A slowing pace in awarding road projects will significantly impact the top-line growth of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) developers, from 30 per cent in 2019 to 10 per cent in the near term.
According to ratings agency CRISIL, the sector once again, seems to be facing many roadblocks — slowdown in awards, delays in execution owing to postponement of appointed dates, slow pace of land acquisition and elusive financial closures. The key question is whether history is repeating itself and could we see distress in the sector similar to that observed in the 2013 and 2015 periods, noted CRISIL.
As of December 2019, ratings agency ICRA had said that 4 per cent of projects awarded in FY2018 and 95 per cent of projects awarded in FY2019 are yet to receive appointed date (AD). AD refers to the date from which the project comes into existence.
