{{short description|Indian electricity transmission tower manufacturing company}} {{use Indian English|date=May 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{infobox company | name = KEC International Limited | logo = KEC International logo.svg | logo_size = 250px | caption = | type = Public | traded_as = {{ubl|{{NSE|KEC}}|{{BSE|532714}}}} | genre = | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = {{start date and age|df=y|1945|05|07}}<ref name="valuenotes1">{{cite web |url=http://www.valuenotes.com/punam/punam_KEC_08Jun09.asp?ArtCd=146074&Cat=C&Id=1592 |title=KEC International: Building a strong future |publisher=Valuenotes.com |accessdate=3 October 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><br />(as Kamani Engineering Corporation) | founder = Ramji H. Kamani | defunct = | location_city = Worli, Mumbai, Maharashtra | location_country = India | locations = | area_served = | key_people = Harsh Goenka (chairman) <br> Vimalkumar Kejriwal (MD & CEO)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_kec-international-eyes-more-buyouts-in-the-us_1434973 |title=KEC International eyes more buyouts in the US - Money - DNA |publisher=Dnaindia.com |date=8 September 2010 |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/2008/12/29134954/KEC-International-gets-oversea.html |title=KEC International gets overseas order worth Rs678 cr - Corporate News |publisher=livemint.com |date=29 December 2008 |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref> <br> Rajeev Aggarwal (CFO) | industry = Transmission towers, Distribution, Railways, Solar, Civil & Cables | products = | services = | revenue = {{up}} {{INRConvert|17282|c}} (FY23)<ref name="fy23"/> | operating_income = {{down}} {{INRConvert|830|c}} (FY23)<ref name="fy23"/> | net_income = {{down}} {{INRConvert|176|c}} (FY23)<ref name="fy23">{{cite news |title=KEC International declares 150% dividend, revenue rise 29% YoY in Q4 |url=https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/kec-international-declares-150-dividend-revenue-rise-29-yoy-in-q4-11683190091557.html |access-date=19 July 2023 |work=Mint |date=4 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref> | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = 40,251 (March 2022) | parent = RPG Group | divisions = | subsid = SAE Towers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kec-international-towering-presence/407435/ |title=KEC International: Towering presence |publisher=Business-standard.com |date=9 September 2010 |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref> | website = {{url|http://www.kecrpg.com}} | footnotes = }}
'''KEC International Limited''' (Kamani Engineering Corporation) is an Indian multinational company and also India's second largest manufacturer of electric power transmission towers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_k/KEC_International/20100907_sae_towers.html |title=RPG Group's KEC International to buy US-based SAE Towers for $95 million |publisher=domain-b.com |date=7 September 2010 |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref> and one of the largest<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiainfoline.com/Research/LeaderSpeak/Vardhan-Dharkar-Chief-Financial-Officer-KEC-International-Ltd/6921530 |title=Interview of Vardhan Dharkar, Chief Financial Officer, KEC International Ltd |publisher=Indiainfoline.com |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref> Power transmission, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies in the world. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rpggroup.com/kec.html |title=Transmission KEC International |publisher=Rpggroup.com |accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref> and is part of the {{INRConvert|255|b}} RPG Group, engaged in EPC works for power transmission, distribution, railways, cables, solar, civil and smart Infrastructure. It has operations in the regions of India, SAARC, EAP, Africa, Middle East, and the Americas.
== History ==
Ramjibhai Kamani founded '''Kamani Engineering Corporation''' (now KEC International) on 7 May 1945 which became the first electric power transmission company in Asia. It was engaged in the field of electric power transmission<ref name="India's industrialists">Piramal, Gita; Herdeck, Margaret, ''India's industrialists, Vol. 1,'' Rev. ed. 1986, Three Continents Press, Washington, D.C.</ref> and railway electrification. In 1950, the company received an order from the Indian government to supply transmission towers for the Bhakra Nangal Dam project and a steel tower fabrication plant was established in Bombay in partnership with R. Foures, France. This was augmented by a second unit in Jaipur, Rajasthan and by 1967, KEC was supplying three-fifths of India's demand for transmission towers.<ref name="India's industrialists"/><ref name="Ramji H. Kamani">Ramji H. Kamani on Wikipedia</ref>
By the 1970s, KEC had carried out turnkey power transmission projects in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Mauritius, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United States, and Canada. With eighty percent of its turnover of almost {{INRConvert|800|m}} being earned through exports, KEC soon became the largest manufacturer of transmission towers in India and the second largest in the world, next in rank to SAE of Italy.<ref name="India's industrialists"/><ref name="Ramji H. Kamani"/>
===Acquisition by the RPG Group ===
KEC accumulated heavy financial debt during the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis both of which adversely affected international transactions conducted in US Dollars as world crude oil prices quadrupled. The company struggled but was bound to completing its project commitments. This resulted in the company incurring heavy losses.<ref name="Ramji H. Kamani"/> Financial institutions such as IDBI (Industrial Development Bank of India) had invested some {{INRConvert|230|m}} in KEC and began to worry when KEC's financial reports showed a record loss of {{INRConvert|44|m}}. They began to press for "professional management".<ref name="India's industrialists"/>
Around this time, Texmaco, a K.K. Birla company began to show interest in KEC, but their bid to control the company was frustrated and they backed away. Financial institutions stepped in and appointed their nominees to take over control from the Kamani family. The company soon began to limp back to profitability as KEC's sales climbed from {{INRConvert|200|m}} in 1972 to {{INRConvert|550|m}} in 1982.<ref name="India's industrialists"/>
R. P. Goenka, chairman of the RPG Group had been vying for KEC shares for a long time. Even after financial institutions stepped in, some members of the Kamani family continued to hold a small number of shares in the company. Goenka carefully maneuvered to purchase these shares making sure that he did not get trapped in the same pitfalls that had defeated the Birla's attempts to take over KEC. Shareholding negotiations and approvals from financial institutions were sought before the company was put up for court auction by the government.<ref name="India's industrialists"/>
===2005-present===
On 18 March 2005, KEC International Limited was incorporated in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India.
In March 2010, RPG Cables was merged with KEC International.<ref>{{cite web|title=RPG Cables merger with KEC International|url=http://www.rpgcables.com/division.php|accessdate=16 May 2011|archive-date=14 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114140145/http://www.rpgcables.com/division.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In September 2010, KEC International acquired Houston, Texas based SAE Towers, a group of operating companies incorporated in the United States, Mexico and Brazil consolidated through SAE Towers Holdings, LLC. This acquisition created the largest steel lattice tower manufacturer in the world with approximately 300,000 tons of annual production capacity.<ref>{{cite web|title=KEC International acquisition of SAE Towers|url=http://www.saetowers.com/About_Us.aspx|accessdate=15 May 2011}}</ref>
In 2017, the Company's Water Business was merged with the Civil Business. The Civil Business now undertakes turnkey construction for Residential, Industrial and Commercial projects, including workshops.
In 2019, KEC International Ltd received orders worth {{INR}}1,520 crore across three business verticals.<ref>{{cite news |title=KEC International bags orders worth Rs 1,520 crore |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/engineering/kec-international-bags-orders-worth-rs-1520-crore/articleshow/72915678.cms |access-date=19 July 2023 |work=The Economic Times |date=21 December 2019}}</ref>
On 26 July 2024, the company reported a 108% jump in net profit to ₹87.6 crore for the April-June quarter (Q1FY25) compared to ₹42 crore a year ago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=KEC International shares gain nearly 3% on robust Q1 results, fundraise plan |url=https://upstox.com/news/market-news/earnings/kec-international-shares-gain-nearly-3-on-q1-net-profit-more-than-doubles-to-87-6-crore/article-105659/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=upstox.com}}</ref>
The company secured new orders worth ₹1,422 crore for transmission and distribution projects in India and the United States.
A high-voltage transmission line order for 765 kV and 400 KV lines in India from Power Grid is among the new projects. KEC will supply substation structures for projects in the US.<ref name=":0" />
In January 2026, the company secured orders worth ₹1,050 crore, including a 100+ MW wind power project in southern India.<ref>{{cite news |title=KEC International secures ₹1,050 crore orders, enters wind energy segment |url=https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/kec-international-secures-1050-crore-in-orders-expanding-into-wind-energy-market/126285378 |work=ETEnergyWorld |publisher=The Economic Times |date=1 January 2026 |access-date=2026-02-10}}</ref>
==Operations== {{unsourced section|date=July 2023}} The company currently is in the following major business areas:
* Power Transmission & Distribution * Railway Infrastructure * Civil * Smart Infrastructure * Cables & Cabling Solutions * Solar
The company has manufacturing facilities in Nagpur, Jabalpur, Jaipur (Tower and Steel Structurals), Vadodara and Mysore (Cables).
==Employees== As of 31 March 2022, the KEC International Limited has a total of 40,251 employees, including 9,114 permanent employees.
== External links == * {{Official website|http://www.kecrpg.com|The company's official website}}
{{Portal|Companies}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{RPG Group}}
Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1945 Category:Engineering companies of India Category:Manufacturing companies based in Mumbai Category:RPG Group Category:Indian companies established in 1945 Category:Indian brands Category:Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Category:Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange