In the month of May 2008, ProjectsToday gathered information on 43 domestic and International contracts totalling Rs.14,462.71 crore. Out of the total contracts, domestic contracts amounted to 36.

Amongst the seven overseas contracts, the largest contract was bagged by IRCON International, a subsidiary of Indian Railways. The $1 billion (approx Rs.4,000 crore) contract was for construction of a 103 km high-speed rail segment in Malaysia. The scope of work involves building an electrified double line (two parallel tracks) between Seremban and Gemas in southern Malaysia and electrification & signalling works.

Among the domestic contracts awarded in May 2008, Som Distilleries & Breweries (SDBL) bagged the largest contract for a Thatipur township project, in Gwalior, in collaboration with Patel Engineering. The contract worth Rs.2,500 crore was awarded by Madhya Pradesh Housing Board.

The Power sector, indicating brisk investment activities, saw 10 contracts worth Rs.3,186 crore being awarded in May 2008. Of the 10 contracts awarded, two were of large size, of which the largest was a Rs.1,150 crore order bagged by BHEL. BHEL will undertake setting up a 153 MW captive power plant at the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab. HPCL-Mittal is the project promoter. Hyderabad-based Maytas Infra bagged the second largest contract worth Rs.650 crore from Gupta Energy, in which it would develop India's first washery reject coal-based power plant of 120 MW, in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.

The Real Estate sector saw seven contracts, totalling Rs.2,913.89 crore being awarded in May 2008. Apart from the Rs.2,500 crore contract bagged by Patel Engineering for setting up a township in Thatipur, the Rs.154.29 crore contract bagged by Unity Infraprojects for a C/O Prison Complex including housing at Mandoli, was notable. The balance five contracts were of smaller size.

Patel Engineering bagged another Rs.1,120 crore contract in May to set up the Taum Sauck Upper Reservoir Dam in Missouri, USA. On the domestic front, IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects bagged the Rs.468.59 crore contract for modernising the Godavari Delta Canal System.

In the Roadways sector, three contracts totalling Rs.735.49 crore were awarded. Haryana State Roads & Bridges Development Corporation's Rs.383 crore contract awarded to Unity Infraprojects was for widening and upgrading the Rai Nahra Bahadurgarh Road and Rohtak-Kharkhoda Delhi border Road along with improvements at the Murthai Sonepat-Sampla-Jhajjar-Dadri Road and the Gurgaon-Farrukjnagar-Jhajjar Road. Another major contract was bagged by C&C Constructions for rehabilitating and constructing the Gardez Khost Road in Afganistan. The contract worth Rs.344 crore was awarded by a joint venture company of Louis Berger Group Inc and Black & Veatch.