Isolux Corsan, a Madrid-based infrastructure company, has won a €113 million contract to add two lanes to an existing two along a 72km stretch of Indian highway connecting Haridwar with Nagina.
The project, which will take 30 months to complete, also entails building 12 primary and 12 secondary bridges, five bypasses, as well as service roads, a parking area and toll plaza.
Highway NH-74 represents Isolux Corsan’s sixth road project in India. Most recently, the company was awarded the expansion and rehabilitation of a 48km segment of the NH-75 highway, an €80 million project. The other four projects involve the extension and improvement of four highways in the states of Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha and Karnataka, totalling 400km and €350 million in value, the company said in a statement.
The announcement comes less than a month since the Spanish company secured the majority approval of its creditors for its restructuring plan, which allowed banks to immediately inject €150 million into the company so that it can resume a “normal pace of operations”.
In addition to the €150 million cash injection, the restructuring plan also includes a second installment of €550 million – which could be increased to €750 million – considered to be sustainable debt given the group’s capacity to generate cash. A third and final tranche could total €1.4 billion, comprising various parts of the capital structure through different convertible instruments.
The company found itself in dire straits after an unsuccessful €850 million bond issue last year, which failed in part because of allegations of money laundering, tax evasion and forgery that resulted in an investigation.
Its newly appointed chairman Nemesio Fernandez-Cuesta said earlier this month that part of the company’s strategy in returning to profitability will involve focusing on sectors and geographies where Isolux Corsan has shown to have a “competitive advantage”.
It would seem that India is one of those geographies since in addition to the five road projects mentioned, Isolux Corsan is working on three major rail projects, including the Delhi Metro, and is also active in the country’s power sector, building 3,000km of transmission lines and 33 substations in the states of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakand.
Isolux did not respond to a request for comment.
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