By IANS,
Dubai : Leading Indian infrastructure firm Nagarjuna Construction Co (NCC) is planning four new projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) even as it analyses the effects of the global financial crisis on the Gulf construction sector.
“We are actively considering four new projects,” Majoe Mathew, general manager of NCC’s UAE operations, told the Emirates Business 24X7 business daily.
“One of them is the construction of an academic institution in Dubai, which is a turnkey project and the total construction value is still not finalised. But it could be around 200 million dirhams ($54.4 million),” he said.
On the effect of the global financial crisis on the Gulf construction sector, Mathew said developers were pausing to carefully study the situation and its impact in the long-term.
Most of the Hyderabad-headquartered NCC’s international operations are concentrated in the Gulf, mainly in the UAE and Oman.
Its international arm is currently holding orders worth over $816 million.
“Most of our projects are with the government departments. We are also a bit careful about what we are accepting. There is no point in taking up projects, which could get considerably delayed due to lack of funding,” Matthew said, adding cost of construction in the region has also gone down.
However, with banks cutting down on credit to real estate companies, developers of the region were not able to start work on projects that have been already planned, Matthew said.
According to the report, NCC is among the seven firms that have qualified to build a series of dams in Al Amerat Heights in Oman. The contracts are expected to be issued in February next year.
Following Cyclone Gonu that lashed the Oman coast last year, the Oman government decided to construct a series of dams across Wadi Adai and its tributaries.
Wadi is the Arabic word for a dry riverbed.
The primary objective of the Wadi Adai dams project is to provide a greater degree of protection to the Qurum and Al Amerat areas against flooding, triggered either by cyclonic or normal rainfall.
NCC has reported a 26 percent rise in net income in the second quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal.
It posted a net income of Rs.10 billion in the second quarter of 2008-09, compared to Rs.6.78 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to a posting on its website.
The net profit of the company for the quarter stood at Rs.423 million, compared to Rs.336 million a year earlier.
Total turnover for the six months ending Sep 30, 2008, increased to Rs.20.3 billion as against Rs.14.4 billion in the year-ago period.
Net profit for the first half of 2008-09 stood at Rs.793.8 million, compared to Rs.696.7 million in the corresponding period last fiscal.