Vatsal Agarwaal: The young foundation of Indian infrastructure

The Indian subcontinent is growing at a rapid pace. In order to accelerate the economic growth, the government is giving a boost to the infrastructure sector and is promoting young entrepreneurship through start-ups. The young entrepreneurs (the “Young Turks”) will contribute significantly in economic development of the country through their innovative ideas. The government of India has an ambitious target of becoming a USD 5 trillion dollar economy by 2025, for which it has planned to make a Rs 111 lakh crore investment in the infrastructure sector. Mr Vatsal Agarwaal is a young Indian entrepreneur who has identified and seized the opportunities which exist in this market.

Vatsal has promoted Simplex Coke and Refractory Private Ltd. and its group of companies, seeking to revolutionise infrastructure. Pile foundation is the most important aspect of any infrastructure project, as it’s the first step of every project, making it an indispensable part of the process. “Since it’s in the initial phase of a project, payment receivables are always prompt and have low chances of turning bad. Hence, we chose to make piling rigs our priority,” says Vatsal.

Having realised that the high margins in the equipment rental business were relatively untapped, especially that of piling rigs. Vatsal, who is only 26 years old, has successfully expanded Simplex to become India’s largest piling rig rental company. Unlike other rental companies, he took a bold decision and initiated a single largest buying order for 15 brand new piling rigs.

With the creation of the largest fleet of modern equipment, he executed metro, high speed rail, river linkage, oil & gas, ports, power, bridges, building, realty and various other projects. He has been involved in most of the metro projects on a national basis for companies like Tata Projects, HCC, Larsen & Toubro, etc. He is also involved in the HPCL’s Barmer refinery with Keller India and has recently undertaken the prestigious project of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands’ National highway.

It’s this constant focus on growth and development, which allowed Vatsal Agarwaal to help his company register 100 crores turnover, only in its fourth year of operation.

Post the Covid-19 pandemic, Vatsal intends to introduce the noble concept of ‘Equipment Bank’ through which optimum utilization of construction equipment will be achieved, and the cost of construction comes down by approx. 10%, as the machinery is approx 25% of the ‘infra’ spend of the country.

If the machine is taken on rent then there’s saving on the cost of the project, and smaller businessman can quote for bigger projects based on the equipment hired through Equipment Bank. Just like a general bank, it can organize money for idle assets.

A contractor can ensure that there’s “no capital wastage” as it deals with idle assets. A member parks his idle equipment in the equipment bank and earns money when it is rehired. The concept is similar to any customer earning interest when he deposits his idle money in the bank, which is perfect for the industry after the coronavirus situation.