A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

L&T is preparing itself for a change in the business environment

- NACHIKET KELKAR

LARSEN & TOUBRO BUILT its reputation as an engineering and construction company. But it is now a lot more than that, with a strong presence in heavy engineering, thermal power plants, defence, information technology, financial services, real estate and smart city projects. And the company is preparing itself for changes in the ecosystem.

S.N. Subrahmanyan, who succeeded A.M. Naik as chairman and managing director on October 1, said in his first letter to the staff that the world was going through massive changes and L&T must be ready for it. Subrahmanyan had been groomed by Naik for almost a decade to steer the company into the future. But that future could well be very different from what the company imagined a while ago. It is restructuring old businesses like financial services and thermal power plants, and embracing new areas like renewable energy and defence.

L&T continues to grow in its core engineering and construction space. Its order inflows last quarter surged 57 per cent to ₹65,520 crore and its order book stood at ₹4.12 lakh crore at the end of June 30, 2023, an all-time high. International orders comprised 42 per cent of total order inflows in the June quarter.

Renewable energy will be a big focus area in this next wave of growth. “Given the compulsions of dealing with climate change and fully aware of the responsibility to contribute to a sustainable planet, the company has identified areas to work around green energy both as a manufacturer of equipment as well as an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) participant,” said R. Shankar Raman, chief financial officer of L&T.