B.L.Lodha has had a successful stint as a construction contractor and is proud of the fact that he was the first in his village to become an engineer.

Hailing from Udaipur, B.L. Lodha is the managing director of the private limited firm Buildwell Constructions. His company works for big corporates and big builders in Udaipur and also outside Udaipur. Apart from civil construction, his company does furniture work also. His company specializes in industrial buildings.

When he completed his engineering, as there were no government jobs available, he went to Surat to work in his family business of textiles. But, his heart was not into it. He came back to Udaipur and started a job as site engineer with a construction company called Kamal Engineers. After working for 7-8 years he decided to do something of his own and resigned from the job. At first he did small private houses but soon started getting big contracts and is happy with his progress and with the quantum of business his company is doing now.

Talking about sacrifices he says that as his work required long hours, he had to sacrifice family time. Even on Sundays and festivals he could not give much time to his family. But, he is happy that now he is able to spend adequate time with his family.

He had a setback when he met with an accident in 1998. For once, thoughts came to his mind to stop doing the civil construction work. For six months he was stuck at home. There was also pressure from the family for him to get engaged in the family business of textiles. But, he finally recouped himself and gradually things came back on track.

When asked about fun activities apart from the business life, he says that he goes on outings and tours with his family. He also has developed a tradition in his company of celebrating birthdays of his employees in which apart from his own family, families of all employees come together for dinners. He says that due to this all his employees feel like they are part of a big family which creates a good feeling.

I have learnt a lot from Mr Bagla, the chairman of Arcgate, with whom I got associated in 2016.

His message for the newcomers to this line is that they should learn as much as possible about the field and always insist on quality and timely delivery. They should not run after big profits. He says that construction is a never ending work and even reasonable profits are sufficient.

He is satisfied that coming from a village, he was the first from his village to become an engineer and carve a place for himself in the civil construction field rather than in the family business of textiles.