Patel Engineering bags ₹798-crore orders for Chhattisgarh coal excavation project

Patel Engineering Ltd has secured two letters of intent (LoIs) worth a combined ₹798.19 crore for a coal excavation and transportation project in Chhattisgarh, the company said in an exchange filing on Wednesday (November 26).

The LoIs have been awarded by Saidax Engineers and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd for work to be executed at the Jhiria West Open Cast Project (OCP) in the Hasdeo area of Bilaspur, for South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL). The project value excludes taxes.

According to the disclosure,

the nine-year contract involves overburden removal, rehandling, coal cutting using surface miners, loading and transportation of coal, and the hiring, supply, and maintenance of required plant, equipment, and manpower. Patel Engineering said its promoters have no interest in the awarding entity, and the order does not fall under related-party transactions.

In a press statement, Managing Director Kavita Shirvaikar said the new project builds on the company’s expertise in executing large-scale infrastructure work and strengthens its future pipeline. "These works come in addition to a robust tender pipeline of more than ₹34,000 crores already bid and under evaluation, as well as further opportunities worth ₹18,000 crores expected to come up for bidding before the end of this financial year," she said.

Nearly ₹1 lakh crore worth of projects are anticipated to open for bids over the next one to two years, she added.

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Patel Engineering, a 76-year-old infrastructure company founded in 1949, has a significant presence in hydropower, tunnelling and irrigation projects, and has completed more than 85 dams, 40 hydroelectric projects and 300 km of tunnelling across India and overseas.

The stock of the company ended 4.4% in the green in the session on Wednesday. The shares of Patel Engineering have fallen 36% in the year so far.

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