Profit at the Indian arm of U.S.conglomerate Honeywell International was 1.28 billion rupees ($15.4 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 1.06 billion rupees a year earlier.

The surge in infrastructure spending ahead of the Indian general elections due by May has buoyed the performance of engineering and construction firms.

Revenue from operations grew 5.3% to 10.71 billion rupees, while expenses rose at a slower pace of 2.6% to 9.25 billion rupees.

Growth in expenses had outpaced the rise in revenue in the last four quarters, weighing on profit.

Shares of the company closed 0.7% higher ahead of the results.

Rival KEC International said last week its consolidated third-quarter profit jumped over five times. Siemens is expected to report its quarterly results next week.

($1 = 82.9550 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)