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iversified conglomerate Astra International (ASII) is looking for new opportunities in infrastructure, mining and automotives to spur its growth in the coming years, top executives have said.

Astra president director Prijono Sugiarto said the company, the third-largest firm by market capitalization on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) after tobacco company PT HM Sampoerna and private lender BCA, was eyeing projects in sectors run by its subsidiaries, such as infrastructure, mining and automotives.

'€œWe hope to build more toll roads, just like the one we have developed. United Tractors is also participating in several tender processes to work on mine-mouth power plants in South Sumatra,'€ he said in a press conference on the sidelines of the 2014 Investor Summit and Capital Market Expo on Wednesday.

Astra, through subsidiary Astratel Nusantara, has constructed the Mojokerto-Kertosono toll road in East Java province and is now looking to complete the Kunciran-Serpong toll road in Tangerang, Banten province, in partnership with state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga.

Meanwhile, United Tractors (UNTR), its subsidiary in the heavy equipment and mining sector, is still waiting for the results of two ongoing tender processes regarding the power plants.

The first plant, worth around US$900 million, will have a capacity of 1x600 megawatts. The second will be able to generate 2x600 megawatts in electricity, but no detailed information is available on the project'€™s value.

Djoko Pranoto, the Astra director who is also president director of UNTR, said United Tractors was interested in venturing into smelter construction as well.

'€œWe have to find more business opportunities. We have received some offers to construct a smelter, but need to find the best technology because the investment will be costly,'€ he said.

Another subsidiary, Astra Autoparts (AUTO), is also expanding business as it expects to seal more joint venture deals with both domestic and foreign companies to produce automotive components in Indonesia.

AUTO director Robby Sani said the company had signed non-disclosure agreements with several firms and that they were currently working on feasibility studies on several new projects.

'€œIt is still in the early stages and it can take up to one year for us to actually proceed to the signing of a joint venture agreement,'€ he added.

AUTO, according to Robby, was exploring the possibility of manufacturing four-wheel tires as well with Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli. As reported previously, the two formed a joint venture back in 2012 to produce conventional motorcycle tires in Indonesia.

The initial production volume is set at two million tires per year for the motorcycle segment and capacity will be increased to 7 million tires annually within the next five years.

Meanwhile, Suparno Djasmin, the Astra director who also serves as vice president director of automotive manufacturer PT Toyota Astra Motor, said that Astra would discuss with its counterpart the potential of increasing its export volume.

'€œWe would like to get a chance to raise the exports to meet demand in international markets, but that will depend on our principal as well. Exports from TMMIN [Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia] now revolve at around 116,000 units and we want to increase it to 150,000 units,'€ Suparno said.

To finance its operations next year, Astra would most likely allocate the same amount of funds in capital expenditure (capex) as in 2014. According to Prijono, the figure could climb by 10 to 20 percent if the conglomerate found '€œpromising projects'€ to work on.

This year, Astra has set aside between Rp 15 trillion ($1.25 billion) and Rp 17.5 trillion as capex. By June, it had already used more than 40 percent of the funds, Prijono said.