India Inc may bag lucrative Iraq contracts

NEW DELHI: American corporates mayhave bagged most of the multi-million dollar contracts for reconstruction inIraq, but it is Indian companies which are expected to do the nuts-and-boltswork there. According to CII, Kirloskar Brothers, Punj Lloyd, Larsen& Toubro, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Baker Oil Tools (BOT) andShivavai Universal are in the running. Pharmaceutical companies like Cipla maybe in the forefront of supplying medicines. A debate in the USSenate pegged total reconstruction of Iraq at $100 billion. A CPatankar, CII senior adviser, says, "Reconstruction work has started. Our job isto ensure our companies have a sizable presence. They have had a longassociation in executing major infrastructural projects in Iraq during the lasttwo decades." This work was done under the oil-for-food programme."The US government has agreed to allow projects which are incomplete to becompleted under the aegis of this programme." Meanwhile, companiesare waiting for things to normalise in Iraq. "The day that happens, my peoplewill be on the ground," says Vivek Khushalani, chairman, BOT, a companyspecialising in oil drilling equipment. BOT has been supplying $2million worth of equipment to Iraq for the last four years. Khushalani isconfident several American groups will sublet work to Indian companies. "Indiancorporates have had a sizable presence in Iraq." He, however,refuses to reveal whether he was contacted by an American MNC. "All companieswhich want to participate in the reconstruction work must register themselvesvia email with a USAID office in New York," is all he says.Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) with an annual turnover of Rs600 crore, also admits to being in touch with several American companies. Itspecialises in infrastructure development, including roads, bridges and tunnels,and is expected to notch up a few contracts within the next fortnight.B Vishwanath, deputy GM, overseas development, HCC, says, "We expectto corner several orders because Americans consider Indians reliable. Besides,they have no experience of working in Iraq and plan to keep a skeletal staff.The Japanese and the Koreans have publicly declared they do not want to workthere. Plus, with the Americans not trusting the Chinese, the field has beenleft open to us." HCC had executed major projects in Iraq from 1980-85.P K Dutta, executive director, Consulting Engineering Services(CES), working in infrastructure, water supply, hospitals, hospital-relatedservices, architecture and IT-enabled services, agrees. "We are used to workingabroad with MCNs. Our work here will be no different." Patankar hasalready contacted the Kuwait-India Business Council to ask if they require anyassistance from CII. Most of the above-mentioned companies are working inseveral Asian, African and European countries. And their charges, they pointout, are much lower than those of rival European countries. Thesecompanies say that once Iraqi oil goes back into production, its sale wouldfetch between $15-25 billion per annum. These sales will help finance themassive reconstruction effort.