Wondering about the biggest construction companies in India? Anyone who has had the fortune of visiting India, the massive South Asian sub-continent home to Bollywood films, the yearly three-month-long deluge that is monsoon season, and such Earth-shatteringly revolutionary historical figures as Mahatma Gandhi and Siddhartha Gautama–the Buddha–knows that the country offers a litany of marvels to residents and visitors alike. Lush hill stations sprinkled throughout India’s topography offer respite to heat-weary travelers in the form of cool, elevated towns nestled in proximity to luxuriant valleys. Roaring rivers such as the Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra serve as holy sites, sources of sustenance, and a means for man to remain close to nature. Perhaps most heralded among the veritable cornucopia of offerings on display throughout the country, however, are its formidable man-made structures.
A variety of architectural styles with influences from all over the globe and throughout countless time periods have done much to set India apart from the rest of the world with respect to its buildings, structures and monuments. A trip to the west coast, for example, will land you in Mumbai, a beach-front megacity by any global measure, which also happens to be home to the Gateway of India, an 85 foot-tall stone arch built on the city’s waterfront in 1924 as a symbol of the nation’s blend of Islamic, British, and Indian cultures.
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On the other side of the country, you’ll find Kolkata, founded as an outpost for the East India Trading Company, and the present-day capital of India’s West Bengal state. This colonial city is home to the Victoria Memorial, an ornate museum constructed from white marble, which was built in 1921 as a public space in which to showcase historical relics unique to Kolkata.
To the north, you’ll find New Delhi, India’s capital city, and the location of a beautifully-crafted flower-shaped religious site known as the Lotus Temple. Opened in 1986, this center serves as a place of worship for observers of the Baha’i faith, though practitioners of all religions are welcome.
Of course, we’d be remiss to not mention the two architectural wonders of India’s famous northern city, Agra: the Agra Fort, and the Taj Mahal. The former, once serving as the residence of Mughal emperors through the mid-17th century, is a semi-circular complex decorated in rich red sandstone and resplendent monuments. The latter’s name alone carries with it such cachet that a physical description here likely wouldn’t do it justice. All the same, this gargantuan mausoleum, constructed from ivory-white marble as a tomb for the then-emperor’s favorite wife, is known the world over as one of seven man-made wonders on Earth, and perhaps the finest example of architectural craftsmanship known to man.
We could go on for days lauding the architectural prowess that India has showcased throughout out all of its regions, but it should be clear by now that citizens of the sub-continent are no strangers to mastery in the field of construction. Though contemporary models take on different shapes and styles, modern day construction firms in India do much to carry on the gilded building legacy that the country’s forebearers worked so hard to establish. From the Naga Towers of Gandhinagar, to Mumbai’s Cybertecture Egg, the whimsy that has characterized the spirit of architecture in India for centuries is without question alive and well today.
With all of this in mind, we were curious about India’s largest construction companies, not to be outdone by the Biggest Construction Companies in Europe. To formulate such a list, we had a number of criteria from which to choose, all of which, to some degree, would be indicative of a construction company’s size. However, when thinking about factors that are most indicative of company size, the two that stand out most acutely are market share and total assets. In this spirit, we ranked Indian construction companies on the basis of these two metrics, combined the two rankings, and took the firms with the lowest overall scores as members of the biggest construction companies in India. Put another way, if ‘Company A’ ranks fifth in market share, and first in total assets among all construction companies, it would have a total score of six. If the total score of six is among the ten lowest scores of the companies measured, ‘Company A’ receives a spot in our top ten list associated with its rank relative to the other companies measured. In the event of a tie between two or more companies, we used another size indicator, employee count, as a tiebreaker. Without further ado, here is our list of biggest construction companies in India.
10. Ahluwalia Contracts India
Market Cap: $351.41 million
Total Assets: $1.946 billion
Ahluwalia Contracts serves as one of India’s leading civil contracting firms in large part as a result of their proud track record boasting over 36 years of service. As a major player in India’s construction sector, Ahluwalia has worked with such leading consultants and architects as Jacobs H&G, Tata Projects Ltd., Raj Rewal, and Rajinder Kumar, and is one of only a select group of companies that is pre-qualified to bid for major projects in the country. Notable construction projects carried out by Ahluwalia include the India Exposition Mart, the IFCI Tower at Nehru Place, the Aman Resort in New Delhi, the Tata Medical Center in Kolkata, and the Fiat Automobile plant at Ranjangaon.
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9. Omaxe
Market Cap: $531.29 million
Total Assets: $573.37 million
As one of India’s leading real estate companies, Omaxe, the number 9 on our list of biggest construction companies in India has worked in eight different states throughout the country, along with 27 distinct cities. Offering an assortment of products, which range from hotels and shopping malls to group housing and high-tech townships, Omaxe has delivered more than 95 million square feet of varying real estate projects since its founding, including 32 million square feet of construction and 63 million square feet in real estate development. At present, the group is working on 39 distinct projects, which include 10 shopping malls, 16 integrated townships, and a number of other buildings. Construction projects under the Omaxe umbrella include a litany of self-named residential buildings (Grand Omaxe, Omaxe Royal Residency, Omaxe Palm Greens, etc.), the NRI City Centre, the Omaxe Plaza, and Rohtak Villas.
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8. ITD Cementation
Market Cap: $428.55 million
Total Assets: $672.61 million
Established in India in 1931, ITD Cementation was originally known as The Cementation Company, Ltd., Uk, and primarily focused on grouting and drilling work for hydraulic structures. Since then, the company has expanded its construction operations into an array of realms ranging from highways, bridges, and flyovers to airports, hydroelectric dams, and tunnels. Every bit as lengthy as its list of services offered is the firm’s client list. With such notable clientele as Adani and Mundra Port in the Marine sector, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in the highway, bridge, and flyover sector, and Tata Projects LTD. in the hydro sector, ITD Cementation boasts an assortment of diverse offering to an even more diverse client base, a trait, which has helped make them one of the biggest construction companies in India.
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7. Brigade Enterprises
Market Cap: $424.4 million
Total Assets: $1.33 billion
Founded in Bangalore in 1986, Brigade’s services mainly include property management services and property development. Within the areas of construction and property development, the group that ranked 7th on our list of biggest construction companies in India focuses their expertise on four types of structures, those being residential, hospitality, commercial, and retail. As might be imagined with a company of Brigade’s stature, the construction giant’s project list stretches further than a number of the buildings they’ve helped put up. From the Orion Shopping Mall and Sheraton Mysore Hotel to the Kochi World Trade Center and Brigade Caladium in Hebbal, Bangalore, Brigade certainly have their hands in a number of project jars at once. Equally as impressive is the firm’s commitment to quality within their company. In 2014, Brigade was named one of India’s Best Companies to Work For by the Economic Times and Great Place to Work Institute for the fourth consecutive year.
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6. Gayatri Projects
Market Cap: $427.1 million
Total Assets: $1.148 billion
The crown jewel of the esteemed Gayatri Group, Gayatri Projects was established in 1963 with an emphasis on irrigation construction projects. Since then, the company has expanded to tackle road construction, engineering procurement, and an array of other industrial projects. In the past 50 years alone, the company has built over 1200 kilometers of irrigation canals, as well as more than 5,000 kilometers of road, with another 2200 km in the works.
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5. Phoenix Mills
Market Cap: $950.35 million
Total Assets: $405.64 million
With over a century of history in India’s construction industry, Phoenix Mills, the next one on our list of biggest construction companies in India is a bit of a departure from other companies on the list in that they operate in a very niche category of development, turning mill land into modern, multi-use property. Like many other construction firms, Phoenix Mills manages construction projects in retail, hospitality, commercial and residential spaces, and has contributed to a number of projects, which have enabled the firm to become one of the biggest construction companies in India.
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4. Sobha
Market Cap: $543.79
Total Assets: $2.598 billion
Sobha’s building exploits boast over 30 completed residential projects in Pune, Bangalore, and Coimbatore, along with the Sobha City Mall, Sobha Pearl, and Sobha Alexander commercial properties. This is particularly impressive given the company’s relative infancy–it was founded just 3 decades ago in 1995. Since then, the Bangalore-based business has combined a unique backward integration business model with extensive efforts in corporate social responsibility and sustainability to construct a collection of unique buildings that have landed the firm over 160 prestigious awards over the course of its still-brief existence. And now, let’s see the top three entries on our list of biggest construction companies in India.
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3. Oberoi
Market Cap: $2.031 billion
Total Assets: $527.15 million
Headquartered in Delhi and founded in 1934, Oberoi, the number three on the list of biggest construction companies in India has made a name for itself over the past century by focusing primarily on property development in the hotel and resort space. In this spirit, the company has constructed, owns, and operates more than 30 luxury hotels spanning the Indian sub-continent from Agra to Ranthambore. Well-known projects include the Oberoi Grand in Kolkata, the Oberoi Mumbai at Nariman Point, and the Oberoi Rajivilas in Jaipur.
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2. DLF
Market Cap: $5.084 billion
Total Assets: $483.77 million
Boasting a company history that spans over 70 years, DLF, the next one on the list of biggest construction companies in India has amassed a jaw-dropping $5 billion in market share by focusing its operations primarily on property development of retail, commercial, and residential buildings. The cluster of buildings and colonies that they have worked to develop cover 15 states and 24 cities throughout India, and feature works such as Shivaji Park, Rajouri Garden, Kailash Colony, Haus Khas, and Krishna Nagar. With such an embarrassment of riches with respect to its development portfolio, DLF’s place on our list should come as little surprise to anyone.
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1. Godrej Properties
Market Cap: $1.486 billion
Total Assets: $914.35 million
Perhaps most impressive on our list of the biggest construction companies in India is Godrej Properties. It’s not just that their $1.5 billion market capitalization in the construction sector places them third among all Indian construction firms or that their near-$1 billion collection of assets places them fifth, rather it’s that they’ve been able to realize such success in only a fraction of the time needed by most other elite companies in the sub-continent. Founded in 1990, the Mumbai-based firm boasts real estate projects in 12 different cities with nearly 20 completed projects in the residential and commercial spaces alone. Their unique design concepts, such as that of their Godrej Emerald property, put them a class apart from other construction companies and hint at what’s sure to be a very bright future for the burgeoning construction company.
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