CHENNAI: K Subrahmanian, vice-chairman and managing director of AFCONS Infrastructure, talks about the company’s experience on the successful completion of Chennai Metro Rail project while shedding light on the challenges that come with TBM (Tunnel Boring Machines) and the future of urban infrastructure projects in India. Excerpts:
How did you manage to complete the project in such a short span?
Completing projects ahead of schedule is one of the mantras that we follow in AFCONS. We improvise on the designs and methods and continuously engage with the customer to find if there are alternative methods of doing the project. We are the only Indian infrastructure company to receive the MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise Award).
What are the biggest challenges one faces in a high stakes project like this?
This was an urban infrastructure project. Typically, urban infrastructure projects have issues like utility diversions, land acquirement and seeking approval from agencies involved. In projects like tunnelling, soil has to be disposed of. So you need proper disposal areas. These projects have multiple stakeholders. Therefore, getting these stakeholders to work together would be the biggest challenge. You need to come out with innovative designs to deal with this and ensure the funds are in place too.
How hard was it to deal with the stakeholders?
Fortunately, it was handled very well by CMRL. They ensured it was a seamless process and we did not face any trouble regulatory wise. The constraints were more geological as we came across a mixed rock profile. That made it very hard for tunnelling. The stretch along Chennai Central Station was the toughest to crack because of its location.
How equipped is India to handle tunnelling projects?
India now has a lot of technology at its disposal. The issue is knowledge capital and the industry needs the best brains today. Project management is a big issue and today there is a lot of global sourcing. We had 14 nationalities in this project. And they have to integrate and understand our culture in a very short time. Our project manager was a German and our tunnelling manager was a South African.
Where does India stand in terms of TBM tunnelling?
Indian companies are not doing underground tunnelling. We are the only ones who are indigenously qualified to carry out TBM tunnelling. Most Indian companies depend on a Joint Venture partner to carry out the projects as it is capital intensive, technology intensive and requires highly skilled people. Any delays will cause huge losses.
Will AFCONS look at bidding for phase two of the Metro rail project?
We will definitely participate and we will even suggest some ideas for good practices to adopt in phase two. For instance, the kind of contract documents that can be drawn up.
Has it become easier to do business in India?
I don’t believe so but the people who do business in India are getting smarter with each passing day. They are finding ways and means to do business notwithstanding the constraints that exist here.
Should cities adopt elevated projects rather than underground ones?
It is technology specific. Obviously, elevated is the cheaper, easier and preferred one. But some places you cannot do it because of the structures that exist, the road constraints you necessarily have to go for underground stretches. It isn’t a ‘this or that’ condition.
