* Sathya (truth) Dharma (righteousness) Santhi (peace) Prema

successfully on the day as announced by Swami and the 
hospital got inaugurated by the then Prime Minister  
Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, after such an unbelievably short time 
of construction!
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Whitefield, 
Bangalore
A few years later Swami similarly announced a new hospital 
in the Whitefield area of Bangalore.  This was also a design-
and-build job done by L&T.  The structure was completed 
in eleven months and the finishing works took another 
three months.  This building was also received well by the 
public as it offers free speciality services to people suffering 
from cardiac-related ailments.  The involvement of L&T in 
the design and construction of this hospital increased the 
Company’s reputation and it could secure many hospital 
contracts subsequently.  One of these notable projects is 
the hospital constructed for the Government of India at Bhuj 
in Gujarat after the occurrence of a devastating earthquake.  
To make it earthquake-resistant, L&T constructed the new 
building using base isolator technology in a short period of 
one year.
Water Supply Projects
The design and construction of a water supply project to 
cover 750 villages in Anantapur District in Andhra Pradesh 
was a turning point for L&T to diversify into the field of water 
projects.  After the Anantapur project we did many such 
projects in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other 
states of India and L&T started a new division called Water 
& Effluent Treatment Business Unit.  The diversification into 
this area has been so successful for L&T that the company 
continues to do work in the field to the tune of Rs. 2,000 Cr. 
every year.
At the time of inauguration of the water supply project for 
Anantapur District, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, then Prime 
Minister, commented that only a spiritual person like 
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba could solve the drinking 
water problem of the district.  He described the district as 
“anantha” endlessly (“poor”) and said  when he was a minister 
in the state government, he could not get water for the 
suffering people.  He went on to say that after completion of 
the project the district has become ‘Anandapuri’, bringing 
happiness to one and all in the district.  
Sri Sathya Nigamagamam 
This is a project for providing a multi-purpose auditorium 
and dining facilities in a two-acre plot near Srinagar Colony, 
Hyderabad.  This was a design-and-build contract with  
Mr. R. Chakrapani as architect.  It turned out to be such an 
outstanding structure, both architecturally and structurally, 
that it fetched for L&T a Certificate of Merit from FIP 
(Federation Internationale de la Precontrainte; later on known 
as Federation International du Beton – FIB), an international 
association for prestressed concrete, at its Washington 
Congress (FIP holds a World Congress every four years) in 
Left: 
 A. Ramakrishna briefing the salient 
features of  Jawaharlal Nehru stadium 
to Swami during his visit to the site at 
Chennai.  L&T completed this 40000 seat 
capacity stadium in just 260 days.
  
Right: 
Swami with Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, 
then Prime Minister of India and  
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, then Chief Minister 
of Andhra Pradesh during the dedication 
of water supply project to the nation.  This 
water supply project solved the water 
problem of 750 villages in Anantapur 
District.

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the year 1994, FIP acknowledged Sri Sathya Nigamagamam 
as an outstanding structure in concrete using concrete shells 
with a compression ring to cover the auditorium’s roof.  It 
so happened that in the same Congress the Headquarters 
Building of L&T’s ECC Division at Manapakkam, Chennai was 
selected as the most outstanding concrete structure.  It is 
very rare in the world that a construction company from India 
gets an award when there are competing companies from 
the US, Europe, Japan and others who normally have the 
financial capacity to win such awards for large and expensive 
structures.  I sincerely believe that it is Swami’s grace which 
helped us create and build these structures which would 
ultimately win international awards for innovative concrete 
structures designed and built by L&T.
Sri Sathya Sai Airport
This is another example of an incredible job being completed 
in 3.5 months.  The entire runway and terminal building 
were designed and constructed in a short time for aircraft to 
land at Puttaparthi.  Later on some commercial flights from 
Mumbai and Chennai were also using this airport.  While 
the runway was under construction our hot mix plant did 
not function for about ten days and this long period was 
understandably very critical for a job needing to be completed 
in three months.  Our Resident Engineer used to sit in the 
darshan hall to report to Swami about the progress of work 
and told Him about the predicament of the hot mix plant 
not functioning.  On a particular day Swami told him, “Go 
back, the plant will start functioning from today” and indeed 
the plant started working with his own minor attempts at 
repair and he believes it is a miracle.  Thereafter the job was 
completed in the shortest time.  When we took the initial 
drawings for the terminal building (single-storey, flat-roofed) to 
Swami, He remarked that the building looked like a headless 
man and this prompted us to add a dome on the top of the 
slab and construct the same within the stipulated time.  There 
is no doubt the building looks architecturally more beautiful 
after the addition of the dome as per Swami’s suggestion.
Yazur Mandir (Swami’s Residence)
Swami  was staying in the rooms constructed as a 
modification of Poorna Chandra Auditorium on the first floor.  
Subsequently, it was decided from many considerations that 
the area opposite Poorna Chandra Auditorium should be 
chosen for a new building to serve as Swami’s residence.   
Mr. Krishna Singhal and Mr. C. Sreenivas, Brindavan, 
Bangalore provided lot of inputs and support for the new 
residence of Swami.  Swami surprised me by making me 
lay the foundation stone and participated in the function so 

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