Sakshi Resources, a leading infrastructure company, doubled its revenue in the Middle East and North Africa alone in 2023 and is confident of sustaining a 20 per cent year-on-year growth over the next five years across Asia and Europe.
Quite a remarkable achievement for a company that began just over a decade ago in 2013 in Jaipur, Rajasthan in India and opened its offices in Dubai during the height of the global pandemic in 2020. The secret of its success, according to Rijul Sankhla, Co-founder and Managing Director, is a dedication to technological innovation while providing solutions to complex urban and industrial infrastructure projects.
The key technological innovation is operating equipment with capacities higher than standard requirements.
“Our focus is on optimising progress in each project. For instance, instead of using a 40-60 tons excavator, we use excavators with capacities of 100 tons or more. And for main lane highway paving, we use a combination of 10,060 cubic metre per hour capacity concrete batching plants and a minimum 16m-length slip form paver. This setup is capable of paving a minimum of five lanes and a shoulder in a single pass.”
But Sakshi Resources’ focus on innovation isn’t just about increasing speed and efficiency. The company is also keenly aware of the potential ecological ramifications of its projects and ensures that the cutting-edge technology is deployed in the safest manner possible. This includes, for instance, heavy supervision of microparticulate filtration, especially where concrete is being produced, and fog cannons to suppress any microparticulate matter that may deteriorate the local air quality.
“In marine engineering, our focus is on using STRATA from adjoining projects for reclamation rather than using the seabed as our first choice. This approach is intended to be sensitive to the local marine geology,” he adds.
Research and development
This commitment to efficient and environmentally safe technological innovation goes beyond just implementation. Sakshi Resources is focused on investing in research and development of new technologies to stay ahead in its core industries, says Sankhla.
“Given our reliance on ready-mix concrete (RMC), we continuously monitor global PESTLE Analysis to address changing environmental regulations regarding the use of recycled materials in concrete production,” he explains. “We aim to promote made-in-my-area ready-mix concrete that incorporates greater quantities of renewable or second-life raw materials, such as carbonated recycled aggregates and other sources like plastic, wood, glass and soil. This concrete increasingly contains more fibres to reduce the quantity of steel rebar.”
Rapid growth
All this innovation has happened alongside rapid growth and expansion, not just in the Middle East but also in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, with offices opening in the UK in 2023 and Hong Kong in 2024, and the company continually diversifying its profile. In addition to civil construction and marine engineering projects, Sakshi Resources provides services in mining, quarrying, electrical and chemical engineering, and that’s just the beginning.
“Beyond our core operations, Sakshi Resources is involved in several other business sectors and projects,” says Sankhla. “In aviation, we are engaged in major international airport expansions. In the oil sector, we are involved in significant refinery and pipeline projects. We also handle large-scale urban development projects, reflecting our commitment to delivering high-quality results across various industries.”
Success during the pandemic
In Sankhla’s estimation, the company’s strength lies in its strategy of being conservative with taking on debt, controlling costs related to material procurement, being cautious with funding and “avoiding financial adventurism”. That is why, he says, his company was not negatively impacted by the pandemic while opening its offices in the UAE in 2020. “On the contrary, it has increased our stability because we have been more cautious with using our reserves. Our cost control is personally supervised by me, which helps ensure that projects are delivered on time. This approach allowed us to meet project deadlines, even when certain public sector utility (PSU) clients outside the UAE delayed payments due to the pandemic.”
Needless to say, Sakshi Resources’ foray into the country has been a singularly positive experience, and Sankhla foresees that being the case in the future as well.
“Our success reflects the positive impact of governmental policies, and the conducive environment fostered by the UAE,” he says. “We have no reservations about investing in this dynamic market, as it aligns with our strategy to allocate most of our capacities and reserves.”
