Here is a verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with YM Deosthalee on CNBC-TV18. Also see the accompanying video.

Q: The order book that was growing last year same time at a run-rate of Rs 12,000 crore, now grows at Rs 9,000 crore. What is your own estimate of this back-ended expectation that in the second quarter the order book might pickup? Are you really able to see that kind of enthusiasm among people who are putting in Capex and projects?

A: First of all let me clarify that it is not completely back-ended. These numbers that we had announced yesterday are better than our internal estimates, they are better than our budgets.

The second point is during the first quarter or slightly before that, there was a lot of work on the election front and very few decisions were actually taken. We had factored that particular thing into our projects.

The third point is that we are putting a lot of emphasis in two new areas: Power and railways. What we are trying to do is we are beefing up our capabilities and the result of that will be seen soon.

So, overall, these numbers are better than our internal expectations. The second thing is that time and again we have said that quarter-to-quarter; it is very difficult for anybody to judge a company like L&T because when we get jobs, the jobs are bigger. Sometimes we get single jobs of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. Therefore, suddenly you’ll find that there is a jump in order book. So, it is not that the order inflow is evenly spread out during the year. Last year was an exception. During that year, we had order inflow throughout the year in all the four quarters. But that doesn’t happen normally.

Considering all the factors, considering the budgets prepared by our own operating companies, we have indicated that we will grow at the rate of 25%. There is no change in that except for the fact that probably markets expect that growth to come in an even manner.

Q: You mentioned power and rail, and my question relates to both. We are seeing a whole slew of new IPOs going through or new ADS’ going through, starting with Sterlite, Adani, and we’ve got Indiabulls. Could you tell us how much of the contracting or the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) work is coming your way? If you’ve got a number on some of the new money being raised, which is a couple of billion dollars? On the real side, are you going to use Kalindee Rail as the vehicle to get into Railways or are you doing work directly with them? Could you comment on both these specific issues?

A: As far as power is concerned, once we get the EPC job we will make an announcement. But we are expecting orders both from the private sector as well as from the public sector.

When I say private sector, you are right, there are lots of IPOs, there are a lot of companies that are putting up power plants. We are talking to some of them. Hopefully something will materialise. That is one.

We are also working on some electricity boards projects. We will work on the NTPC contract or tender, which is likely to come soon. So, it is both public sector as well as private sector. Individual order sizes are quite big in private sector and therefore we are reasonably confident that we will get good jobs from private sector, much bigger than what we had received in the last couple of years. That is on power.

On railways, Kalindee is just one vehicle. We had beefed up our own internal capabilities in railways. We have setup our own engineering and construction wing for doing railway projects.

You must be aware that currently we are doing three jobs in the railway sector. One is a coach factory, which we are doing for the Indian Railways. The second one is the Monorail project, which we are doing in Mumbai. The third one is a merry-go-round project for one of the power plants.

In all these three areas there is scope. What we were attempting to do through Kalindee was to complete our capabilities in the railway sector because they have some strength in signalling and some of the other areas, which are important for us to be a complete player in railways.

So, our foray into railways is going to be largely due to our internal strength. Maybe it will be supplemented if we are successful in Kalindee.

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