Mudajaya Group Berhad

Mudajaya is among the tier-one construction companies and has carved out a niche for itself in the power-generation sector of the construction industry. It has had a hand in the construction works of almost all the new power plants that are being built in Malaysia. It is the civil works contractor for the 1,000-MW Janamanjung Phase 4 project, which is owned by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), and the 1,000-MW Tanjung Bin project that is controlled by Malakoff Corp Bhd. Both are coal-fired power plants with ongoing works. Mudajaya is also slated to get a piece of the action in two power plant projects that have been awarded but have not taken off the ground yet. They are the 2,000-MW coal-fired power plant project in Jimah, Port Dickson, and a gas-fired power plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, with a generation capacity of between 1,000 MW and 1,400 MW. The Jimah power plant project was awarded to 1Malaysia Development Bhd in March this year, while the Pasir Gudang job was awarded to a joint venture between TNB and SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd in June. However, for all the power plants it has constructed, Mudajaya does not have a stake in any major generation facility in Malaysia. Its maiden foray as the owner and developer of a power plant was a 4x360-MW coal-fired power plant in Chhattisgarh, India, where Mudajaya has a 26% interest with a firm from India holding the rest. "The experience we gained from being a contractor and developer in India is paying off. Now, we are in the Philippines and Indonesia," he said. In the Philippines, Mudajaya has a 40% stake in a joint venture that is developing a 50-MW wind energy plant in Cebu. In Indonesia, Mudajaya is looking at constructing and operating coal-fired power plants with capacities of between 100 MW and 260 MW. It hopes to secure the first power plant concession by this year. In Malaysia, the company has a 10-MW solar power farm in Gebeng, Pahang, that is operational. For the power plant in India, apart from undertaking civil works, Mudajaya has been awarded the equipment procurement contracts. Similarly, for the wind power project in the Philippines, Mudajaya was recently awarded a RM380mil equipment procurement job. Together with the order from the Philippines, Mudajaya's order-book currently stands at about RM1.1bil. But Joseph is looking at jobs worth another RM500mil to be secured over the next few months. "The existing Mass Rapid Transit and power plant jobs should be done by the end of next year. But over the next one year to 18 months, we are looking at securing jobs worth between RM1bil and RM1.5bil. There are quite a few projects coming up," he said. There are four highway jobs that are expected to commence construction next year. They are the Damansara-Shah Alam Expressway, Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), Kinrara-Damansara Highway (Kidex) and West Coast Expressway. It is reported that Mudajaya is the frontrunner to undertake the Kidex and SUKE projects. On the delayed commissioning of the power plant in India, Joseph said that the first of the four turbines was expected to begin operations by the year-end, with the second to start firing next year. He admitted that Mudajaya's Indian venture had been hit by the weaker rupee that had depreciated significantly over the last few years. "The problem will arise if we decide to bring the returns back. But we have an option of reinvesting the money in other power plant projects there," said Joseph. In this respect, India, which is facing a serious electricity shortage, has proposed ultra mega-power plants with a capacity of 4,000 MW. There are plans to build at least two and this proposal is expected to take off under the new government of the country.