In conversation with Vibhoar Agrawal, Founder and CMD of Ganesh Infra Ltd., discussing the company’s remarkable journey, key projects and plans for sustainable infrastructure development in India.
Rumela Banerjee: Ganesh Infraworld is one of the fastest-growing startups in eastern India, specializing in servicing EPC giants. It is known for its diversified projects in different segments of the construction industry. In today’s episode of SmallCap Spotlight, I will be talking to Vibhoar Agrawal, founder and CMD at Ganesh Infraworld, about the company’s journey so far and growth outlook. Many thanks for joining us.
Could you tell the viewers a bit about Ganesh Infraworld? What does the company do?
Vibhoar Agrawal: Hi, I am Vibhoar Agrawal, founder and CMD of Ganesh Infraworld Limited. So, Ganesh Infraworld is all about the EPC contracting world.
So, right now, we specialize in civil, electrical, as well as water EPC infra projects. Mainly, we are working on projects which are useful to the government of India.
Rumela Banerjee: What was the initial vision for the company? Also, could you elaborate on the key milestones and challenges faced during the company’s growth trajectory?
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, initially, we started off as a subcontractor. If I remember correctly, then the first thing from where Ganesh was born was a simple civil project, maybe a residential project. No, that was a project for NTPC labor colony to be built in Hazaribagh. And we started from there as a subcontractor.
And then in the years, then after building a team, getting the appropriate manpower and the technical know-how. So, in the past seven to eight years, we have built up a team of more than 55 engineers. All of them are experienced in approximately 15 to 20 years of experience.
So, starting the journey from a subcontractor, we are probably now a back-to-back contractor to all the big infra giants, as well as we have started participating in direct government contracts, mainly for the government PSUs, like Indian Oil, NTPC, Power Grid, and all. And going forward, we look at ourselves, we have a vision to excel in the infra industry, but mainly in the niche sector only, like not the general infra, infrastructure where some value addition is happening. Like if we want to see ourselves in building national highways, then we want to do the green highways only, where with the vision of Mr. Nitin Gadkari, we are using wastes as a landfill beneath the roads.
So, we want to create our niche in green buildings, green highways, then water systems. We are already a part of the Jal Jeevan Mission initiative, the scheme initiated by the Government of India, through which Mr. Narendra Modi aspires to provide a drinking water tap at each and every Indian household.
Rumela Banerjee: What are the key strategic goals for Ganesh Infra World over the next five years, particularly in light of the growing infrastructure demands in India?
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, for the next five years, I think our target is mainly water as well as electrical. So, a drastic change and a drastic gap is there in the water infra, which is currently there in the Indian economy. Like still there are millions of homes which do not have a drinking water tap. So, we want to excel in the water infra projects as well as the electrical infra projects.
Electrical infra projects, like up to 10 years back, the maximum part of India was, the electricity distribution was happening in the maximum part of India through naked wires all across the roads. But after that AV cable came, aerial bunched cable, in which there was a single wire. But going forward now, most of India is being covered, and is being electrified using underground cabling.
So, we also have a focus in underground cabling as well as smart metering. So, these two will be our focus area for the next five years.
Rumela Banerjee: You know, if you could also tell us how the company plans to adapt to changing market conditions and government policies that impact infrastructure development.
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, changing market conditions, I would say, is impacted more from the HR side, like human resources. If you have a good quality of human resource, then the adaptation happens very, in a very smooth manner. And it is an ongoing process, because change is the only thing which is constant in this world.
So, we are, we and our team are very much adaptive to all the situations which are coming. Because we are a project company, and the project itself is a very dynamic thing. Every day, there are new challenges and there are new situations, which we need to come over.
So, we are definitely very much serious about the manpower, the quality of manpower, which we are having. All of us are proactive. And so, we are quite confident that we will definitely be able to adapt to whatever new policies are coming.
Like, after the demonetization, it was like we adapted ourselves by using IMPS and UPI for the small payments, which is required in the projects, maybe for loading and unloading or for any petty payments. So, that’s how we are very comfortable, because most of the time, the average age of our team is not more than 35 years. So, that’s how we are quite confident in adapting to whatever new situation comes.
Rumela Banerjee: If you could provide a revenue mix among civil, power, water, road and rail sectors?
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, right now, the revenue mix, which is already there, is like a major part is civil, industrial civil projects. And secondly, like I can say industrial civil projects will comprise around 70% of the total revenue. And the next 20 to 25% would be water projects. And the last 5 to 7% would be road and rail projects.
Rumela Banerjee: Could you highlight some of your key projects, any major client that the company has been associated with?
Vibhoar Agrawal: There have been a lot of projects like the first one. The first major landmark project was the labor colony for which we did for NTPC. And after that, going forward for the next two years, our emphasis was to build an electrical team also.
So, in the next two years, we were able to achieve a 100 kilometer mark for the underground cabling, which was again a landmark thing for us. This was in West Bengal for WBCDCL. And right now, all the projects which I mentioned, similar projects are going on.
But right now, our focus is on water. And we are successfully executing the Ghar-Ghar-Jal mission in Uttar Pradesh under the UP government.
Rumela Banerjee: It is seen that your business is diversified across the country. Could you tell the viewers about the top three states that contribute highest to your business?
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, the top three states right now are West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra. But sorry, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, then Maharashtra. But going forward, the sequence will change like we have shifted and we have booked a lot of orders from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
So, going forward, the mix will change a little bit from like the top most would be Maharashtra, then Uttar Pradesh, then West Bengal, and then Odisha. And the rest of the states which are visible in our RHP are the states where small O&M works are going on, and AMG works are going on. So, we have to include those also in our profile.
Rumela Banerjee: What factors contributed to the growth in annual turnover from 130 crore to 290 crore between 2017 to 2023?
Vibhoar Agrawal: See, we are an infra company where the capability to execute a project is directly related to the amount of funds we have. So, the first and the foremost thing was the support which we got from our bankers. Namely, we just have one banker, ICICI bank.
So, that was a major breakthrough by which we got the financial capability. And because in India right now, there is no dearth of the dearth of any kind of infrastructure project. But yes, there is still a huge gap whereby India needs a lot more big and efficient contractors who are proactive and ready to work on the projects.
So, the projects were already there. And since we have very proudly associated with all the big infra giants for which we are working since the past maybe 5 to 6 years. So, repeat orders have always been there with them.
So, we were just looking for an appropriate time when we can approach our bankers. And that we did last to last year. And we got support from them. And that is how we were able to double our turnover as you said.
Rumela Banerjee: With advancements in technology, how is Ganesh Improv world incorporating new technologies into its construction processes?
Vibhoar Agrawal: We enjoy a very good liberty in this because we are working with the big infrastructure giants.
So, we are always being their subcontractors. We are always in their panel. And we get to witness the latest technologies and latest machinery which the small contractors may even maybe 200, 300, 400 crore turnover contractors cannot witness.
But we since we are working with the big giants as their subcontractors. So, we are always updated with the latest machinery and the latest technologies, be it softwares or hardwares which are helping the infrastructure industry in India nowadays. Because nowadays everything is machine-oriented and the speed at which infrastructure development was happening maybe 5 years back right now the speed has doubled.
So, the speed and quality is happening only and only because of the technological advancements which are quite a bit updated due to our principal contractors.
Rumela Banerjee: You have an IPO on the way. How are the funds from the IPO proceeds going to be utilized?
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, a major part of the fund will go as we discussed towards the working capital only. And out of that approximately 40 crores we intend to use in the next in the upcoming financial year. And the balance working capital around 35 or 30 to 35 crores will be used in the current financial year and rest will be for general corporate purposes.
Rumela Banerjee: Where do you see Ganesh Infra in the next 5 to 10 years?
Vibhoar Agrawal: So, putting any numbers won’t justify your question. But yes, Ganesh infrastructure is Ganesh Infra World is proud to be associated with India. And since India is going through an infrastructure boom, definitely Ganesh Infra World will also benefit a lot out of it. And moreover, we are right now associated with the top most infrastructure companies prevailing in India. So, we definitely see ourselves among the maybe top 50 infrastructure companies in India in the years to come.
Rumela Banerjee: All right, we’ll have to end the discussion here. Many thanks for speaking to us and thank you for watching. For more videos like this, hit the subscribe button and stay tuned to SmallCap Spotlight.