Bharti Dredging and Construction Limited 299Given here is ICICI Bank’s exposure to the company and industry:Percentage of ICICI Bank’s net worth as on To the company 0.47 percent
March 31, 2001 To the group 1.09 percent
Industry exposure as percentage of gross Construction (Industry)
customer assets as on December 31, 2001* 1.07 percent
- Last day of every quarter.
MARKET AND INDUSTRY SCENARIO
In General
The dredging and construction market is growing. Forecasts say that this growth will continue in the next
decade. The government’s continuous focus on infrastructure development has led to the current market
situation. The government is emphasizing on overall infrastructure development in all aspects of the economy
and, thus, construction, dredging and civil works are given primary importance.
Dredging involves the process of excavation of soils, sand, stones, clay, etc. Dredging is mainly required
in the following areas:
Major and minor ports To provide navigational depths
Inland waterways For navigation
Irrigation canals, lakes To prevent floods
Irrigation & hydroelectric reservoirs To increase storage capacities
Land development For reclamation of land
Industries To desalt cooling water canals and storage tanks
Domestic Market
The size of the Indian dredging industry is estimated at about $130 billion.^1 The domestic dredging industry
is broadly segmented into two divisions: high volume segment, consisting of large players, such as Dredging
Corporation of India Limited (DCIL); and other big, foreign majors. The mid-volume segment consists of
medium-sized dredging companies, among which BDCL occupies a prominent position. Most of the capital
dredging jobs are given to private dredging companies. BDCL operates in a niche market where the dominant
player DCIL cannot easily penetrate. The former, over a period of time, has developed a committed workforce
to operate and maintain its fleet of cutter suction dredgers—which is something its competitors have not been
able to do. Moreover, the dredgers of BDCL are all portable and dismountable and can be transported to all
parts of the country—and this enables it to secure most of the works under the category of inland dredging.
The Outlook
The demand for sea transportation is increasing tremendously every day, because the road and rail traffic is
becoming increasingly crowded and insufficient for the transportation of food and cargo. Also, water transport
is cheaper by about 90 percent and 50 percent when compared to road and rail respectively. To develop sea
transport, development of ports is the prime requirement. For this, infrastructure facilities have to be created.
(^1) The approximate values of $1, $1 million, and $1 billion are Rs 46, Rs 4.6 crore, and Rs 4,600 crore respectively.