Foundation of Infrastructure Research Studies Training (FIRST) hosted the 15th CONSTRUCTION WORLD Annual Awards at ITC Grand Central, Parel, in Mumbai. The names of India's Fastest Growing Construction Companies were unveiled at the grand award ceremony, which was attended by well-known personalities from the construction world and the industry stalwarts. The award winners were recognised and felicitated basis the FIRST Methodology. India's Fastest growing Construction Companies, country's Top Challengers and the construction Man of the Year took centre stage and were applauded by the construction fraternity.

FIRST, a non-profit body engaged in research and information, developed a statistical model to analyse and present India's Fastest Growing Construction Companies for the last 15 years. Initiated and conceptualised by Pratap Padode, Founder & President, FIRST, the model uses financial data of the last six years, and companies are categorised and ranked as under Large, Medium and Small.

Setting a perfect tone for the evening, Padode said in his inaugural address, 'Over Rs 2.5 lakh crore of investment is scheduled in metro lines all over India. In the next five years, a further investment pipeline of Rs 2 lakh crore will be created. Indeed, metro is the new alternative to road connectivity within cities and considering it is all being funded by the government (barring Hyderabad and partially in Mumbai), it is more sustainable. It is also driving growth in steel and construction.' He went on to add that post demonetisation, a surge in the stock market has seen construction companies grow in market cap by 26 per cent from Rs 190,395 crore in 2016 to Rs 240,694 crore even though construction companies only saw a 6.44 per cent growth in revenue during the same period.

Pravin Darade, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA and Secretary to Maharashtra Chief Minister, graced the evening with his presence and presented the award to all the winners. In his address to the audience, Darade emphasised on the big opportunity as he said, 'We have investment to the tune of over Rs 150,000 crore planned for the entire Mumbai Metro.'

Instituted by the jury, the award 'Man of the Year' took into account construction heroes who have made remarkable achievements this year and, through their efforts, have propelled the company, organisation and industry forward. Keynote Speaker and CW Man of the Year Elias George, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, in his address to the audience said, 'We have a young team and a lot of the ideas and recommendations that come from me is what I collate from these young minds.' Emphasising on the importance of project management in India, he added, 'In India, 2 per cent is invested towards project planning as compared to the 10 per cent internationally. Hence, there is a need to increase our emphasis on project management.'

Largest Construction Company Larsen & Toubro had MV Satish, Whole Time Director and Senior Executive Vice President (Buildings, Minerals & Metals) present to receive the award. Speaking on what makes the company the unchallenged leader in construction, he said, 'Selection of project is the key to sustainable revenue growth.'

He went on to add that with many companies climbing up the growth ladder, strategising to stay ahead of the competition and maintaining its position as the largest is the focus for the company as well.

The audience applauded for the Fastest Growing Construction Company in the Large Category Dilip Buildcon. It was double celebration for the company as it also received the award for being among India's Top Challengers of 2016-17. On a winning note, Rohan Suryavanshi, Director, Dilip Buildcon, said, 'Timely project execution with quality has been the key strategy to the company's growth.'

A seven-member jury panel, comprising eminent people from the construction industry, came together on September 6th this year to discuss, deliberate upon and select the winners of 'India's Largest and Fastest Growing Construction Companies', along with the 'Man of the Year'. Having applied parameters of good governance, macro assessment, and such other qualitative factors, the jury panel finalised a set of winners from among shortlisted companies. This year, the jury panel comprised Sandeep Upadhyay, Managing Director & CEO, Centrum Infrastructure Advisory; Chintan D Lakhani, Associate Director, Infrastructure & Project Finance, India Ratings & Research; K Ravichandran, Senior Vice President and Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA; Vijay Agrawal, Executive Director, Equirus Capital; Deepak Garg, CEO, SANY Heavy Industry India; Binaifer Jehani, Director, CRISIL Research; and Rahul Akkara, Vice President-Strategy & Brand, JSW Cement.

Commenting on the findings from the financial data collated by FIRST, Padode shared, 'Our findings reveal that new entrants such as Montecarlo, GHV, KNK among others are growing at an average rate of over 30 per cent. Some of our Top Challengers are Gayatri Projects and MEP Infra. It is a matter of pride and honour to announce Elias George, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd as CW Man of the Year. So, let's raise the toast to those who construct and build, what is now being referred to as the new incredible India.'

FIRST created another model for the 'Top Challengers'. This model takes into consideration promising companies, having studied their ability to grow over the previous year despite challenging circumstances. Companies under this category including infrastructure developers, building materials and construction equipment, etc were also awarded.

CW Annual Awards 2017 - Winners
Top Challengers
Action Construction Equipment
Asian Granito India
Dilip Buildcon
Gayatri Projects
JSW Steel
Kalyani Steels
Man Infraconstruction
MEP Infrastructure Developers
Sanghi Industries
Somany Ceramics
Largest Construction Company
Larsen & Toubro

Fastest Growing Construction Company (Large)
1st - Dilip Buildcon
2nd - Afcons Infrastructure
3rd - Tata Projects
Fastest Growing Construction Company (Medium)
1st - Ashoka Buildcon
2nd - KNR Constructions
3rd - Montecarlo Ltd

Fastest Growing Construction Company (Small)
1st - Ahluwalia Contracts (India)
2nd - J Kumar Infraprojects
3rd - Welspun Enterprises

CW Man of the Year Elias George, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd