to set up a one mega watt solar-based power plant at Tuticorin. The plant can be expandable to five mega watt. “We will finalise the papers by March.”

He added, the company will also look at bio-mass based power plants in Tuticorin, once the SEZ gets 60-70 per cent occupancy. “We can source raw materials for the power plant from the SEZ,” said Viswanathan.