COPU report asks NBCC to develop core competence to secure overseas projects

Shubhadeep Choudhury                                                                                           

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New Delhi, March 25

The Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU), in its latest report tabled in Parliament, has urged the Navratna company NBCC (formerly known as National Buildings Constructions Corporation) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to develop and enrich its core competence to provide better quality services in lesser time and competitive cost than their competitors in the international market in order to secure overseas projects.

NBCC started global operations in 1997 and the Company has executed diverse and complex projects in countries like Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Turkey and Botswana. NBCC also has its presence in Niger, Dubai and Seychelles.

NBCC has secured overseas projects in African countries like Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Gabon, Togo, Burkina Faso and Zambia but these projects are yet to start. The total value of these projects is approximately Rs 2,000 crore. NBCC has completed 24 overseas projects in different foreign countries during the period from 1994 to 2016.

However, analysis by COPU of the overseas projects of NBCC showed that a number projects since 2017 were awarded to it through nomination from the governments.

The COPU report said that NBCC itself admitted that they were facing challenges in the global market on account of regulatory variations, logistic challenges, lack of experience in international working system, and shortage of skilled workforce, etc.

The Ministry told COPU that after the amendment in GFR-2017, the projects secured on nomination basis have reduced considerably and it has completed the Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Center in Niger and Supreme Court Building in Mauritius on its own strength.

The COPU report, however, said that the Ministry failed to furnish any fresh list of overseas projects obtained by NBCC through open competitive bidding. Nor the NBCC has stated to have taken any concrete steps to enrich its core competence in order to procure international business.

The Ministry is showcasing only two projects like MGICC, Niger and Supreme Court Building in Mauritius which were obtained through government’s nomination.

“In the absence of any tangible overseas business, the Committee is unable to make any estimate of the capabilities of NBCC in securing overseas projects on its own merit,” the COPU report stated.