THE DISRUPTOR

River-linking has often drawn flak for its environmental and socio-economic implications. But here is an infrastructure company that entered the Limca Book of Records for the fastest completion of a river-linking project at Pattiseema in Andhra Pradesh. Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) took only a year to link Krishna and Godavari rivers for a lift irrigation project and commissioned the first pump in 173 days. “Our first major river-linking project was in Madhya Pradesh, called Narmada Kshipra Simhastha Link Project. We had commissioned it in March 27, 2014,” says P. V. Krishna Reddy, Co-founder and Managing Director of MEIL. He says his company’s strength lies in EPC. “In infrastructure, we are working in all the areas – water, roads, power transmission and hydrocarbons.”

The company, says Reddy, is currently handling more than 100 projects compared to the 60-70 three years ago. The government projects account for 50 per cent of the work in MEIL’S kitty. The company earns about 40 per cent of its revenue from water projects, 20-25 per cent from the power sector, about 15 per cent from hydrocarbons and about 10 per cent from roads.

Krishna Reddy had always wanted to start his own business. He joined his uncle, P. P. Reddy, ( MEIL’S Chairman) to set up a small manufacturing unit in 1989 that produced pipes for irrigation projects. On the small plot of land where this unit once existed, now stands the multi-storied office of MEIL with each floor named after an Indian river. “Last year we had a turnover of `12,000 crore. This year, we aim to get to $3 billion,” he says.

Reddy’s detractors, however, attribute MEIL’S rise to the political patronage it enjoys locally. “All projects are now allocated via e-procurement. Moreover, we operate in 16 states, and it is not possible to curry favour with all the governments as we get repeat projects across the states,” sums up Reddy.