Pratham EPC Projects Ltd is a specialist pipeline builder - it lays the steel arteries that carry oil, gas and water across India and, increasingly, the Middle East. Founded in 2008 by two mechanical engineers as a small subcontracting outfit, the company has climbed the value chain to become a turnkey EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) contractor that takes full responsibility for a pipeline from drawing board to first flow, and it listed on the NSE Emerge platform in 2024. The recurring approach is to master a specialised, hard-to-replicate skill - welding high-pressure steel, laying cross-country lines, integrating advanced techniques like hot tapping - and then parlay that skill into larger contracts with blue-chip state-owned energy companies, a playbook it is now exporting to the Gulf. # Business segments A single-engine EPC business that builds pipelines for two end-markets - oil & gas and water - and is now replicating that model internationally through subsidiaries in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. ## 1. Oil & Gas Pipeline EPC: the core engine **The company builds the entire pipeline system for India's state-owned oil and gas giants on a turnkey basis - from welding and laying the steel to commissioning the line and maintaining it afterwards.** - **Turnkey, not just a contractor** - it handles every stage of a pipeline project: engineering the design, procuring all materials, constructing the line (including mainline welding, tie-ins, coating and hydro testing), and finally commissioning the system so it is ready to carry gas or oil. - **Two pipeline types, one customer set** - it lays high-pressure steel pipelines for cross-country transmission and MDPE (Medium Density Polyethylene) pipelines for city gas distribution networks, and also builds the CNG stations and household, commercial and industrial connections that sit at the end of those networks. - **Sticky O&M income** - after a pipeline is built, the company often stays on to operate and maintain it for CGD (City Gas Distribution) companies, creating a recurring revenue stream on top of the one-off construction contract. - **A marquee client list as a moat** - its customers include GAIL, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, relationships that are hard for smaller rivals to replicate and that have yielded over 1,150 kilometres of completed cross-country pipelines across more than 30 projects. - **Brought a critical skill in-house** - the company previously paid its subsidiary for hot tapping (the technique of connecting a new branch to a live, pressurised pipeline without shutting it down), but has now integrated that advanced technology internally, which strengthens its turnkey proposition and was a factor in selling that subsidiary. ## 2. Water Pipeline EPC: a parallel play on public infrastructure **The company applies the same turnkey pipeline skills to water supply networks, serving both government and industrial clients with a material-agnostic approach.** - **Any pipe, any project** - it works across seven different pipe materials - Mild Steel, Ductile Iron, HDPE, PVC, GRP, RCC and Bar Wrapped Steel Cylinder - so it can bid for virtually any water transmission or distribution tender regardless of the specified material. - **From bulk to tap** - the scope covers design, supply, laying, jointing, testing and commissioning of both bulk transmission lines and local distribution networks for domestic and industrial water supply. - **Rides government spending tailwinds** - the business benefits directly from public-sector investment in water infrastructure and urban development, giving it a second demand driver beyond oil and gas capex cycles. - **O&M extends the relationship** - as with the oil and gas side, it provides ongoing operations and maintenance for water pipelines, turning a project win into a longer-term service engagement. ## 3. International EPC: the Gulf replication **The company is exporting its pipeline EPC model to the Middle East through wholly owned subsidiaries in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, using the parent's machinery, people and balance sheet to chase hydrocarbon infrastructure contracts.** - **A local foothold, not just an export desk** - it incorporated Pratham International Contracting LLC-OPC in Abu Dhabi in June 2024 and Pratham Arabia Company Ltd. in Saudi Arabia, giving it on-the-ground legal entities that can bid for GCC projects as a local player. - **First contract validates the thesis** - the UAE subsidiary secured a USD 19.75 million project and deployed over 250 professionals to execute it, proving that the parent's pipeline expertise is transferable to a new geography. - **Parent feeds the subsidiary with machines and money** - the Indian parent sold two pipe-layer machines to the UAE unit, hired out two more at a monthly fee, and extended a INR 50 crore loan (at 12.5% annual interest) to fund its growth, making the subsidiary operationally and financially dependent on the parent's resources. - **Targeting the wider MENA oil patch** - the stated ambition is to pursue projects across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, focusing on onshore and offshore hydrocarbon pipeline installation, maintenance and repair, plus broader infrastructure and electromechanical contracting. # Group structure and partners **A tightly held, founder-led SME with two newly created Gulf subsidiaries and no joint ventures or associates - the international push is wholly owned and wholly controlled.** - Both international subsidiaries - Pratham International Contracting LLC-OPC in Abu Dhabi and Pratham Arabia Company Ltd. in Saudi Arabia - are 100% owned by the parent, with no outside partners. - The company previously held a 52% stake in Pipeflow Integrity India Private Limited, a subsidiary that supplied hot tapping services, but sold that entire stake in March 2025 to an unrelated individual buyer for INR 7.8 lakh after integrating the technology in-house. - Its principal bankers are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank, and CRISIL rates its long-term bank facilities at BBB-/Stable with short-term facilities at A3.