Australian costing firm comes to India

Monday, 27 January 2003, 20:30 IST
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CHENNAI: Australia's premier cost management consultant for the building and construction industry, Padghams, has entered the Indian market. Padghams has chosen Chennai as its headquarters because it is the closest Indian port to Australia, company officials said at a function here Saturday night. It has two clients here -- the Apollo Hospitals and Devaki Hospitals groups. "Our intention is to focus first on southern India in cities like Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad," said Peter Cox, chief executive officer of Padghams. Padghams officials noted that their "unique and sophisticated cost management system" had great scope for use in India where construction costs were enormous and ill managed. "There was sufficient room for improvement in India in the planning and control of costs and avoidance of budget blowouts and contract overruns," Cox said. Quoting industry sources in India, Padghams director Lyndal Rofe said cost blowouts of 20 to 30 percent were not uncommon in the building, engineering and infrastructure sectors in India, resulting in project delays. From project initiation to completion, Padghams' service charges would be around one percent of the value of the project, Cox said.
Source: IANS