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Arup Bindu recalls May 26^th, 2012, with great pride and passion. “It was the day we created history in the transmission world by adopting the highest AC voltage with the commissioning of the first phase of the 1,200 kV switchyard at Bina.” This and other milestones have featured his journey with L&T that began as a DET in August 1996.

Currently at the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link project, Katra, as the Civil In-​charge, Arup is drawing on his rich experience to push progress. “With the implementation of digital tools, most of the data is now readily available that helps us to follow up on critical tasks, including the implementation of EHS and quality standards,” he says with an appreciative gesture.

“My team members are putting in their best efforts to achieve their individual targets so that the overall project targets are met,” Arup says earnestly. “My seniors have also always extended support in taking decisions, providing timely clearances and approvals. As an organisation, L&T always supports innovation and encourages implementing new techniques!”

Arup enjoys reading books on his Kindle. Hailing from Kolkata, he is married to Rina, a home maker. They are blessed with a daughter, Aarushi, who is studying in the 9^th standard, and a son, Arik, who is in nursery. With a father’s love for his daughter, he says, “seeing my daughter’s face on the day she was born is a memory I’ll always cherish!”

“Driving is my passion,” shares Anasmon Padath Abdulkhader from his current posting at the Replacement of Old and Obsolete substations in KNPC MAA Refinery, in Kuwait, as Civil Construction Coordinator. Since joining L&T on June 14^th, 2016, he has been driving projects to conclusion, and himself to higher levels. After spending 4 years at a reputed organization in India where he was campus-​placed, and another 4 with an MNC in Kuwait, he joined the L&T family. “It was certainly one of my career’s wisest decisions for unlike my previous employers, at L&T I am always given opportunities to advance myself and take up the next level of responsibilities for self-​development,” he declares.

Anasmon’s first L&T project was the ‘Replacement of old and obsolete M20 Substation in KNPC MAA Refinery’ as Civil Construction Engineer with loads of responsibilities. “We completed the project on schedule with Zero accidents and Zero interference to refinery operations and my contribution was acknowledged with an Appreciation Certificate from KNPC that I am blessed to have received from the KNPC DCEO himself,” he shares, his eyes gleaming. Next, deployed inside the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to construct 3 new 132/​11kV substations and its related 132kV overhead power lines, he again timely completed the project to the client’s satisfaction.

At his present assignment, his concern is the location of the new substations at the most critical part of the refinery with previous history of major accidents. “Additionally, we had to demolish an existing building of approximately 1,450 sq.m plinth area as a part of area clearance for the substation, contend with a higher ground water table being close to the sea, tackle live underground services and more.” Continuous and daily coordination with the Refinery Operations Team helped to keep track of their routing works, nonroutine shutdown jobs and plan project activities to the customer’s satisfaction.

As innovations, Anasmon mentions introducing soil improvement with ‘Rigid Inclusions Methodology’ to mitigate loose subgrade issues, adopting the CUBIS duct system instead of the conventional UPVC sleeves with cost and time advantages, densifying subgrade cohesionless soil to improve bearing capacity and installing a well point dewatering system at locations having multiple live underground services.

Anasmon acknowledges his Project Manager’s mentoring role that has helped him develop his problem-​solving and leadership skills. “I am supported by a strong, sincere and diversified team of Supervisors & Engineers who strictly adhere to my instructions and work according to the targets dedicated to each of them.”

“Since several agencies are involved in doing the work, establishing coordination among them is a milestone for it is not possible to work without coordination,” he points out, looking serious. “Working parallelly and together with all agencies and clients, we must find solutions to RWO issues through dialogue and cooperation, so that progress is not affected. In fact, during the rainy season, we must be more alert to avoid any kind of unforeseen incident like landslides.” Another issue in the state of J&K is to mobilize external manpower.

Despite these challenges, Arvind and team have been making significant progress. “We have started civil work in all 6 portal substations out of which civil work of 3 substations is nearing completion,” he says with a sense of purpose. “In E&M works, 9 kms of fire fitting line, 7 kms 33 kV cable laying work and installation of 22 kms cable tray works have also been completed.” About his work style, “I plan the works, motivate my team members, and distribute responsibilities according to the expertise of each individual on the work front, and then check if the plan has worked well and whether we were able to achieve our various milestones.” Digitalization, Arvind readily agrees, is hugely improving efficiencies. “We share daily progress updates through WhatsApp and with real time information available, we are able to monitor and review planned v/​s achieved productivity and improve progress.”

Apart from possessing a rich and varied experience of having worked at several refinery, power plant, and metro rail projects, Sunil Kumar Maurya fondly recalls several of his more memorable moments since joining L&T in 2004 as a DET (Instrumentation). “It was a proud moment to collect the performance certificate and close the DMRC CE01 project, both physically and financially in all respects, as the Project In-​charge,” sharing perhaps his most treasured memory.

Presently, as the Planning Manager at KRCL’s Udhampur–Srinagar– Baramulla Railway Link’s (USBRL’s) Pkg‑4 (Tunnels T1, T2, T8/​9, and T10), where the team is waiting for the front release of the T1 tunnel, Sunil’s focus is on executing the available work and at the same time following up with the client to expedite the release of the balance work.

“We plan material procurement well in advance, considering the remote location,” informs Sunil, “and resource mobilization based on front availability.” All tunnels in Sunil’s package are non-​uniform in both size and shape: some D‑shaped, some elliptical, some modified horseshoe, and so on, hence chances are high of infringement with the Schedule of Dimension (SOD) of the train. “We have been very precise in selecting the sizes for mounting and installing our equipment,” he adds. A customized movable scaffolding is being used inside the tunnels to work with the space constraints and non-​standard shapes.

“Customer is king,” remarks Sunil, accentuating the age-​old business mantra as he talks about maintaining good relations with the client. “We have been able to get timely approvals and certifications for executed work, while maintaining a healthy cashflow for the project,” he reveals with a satisfied look.

“The freedom and support we receive at L&T from seniors are unparalleled,” begins Amal Babu as he relates how he and his team have overcome disruptions at the Replacement of Old and Obsolete Substations at MAA Refinery, Kuwait. “Thanks to the faith shown by the superiors, our team has been able to achieve goals on time.”

Non-​availability of working space, interference with existing facilities, and conflicting tasks were some of their challenges. “Moreover, we had very little information related to the existing obsolete facilities,” he says, but the project team has been able to measure up, thanks to advance steps taken. “We have been maintaining frequent communication with the refinery stakeholders to avoid conflicting jobs,” Amal elaborates. “We collect and study the existing underground facility drawings from the archives to identify possible disruptions in advance and suggest cost-​effective solutions during the field engineering stage.”

The team has introduced a sophisticated cable identification procedure to identify live and dead cables at remote locations without interrupting operation facilities, “that has helped us to complete the load transfer well ahead of the refinery schedule, and that too with zero error,” Amal says triumphantly. Another feature is to GPS track the cable drums. “These are called ‘connected drums’,” he explains, “whose location and usage can be tracked remotely.”

The client, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), has been especially happy with the team’s job of demolishing the old gas plant control rooms inside the MAA refinery, well ahead of schedule with zero incidents. “This was the oldest control room inside the refinery,” reveals Amal. “Our team succeeded in safely eliminating the live and dead cables from the building without interrupting the operation facilities in any way.”

Even if one were not directly involved with a project being executed in J&K, one can well imagine the challenges involved. The PT&D team executing the KRCL project have been experiencing loads of them as Civil In-​charge of Package 3, Avik Chakraborty takes pains to explain. “The most common challenges we face are interference from the local public, black marketing of raw material due to the ban on mining and difficulty to transport material through the hilly terrain that often gets blocked either due to stone shooting or landslides.”

To offset local interference, Avik mentions that it is important to establish and maintain good rapport with the locals and to follow their plan to efficiently dump the maximum quantity of raw materials properly in a single go. “In this project, we plan all our major works according to the weather forecast to avoid any disruptions due to natural calamities.”

Despite the challenges, the team has diligently sought innovative ways to enhance efficiencies and Avik flags off the Self-​Loading Transit Mixer they have deployed at site instead of a permanent batching plant to control costs with respect to their executed quantity. “We have a centralized workshop inside the store for reinforcement cutting and bending to avoid any theft and to utilize the cut length to mitigate the wastage percentage.” Using a readymade cover block and a concrete bucket to achieve concrete above 2 m in height instead of manual pouring is also helping them to significantly save on execution time.

These innovations reflect strong teamwork and Avik readily agrees. “This is the toughest part of the project but we, as a team, have succeeded by customizing as much as possible to suit project requirements. The support and help from both our seniors and other team members have been great or else it would have been impossible to achieve our targets as per schedule. We also take client feedback regularly and seriously to keep them on our side,” he nods with a smile.

Avik joined L&T, his dream come true, on August 16^th, 2010, after a 3‑year stint with ABB and was initially posted at the 765 kV PGCIL Ballia substation project of (2010–2012) as Site Engineer. Thereafter, his assignments have been at the 765 kV RRVPNL, Phagi substation project as Site In-​charge, the 33/​11 kV OPTCL, ODSSP Phase-​II substation project as District Civil In-​charge, the IPDS/​PMDP Jammu project as Civil In-​Charge and the KRCL project from 2021.

As Project Engineer at the Replacement of Old & Obsolete M20 Substations at the MAA refinery, Madarasu Sai Mourya and team are working in a high security zone with very restricted access, a hazardous environment with high probability of being exposed to Hydrocarbons and H2S gases. Yet, Sai is resolutely putting his best foot forward and his client is much pleased by their delivery.

Beginning his journey with L&T as a GET at the 3×660 MW Thermal Power Plant Expansion Project in Koradi, Nagpur, he then moved to PT&D projects in Kuwait, shouldering multiple responsibilities like Planning Assistant, MIS Executive for Kuwait, supporting the tendering team in costing and bid submissions.

Sai mentions his concern about the salt-​laden air causing widespread corrosion and the presence of cables, fire hydrants, and other process unit facilities in and around the site. “Apart from these location-​specific challenges, we have had to deal with manpower mobilization, high commodity prices, and the global shortage of electronic components, containers and vessels.”

“As a unique measure, we conducted a workshop with the client about reducing the cycle time and by merging the approvals for RFQ and TBE, we were able to save 75 days in the cycle!” Sai says, breaking into a smile.

Sai and team have delighted the customer in many ways, particularly the way they expedited the demolition work. “The duration for this exercise as per the contract was 8 months, but we completed it in a mere 3 months,” he informs, rightfully proud of the achievement. “The client also appreciated a VR workshop that we organized with 3D models of our substations,” he adds.

Sai expresses his gratitude for the support from Ashwani Kumar Tyagi, Operations Head – PT&D Kuwait. He praises L&T for the opportunities provided, including the sponsored Executive Management Degree from SPJIMR: “I’m sure no other organization will provide such chances in the early days of the career. The roles and responsibilities have helped me see the big picture without losing attention to detail.”

Sai hails from Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, and has recently tied the knot with Raaga Sruthi, a software engineer. He enjoys reading, and he recalls his GET orientation at LDA Lonavala as one of his most memorable moments.

A tough project sternly tests teamwork, and Ashutosh is happy with the way his team has shaped up. “Our Project Manager has always shown the way, motivating us to do better at every stage,” he declares with a steely look in his eyes. “If there are any suggestions or better solutions to complete the task, we take them positively and adopt them timely.”

Aashutosh’s journey with L&T began on December 24^th, 2010, as a trainee, with an initial posting at the Rourkela Steel Pant (MVPDS jobs). “Then I was transferred in March 2015 to the DMRC (E&M Project) where I handled mechanical works like MEP, AMC, and overall project closer works.” Successful completion of that project is a professional high for him after which he moved to the KRCL project.

Hailing from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, Aashutosh is married to Saroj, a homemaker, busy looking after their baby girl, Anamika. He reads during his free time. “What L&T has taught us is how to face extreme pressure and challenges and yet balance work & family life,” he states, capturing his L&T experience.