This Tata firm constructed its fame on mega tasks. It’s now going small.

“Earlier, we have been doing a whole lot of infrastructure tasks the place our common contract length was three years or extra. So, we would have liked kind of a backlog order guide of three years-plus to have the ability to handle that,” Pai mentioned.

“Now, we’re doing a whole lot of short-cycle tasks—industrial tasks, information facilities, 4G manufacturing, energy distribution, and transmission tasks—the place the common contract interval is 12-24 months. So our three-year backlog turns into way more more healthy on a shorter cycle.”

Tata Projects’ new fast-track orders and shorter-term contracts are anticipated to ramp up its income whereas offering increased margins, which, in flip, would enhance the corporate’s backside line. “We can be in a significantly better monetary place in FY26,” Pai mentioned, including that Tata Projects’ quick focus is to revive revenue progress and generate money.

“Once we all know issues are again to regular, we are able to very simply develop the highest line at a really fast tempo. But proper now, we’re extra targeted on the underside line and money era.” he mentioned.

Also learn | Govt’s capex appetite in Q4 fails to lift FY25 investment performance

India’s EPC market: Hobbling, however rising

After recording a revenue through the peak covid yr of 2020-21, Tata Projects bumped into losses within the two subsequent years as tasks obtained delayed and commodity costs spiked, leading to big value overruns on some marquee government-contracted tasks.

The Tata Group’s engineering, procurement and development (EPC) firm accomplished work on most of those tasks in FY25, with simply 2-3 remaining. It now expects ₹10,000-15,000 crore in new mission orders to raise its whole order guide place to above ₹50,000 crore by the top of FY26.

Companies engaged on EPC tasks usually face inherent dangers with respect to land acquisition and different regulatory clearances, leading to value escalations and mission delays, mentioned Saket Mehra, accomplice, Grant Thornton Bharat.

“The elevated geopolitical atmosphere can additional exert a strain on commodity pricing, impacting mission profitability and value escalations,” Mehra added. “However, the outlook appears to be like secure contemplating robust order books of EPC firms, particularly in roads, airports, renewable, public charging infrastructure, and inexperienced hydrogen.”

Also learn | A private capex slump: An imperfect but indicative survey points to one

Crisil Ratings mentioned in a current report that the Indian authorities’s push for infrastructure progress, together with a rise in public-private partnerships, would play a key position in supporting home income progress for EPC firms.

India’s EPC firms earned a complete income of ₹3.5 trillion in 2023-24, accounting for about one-third of all development spending within the nation, Crisil added.

Tata Projects competes with the likes of Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, and GMR Group for mega tasks in India and overseas.

According to a current survey by the ministry of statistics and programme implantation, estimated provisional capital expenditure per enterprise for buying new belongings in 2024-25 was ₹172.2 crore, representing an general enhance of 66.3% in mixture capital expenditure (unweighted) from 2021-22 by 2024-25.

Despite challenges like weak demand, geopolitical tensions, and excessive borrowing prices, the general development signifies rising company confidence and a considered method to funding amid bettering financial certainty, the ministry mentioned in its report.

The measurement of India’s India EPC administration market was estimated to be $69.28 billion in 2025 and anticipated to achieve $ 126.91 billion by 2030, at a compound annual progress fee of 12.87% from 2025 to 2030, in line with Mordor Intelligence, a worldwide market analysis and consulting agency.

Also learn | Highway expansion struggles despite government’s capex push

Tata Projects: Venturing into new-age territories

Tata Projects has been concerned in a number of landmark tasks aside from those talked about at first of this report—the Mumbai and Chennai metro rail networks; an airport terminal in Prayagraj, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd’s refinery in Rajasthan; the National Maritime Heritage advanced; an influence mission in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, and a wind tunnel in Kerala.

Tata Projects can also be establishing a sophisticated semiconductor meeting and check plant in Sanand, Gujarat for US-based Micron Technology Inc. It can also be constructing a semiconductor facility for Tata Electronics Pvt. Ltd in Dolera, Gujarat.

About 10% of the corporate’s contracts are in Africa, West Asia, Nepal and different abroad markets.

“Public sector contracts are tough to manage due to the character of the contracts and really poor DPRs (detailed mission reviews) and frontend design, which results in a whole lot of adjustments,” Pai mentioned. “So we’re very selective in doing public sector tasks and doing simply metros and airports at current and can be selective in deciding different such tasks in future.”

However, he clarified, this doesn’t imply Tata Projects will cease taking on massive infrastructure tasks.

“We could have a mixture of each,” Pai mentioned. “As a part of the Tata Group, we’ve got a dedication to nation-building. If there’s one other mission like the brand new Parliament House or Atal Setu (Mumbai trans harbour bridge), we will certainly have an interest.”