Dear Shareholders,
My work takes me to different parts of the globe and wherever I go, the
general comment is that India will be a country to watch out for when
investments catch up with its infrastructural deficit.
They wonder that if the economy can continue to grow at the
second-fastest rate in the world (8.5% in 2010-11) in an environment of
policy paralysis, then the projected Twelfth Plan infrastructure outlay
of USD 1 trillion will make the sector an excellent proxy for global
growth.
Infrastructure - a proxy of India''s economic prowess India''s
infrastructure (social and economic) is critical to its competitive
edge. The country''s GDP growth rate declined from 9.4% in 2005-06 to
8.5% in 2010-11, partly on account of an inability to respond to
growing needs. The result is in the numbers:
- Despite India emerging as a trillion dollar economy way back in 2007,
the country still suffers from a peak power deficit of more than 10%,
prompting production slowdowns.
- Despite India having the second- largest road network in the world,
only 0.5% of this network is four-laned, affecting fuel efficiency and
just-in-time delivery.
- Despite three of the ten biggest cities in the world being located in
India, they also happen to be among the most polluted.
- Despite rural India accounting for 60% of the national population, it
accounts for only 18% of the national GDP due to a large
infrastructural skew.
- Despite India being the world''s second-fastest growing economy,
exports account for a mere 1.5% of global trade compared with China''s
7.7%.
China is leagues ahead: The country possesses among the world''s largest
pipelines, the largest mono-rail network, the largest sea bridge and
one of the largest power plants. India''s need to catch up underscores
optimism for its construction sector and frontline companies like
Unity.
Catalysing infrastructural growth through restructuring
India''s infrastructure requires assets that will cater to the
requirements of the day and scalable to service the growing needs of
tomorrow. This scalability needs to be woven around optimal capex so
that the asset remain affordable for users. For this to happen a
mindset shift is required: Construction companies need to extend beyond
the role of mere contractors and engage in the complete asset lifecycle
(design, finance, construction, operation and ownership). This
integration will ensure long-term asset usability and margins-
accretion on account of complex higher ticket engagement.
At Unity, we responded with business restructuring comprising the
following features:
- One, provide focused resources for each business vertical comprising
building and industrial construction, transportation as well as
irrigation and water supply
- Two, treat each business as a separate corporate entity with targets
and budgets
- Three, foster a spirit of healthy internal competition to strengthen
overall efficiency
- Four, enhance management bandwidth to capture value in synergic
vertical opportunities
- Five, unleash the value embedded in each vertical
With this restructuring in place, we are already in the L1 stage for
orders of nearly Rs. 1,800 cr in the first quarter of 2011-12, and are
confident of achieving our targeted fresh order accretion of Rs.
4,000-5,000 cr in 2011-12.
Leveraging our three-decade sectoral experience, we strengthened our
execution capabilities through state-of- the-art construction assets
and strong people competencies. This will result in faster site-level
turnarounds and order book liquidation, resulting in a projected Unity
topline of USD 1 bn in three years.
Sincerely,
Kishore K. Avarsekar
Chairman and Managing Director
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