COMPANY BRIEF
Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL), one of the oldest CPSE, functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Pioneer of Prefab technology in India, HPL was established as a Department in 1948 to meet the housing needs of people who migrated from Pakistan. Later, HPL was incorporated as a company under the name Hindustan Housing Factory Limited in 1953 and became a CPSE in 1955. On 9th March 1978, the company’s name was changed to Hindustan Prefab Ltd (HPL).
Over the years, HPL has built a wide range of civil engineering structures besides supply of pre-fabricated components for the building industry and Indian Railways. HPL was amongst the pioneers to introduce PRC railway sleepers, a technically feasible substitute to wood and steel railway sleepers. HPL was the first to produce pre-cast, pre-stressed concrete railway bridge girders for building railway bridges. HPL is credited with building a large number of residential, industrial, and institutional structures using pre-cast concrete and prefabrication techniques. Notable structures in Delhi made by HPL include Ashoka Hotel, Palam Airport Terminal Building, East and West Blocks in R.K. Puram, and Vikas Bhawan in IP Estate, all using prefab building components. The Oberoi Intercontinental Hotel, flagship of the Oberoi Group, also used pre-cast concrete components manufactured by HPL.
The HPL complex was located on a 28.639-acre plot of land where a factory equipped with advance technologies was existed for manufacture of prefab Infra/building components, concrete sleepers for railway, concrete electric polls, wooden workshop, etc. at Jangpura, New Delhi. However, since 2004, the production of PRC railway sleepers, electricity poles and other prefab civil engineering components has been suspended. As an alternative, to remain a going concern, HPL has focused on securing project management contracts. HPL is one of the leading CPSE aiming to deliver hi-tech Project Management Consultancy services in civil construction projects, including mass housing projects under various Government schemes, educational, hospital and other institutional buildings for Central & State Governments and their agencies. The works entrusted to HPL are executed by ensuring quality and timely completion with both conventional and prefab technologies.
HPL is one of the “Turnaround CPSE” as per the Guidelines issued by the Government of India for declaring a sick CPSE as a “Turnaround CPSE.” The financial restructuring of HPL was approved by the Government of India through the conversion of Government loan and interest as on 31.03.2008, amounting to Rs. 128 Crores into equity as financial restructuring without cash infusion. As a result of this restructuring, HPL has not availed any budgetary support from the Government.
In 2017, the name HPL listed in CPSEs under strategic dis-investment. All immovable properties in the name of HPL were hived-off and handed-over to Land and Development Office on direction of the Ministry. Now HPL, with Office premises and Prefab/ Alternate Technologies Park, is taking up projects under various schemes launched by the Government of India towards sustainability of environment, water, disaster resilience, etc.