Ramjibhai Kamani founded
Kamani Engineering Corporation (now KEC International) on 7 May 1945 which became the first
electric power transmission company in
Asia. It was engaged in the field of electric power transmission and
railway electrification. In 1950, the company received an order from the
Indian government to supply transmission towers for the
Bhakra Nangal Dam project and a steel tower fabrication plant was established in
Bombay in partnership with R. Foures, France. This was augmented by a second unit in
Jaipur,
Rajasthan and by 1967, KEC was supplying three-fifths of India's demand for transmission towers. By the 1970s, KEC had carried out turnkey power transmission projects in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Mauritius, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United States, and Canada. With eighty percent of its turnover of almost being earned through exports, KEC soon became the largest manufacturer of transmission towers in India and the second largest in the world, next in rank to SAE of Italy. In September 2010, KEC International acquired Houston, Texas based SAE Towers, a group of operating companies incorporated in the United States, Mexico and Brazil consolidated through SAE Towers Holdings, LLC. This acquisition created the largest steel
lattice tower manufacturer in the world with approximately 300,000 tons of annual production capacity. In 2017, the Company's Water Business was merged with the Civil Business. The Civil Business now undertakes turnkey construction for Residential, Industrial and Commercial projects, including workshops. In 2019, KEC International Ltd received orders worth 1,520 crore across three business verticals. On 26 July 2024, the company reported a 108% jump in net profit to ₹87.6 crore for the April-June quarter (Q1FY25) compared to ₹42 crore a year ago. The company secured new orders worth ₹1,422 crore for transmission and distribution projects in India and the United States. A high-voltage transmission line order for 765 kV and 400 KV lines in India from Power Grid is among the new projects. KEC will supply substation structures for projects in the US. ==Operations==