1. We have audited the accompanying standalone financial statements of Hindustan Construction Company Limited and its joint operations (together referred to as 'the Company') (Refer Annexure I for the list of joint operations included in the standalone financial statements), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2024,

the Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other Comprehensive Income), the Statement of Cash Flow and the Statement of Changes in Equity for the year then ended, and notes to the standalone financial statements, including material accounting policy information and other explanatory information.

2. In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, and based on the consideration of the reports of the other auditors as referred to in paragraph 16 below, except for the possible effects

of the matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section of our report, the aforesaid standalone financial statements give the information required by the Companies Act, 2013 ('the Act') in the manner so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the Indian Accounting Standards ('Ind AS') specified under section 133 of the Act read with the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015 and other accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at 31 March 2024, and its profit (including other comprehensive income), its cash flows and the changes in equity for the year ended on that date.

Basis for Qualified Opinion

3. As stated in:

a) Note 33 to the standalone financial statements, the Company's investments in subsidiaries as at 31 March 2024 includes non-current investment in HCC Infrastructure Company Limited ('HICL), its wholly owned subsidiary amounting to ' 1,294.45 crore, stated at cost. The subsidiary's consolidated net worth as at 31 March 2024 is substantially eroded but, the said investment is considered fully recoverable by the management on the basis of factors stated in the aforesaid note including a valuation report obtained from an independent valuer.

However, in the absence of sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support the significant judgements and estimates applied by the management in the aforementioned valuation report, we are unable to comment upon the adjustments, if any, that are required to the carrying value of the aforesaid

investment and consequential impact, if any, on the accompanying standalone financial statements.

b) Note 9.1 to the standalone financial statements, the Company has recognised net deferred tax assets amounting to ' 613.09 crore as at 31 March 2024, which mainly includes deferred tax assets on carried forward unused tax losses, unused tax credits and other taxable temporary differences on the basis of expected availability of future taxable profits for utilization of such deferred tax assets. However, in view of the history of losses recorded by the Company, we are unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence with respect to the projections for future taxable profits prepared by the management and therefore, are unable to comment on any adjustments that may be required to the carrying value of aforesaid net deferred tax assets as at 31 March 2024.

Our audit report dated 18 May 2023 on the standalone financial results of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2023 was also qualified in respect of the above matters.

4. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on Auditing specified under section 143(10) of the Act.

Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Standalone Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ('ICAI') together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the

rules thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained together with the audit evidence obtained by the other auditors, in terms of their reports referred to in paragraph 16 of the Other Matter section below is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our qualified opinion.

Key Audit Matters

5. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, and based on the consideration of the reports

of the other auditors as referred to paragraph 16 below, were of most significance in our audit of the standalone financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.

6. In addition to the matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion, we have determined the matters described below to be the key audit matters to be communicated in our report.

Information other than the Financial Statements and

Auditor's Report thereon

7 The Company's Board of Directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Board Report, Report on Corporate Governance and Management Discussion and Analysis Report but does not include the standalone financial statements and our auditor's report thereon.

The Board Report, Report on Corporate Governance and Management Discussion and Analysis Report are expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor's report.

Our opinion on the standalone financial statements does not cover the other information and we will not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the standalone financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information identified above when it becomes available and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the standalone financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

When we read the Board Report, Report on Corporate Governance and Management Discussion and Analysis Report, if we conclude that there is a material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to those charged with governance.

Responsibilities of Management and Those Charged with

Governance for the Standalone Financial Statements

8. The accompanying standalone financial statements have been approved by the Company's Board of Directors. The Company's Board of Directors are responsible for the matters stated in section 134(5) of the Act with respect to the preparation and presentation of these standalone financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance including other comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows of the Company in accordance with the Ind AS specified under section 133 of the Act and other accounting principles generally accepted in India. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act

for safeguarding of the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

9. In preparing the financial statements, the Board of Directors are responsible for assessing the Company's

ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Board of Directors either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

10. The Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Company's financial reporting process.

Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Standalone

Financial Statements

11. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but

is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Standards on Auditing will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

12. As part of an audit in accordance with Standards on Auditing, specified under section 143(10) of the Act we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:

• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud

or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control;

• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under section 143(3) (i) of the Act we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Company has adequate internal financial controls with reference to financial statements in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls;

• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management;

• Conclude on the appropriateness of Board of Directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether

a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we

are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern;

• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation; and

• Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial statements of the Company and its joint operations or the business activities within

the Company to express an opinion on the financial statements. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the audit of financial statements of the Company. For the joint operations included in the financial statements, which have been audited by the other auditors, such other auditors remain responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the audits carried out by them. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion.

13. We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

14. We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.

15. From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor's report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing

so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.

Other Matter

16. We did not audit the financial statements of eight (8) joint operations included in the standalone financial statements of the Company whose financial statements reflects Company's share of total assets of ' 152.61 crore as at

31 March 2024, and the Company's share of total revenues of ' 475.19 crore, total net profit after tax of ' 740 crore,

total comprehensive income of ' 740 crore, and cash outflows (net) of ' 0.20 crore respectively for the year ended on that date, as considered in the standalone financial statements. These financial statements have been audited by the other auditors whose reports have been furnished to us by the management, and our opinion on the standalone financial statements, in so far as it relates to the amounts and disclosures included in respect of these joint operations, and our report in terms of sub-section (3) of section 143 of the Act in so far as it relates to the aforesaid joint operations, is based solely on the report of such other auditors.

Further, of these joint operations, the financial statements of five (5) joint operations have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in India, including accounting standards issued by the ICAI. The Company's management has converted the financial statements of such joint operations in accordance with Ind AS. We have audited these conversion adjustments made by the Company's management. Our opinion on the standalone financial statements, in so far as it relates to the amounts and disclosures included in respect of such joint operations, is based on the report of other auditors and the conversion adjustments prepared by the management of the Company and audited by us.

Our opinion above on the standalone financial statements, and our report on other legal and regulatory requirements below, are not modified in respect of the above matters with respect to our reliance on the work done by and the reports of the other auditors.

Report on Other Legal and Regulatory Requirements

17 As required by section 197(16) of the Act based on our audit, and on the consideration of the reports of the other auditors as referred to in paragraph 16 above, we report that the Company has paid remuneration to its directors during the year in accordance with the provisions of and limits laid down under section 197 read with Schedule V to the Act.

18. As required by the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 ('the Order') issued by the Central Government of India in terms of section 143(11) of the Act we give in the Annexure II a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order, to the extent applicable.

19. Further to our comments in Annexure II, as required by section 143(3) of the Act based on our audit, and on the consideration of the reports of the other auditors as referred to in paragraph 16 above, we report, to the extent applicable, that:

a) We have sought and except for the matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section, obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of our audit of the accompanying standalone financial statements;

b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Company so far as it appears from our examination of those books, except for the possible effects of the matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section and except for the matters stated in paragraph 19(i)(vi) below on reporting under Rule 11(g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 as amended.

c) The standalone financial statements dealt with by this report are in agreement with the books of account;

d) Except for the possible effects of the matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section, in our opinion, the aforesaid standalone financial statements comply with Ind AS specified under section 133 of the Act;

e) The matters described in paragraph 3 under the Basis for Qualified Opinion section, in our opinion, may have an adverse effect on the functioning of the Company;

f) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors and taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on 31 March 2024 from being appointed as a director in terms of section 164(2) of the Act;

g) The qualification relating to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith are as stated in paragraph 3 of the Basis for Qualified Opinion section, paragraph 19(b) above on reporting under section 143(3)(b) of the Act and paragraph 19(i)(vi) below on reporting under Rule 11(g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended);

h) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to financial statements of the Company as on 31 March 2024 and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate report in Annexure III wherein we have expressed a modified opinion; and

i) With respect to the other matters to be included

in the Auditor's Report in accordance with rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 (as amended), in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us and based on the consideration of the reports of the other auditors as referred to in paragraph 16 above:

i. The Company, as detailed in notes 6.1, 32, 33 and 34 to the standalone financial statements, has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position as at 31 March 2024;

ii. The Company, as detailed in notes 20.1 and 20.2 to the standalone financial statements, has made provision as at 31 March 2024, as required under the applicable law or accounting standards, for material foreseeable losses, if any, on long-term contracts including derivative contracts;

iii. There were no amounts which were required to be transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company during the year ended 31 March 2024;

iv. a. The management has represented that,

to the best of its knowledge and belief, as disclosed in note 44 to the standalone financial statements, no funds have been advanced or loaned or invested (either from borrowed funds or securities premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Company to or in any person or entity, including foreign entities ('the intermediaries'), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the intermediary shall, whether, directly or indirectly lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Company ('the Ultimate Beneficiaries') or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf the Ultimate Beneficiaries;

b. The management has represented that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, other than as disclosed in note 45 to the standalone financial statements, no funds have been received by the Company from any person or entity, including foreign entities ('the Funding Parties'), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company shall, whether directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party ('Ultimate Beneficiaries') or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries; and

c. Based on such audit procedures performed as considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, nothing has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the management representations under subclauses (a) and (b) above contain any material misstatement.

v. The Company has not declared or paid any dividend during the year ended 31 March 2024.

vi. As stated in note 46 to the standalone financial statements and based on our examination which included test checks, except for instance mentioned below, the Company, in respect of financial year commencing on 1 April 2023, has used an accounting software for maintaining its books of account which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility and the same has been operated throughout the year for all relevant transactions recorded in the software. Further, during the course of our audit we did not come

across any instance of audit trail feature being tampered with, other than the consequential impact of the exception given below:

For Walker Chandiok & Co LLP

Chartered Accountants Firm's Registration No.: 001076N/N500013

Shashi Tadwalkar

Partner

Membership No.: 101797 UDIN: 24101797BKCPCS1042

Place: Mumbai Date: 24 May 2024