MP Kateel takes NHAI to task for tardy four-laning work on NH 66
Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha member Nalin Kumar Kateel on Wednesday took the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials to task for the tardy work while four-laning the Talapady-Kundapura section of National Highway 66. Presiding over a review meeting here, Mr. Kateel said, “I cannot tolerate this tardy work progress which is going on for over seven years. I would immediately intimate the matter to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.” He was particularly unhappy with NHAI’s failure to demolish buildings that have already been acquired by paying compensation for widening NH 66 as well as NH 75 (Mangaluru-Bengaluru Road). Mr. Kateel also took NHAI to task for its failure to provide service roads wherever required. An NHAI official present told the MP that acquired buildings off NH 75 near B.C. Road would be razed within a week. He also said that the entire work on four-laning NH 66 would be completed by June next. The issue of construction of a flyover at Pumpwell (Bhagavan Mahaveer) Circle at the junction of NH 66 and NH 75 in the city appears to be facing yet another hurdle. A technical advisor to Mangaluru City Corporation has said that the design would obstruct free flow of traffic. To this, Mr. Kateel asked NHAI and the corporation to hold a joint inspection and sort out the issue at the earliest for the speedy completion of the flyover. He warned the authority not to resort to toll collection till it completed all work related to four-laning of the road. Lawrence Guy Authentic Jersey
Demonetisation pushes electronic toll collection by 540 times
Demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has pushed toll payment through electronic mode rather than in cash, something the highways ministry failed to do in the past two years. In the past 20 days, toll collection through electronic mode increased by at least 540 times, according to NHAI data. Even the sale of FASTags, a common tag that can be used across all toll plazas on NHs, has increased from only 1,462 on December 1 to 5,635 on December 20. The average daily sale of these tags is around 3,223. Since its launch two years back, the banks responsible for popularising the use of these tags had sold only 1.08 lakh tags till November 30. The toll collection through electronic mode went up from Rs 65,897 on December 3 to nearly Rs 3.58 crore on December 21, NHAI said. “The numbers will increase significantly next month. Now four banks – ICICI, Axis, IDFC and SBI – are selling tags. They will reach out to bulk buyers such as truck fleet owners and cab operators in a big way. What we need to do is increase the number of lanes that can process the tags to deduct toll,” said an NHAI official. Though at present, highway operators are also collecting user charges using point of sale machines, the aim is to convert more people to use FASTags, which enable vehicles to pass through toll lanes without stopping. According to estimates, toll plazas in India will be congestion-free when 60-70% users pay toll through electronic mode. The proposal of large scale use of smart tags was first mooted in June 2010 and a pilot run was conducted in August 2012. But it did not get enough attention until recently. Besides reducing the processing time at toll plazas, use of smart tags ensures no leakage in toll collection as all records are captured electronically. These can also be used for tracking movement of stolen vehicles or in case of any emergency. Aleksander Barkov Jersey
AAP govt proposes road-design cell to counter traffic woes; plan awaits L-G nod
To overcome the menace of traffic snarls and ensure optimum use of road space in the capital, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has proposed for formation of a separate body which will work to redesign the city road system. The road design cell, will aim to revamp the congested roads and make them friendly towards pedestrians and cyclists. The makeover goal also includes plan to demarcate dedicated zones for street vendors, provisions for foot over bridges with glass lifts and staircases among other elaborate features. The cell which will have road safety expert, architects and PWD officials as members, will study the traffic pattern of all the major roads and finalise the design of roads in the city. Sources said Delhi PWD minister, Satyendar Jain, has proposed more space for pedestrians and cyclists on the city roads and they will be redesigned keeping that in mind. Last year, the government had proposed to revamp the design of ten roads in Delhi while giving preference to bicycle riders and roadside walkers but the project could not take off. “The proposal is pending with the L-G and we hope to get approval from him for a new body so that we can restart the project. The road-design cell will be formed for two years for the makeover of the city,” said a PWD official. Sources said that the department is persuading L-G to approve the proposal. Several flyovers have come up in the city over the past decade, but the problem of congestion continues to plague Delhi roads partly because the existing network of 33,260 km of roads is not being used properly. According to the transport department officials, despite enormous growth in vehicular population, Delhi has the capacity to handle traffic if lane driving is implemented properly. Read| Capital chaos: Delhi’s traffic has slowed down and doubled time spent on roads “An ideal road is where everyone has the designated space, from pedestrian to cars, public transport and cyclists. In future, movement for pedestrians will be made smooth by removing all obstacles and there will be provision of foot over bridges with glass lifts and staircases, keeping in mind the comfort of pedestrians,” the official added. In Delhi, about 35% of the commuters ‘walk only’ as means of transport. These commuters are different from the ones who walk to catch the public transport. “Inspite of the enormous motorization, the highest share of people still ‘walk’. Naturally, we need to improve the facility for pedestrians. Then to decongest roads, we need to give more importance to public transport so there is going to be dedicated lane for buses at majority of roads,” the official further said. In congested areas, Delhi government plans to have dedicated lanes for cycles and non-motorised vehicles and in market areas, there will be dedicated zones for street vendors. Experts claim that roads in Delhi have been primarily designed to increase the speed and ease of movement of car users. “Car-oriented design priority and discouragement of walking through inadequate design – has discouraged people from walking and in turn encouraged car-dependency. In ideal condition, preference should be given to non-motorized vehicles. In coming days, pedestrians will have space in every road but space for cars and bikes will be reduced. We will create dedicated cycle lanes too,” the official further said. Through redesigning, government is also planning to provide space for feeder vehicle for comfortable last mile connectivity from metro stations. Since only 1,200km of roads come under PWD, the Delhi government is planning to spend around Rs 5,000 crore to redesign wide roads of the city. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that Delhi’s traffic problem is linked to flaws in road designs rather than space problem and his government was trying to rectify them. Government feels majority of road space have been occupied by cars across the city and that motorists constitute around 1.5% of the total road users. To improve public transport, government would ensure buses at an interval of 1-2 minutes at specific localities initially. Government may keep certain roads only for public transport as is done in many European cities and build cycle track along with metro stations. Key features of the road redesigning plan • Roads to be redesigned with focus on giving more space to pedestrians by widening the footpaths • Pedestrians Movement to be made smooth by removing all obstacles • Provision for foot over bridges with glass lifts and staircases, half-subways, at-grade zebra crossings • Footpaths with street furniture • Footpaths to be made friendly for differently-abled people • Dedicated lanes for cycles and non-motorised vehicles • Dedicated bus lanes wherever possible • Estimated cost: Rs. 1.25 crore per lane per km • Total length of lanes on selected roads: 200 km • Dedicated zones for street vendors • CCTV cameras for monitoring • Rain water harvesting units under the green area and the central median Marcel Dionne Jersey
Put aviation sector in lowest slab of proposed GST: Business Aircraft Operators Association
Private and Business jets operators’ body BAOA today said that industry needs greater fiscal support from the government in view of the jet fuel prices expected to move northwards and demanded that the aviation sector be put in the lowest slab of the proposed GST regime. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), which the government intends to roll out from April 1, 2017, is to subsume central excise, service tax and state VAT among other indirect levies on manufactured goods and services. The GST Council has finalised a four-tier tax structure — 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. “Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) expects the finalised GST structure to treat aviation in the most favourable way by classifying it in the lowest slab,” the Association said in its budget wish-list to the Government today. The lowest tax rates in the GST would help the industry optimally meet the ever growing demand from Indian public for affordable air travel options, it said. “With ATF prices likely to go northwards due to the recent decision of OPEC to cap production output, the industry needs greater fiscal support from the government to optimally meet the ever growing demand from Indian public for affordable air travel options,” it said. BAOA, which claims to be the unified voice of business and general aviation, has, among others, Reliance Industries, Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, DLF, and Essar Group as its members. As many as 78 non-scheduled operator permit holders are part of this grouping. The Association, in report, titled Business Aviation in India, released early this month had said that business aviation in India continued to perform below its potential. “In sharp contrast to the growth of scheduled airlines, business aviation has registered a meagre 2 per cent growth over the last 5 years…a vibrant business aviation industry would lead to overall economic prosperity by way of superior efficiencies and faster growth leading to new jobs and higher incomes,” it has stated. The report had also urged the Government to accord the business aviation industry its rightful place, and thereby reap manifold economic benefits. Stating that the aviation sector in India remains most challenging due to high cost inputs in every activity, the Association today said it looks forward to government rationalising duty structure for all public air transportation system inclusively by not treating non-scheduled operators differently. Michael Rasmussen Authentic Jersey
Govt defends in HC its stand to levy Rs 7500-8500 per flight
The proposal to levy Rs 7500 to Rs 8500 per flight operated by Indian carriers to create a fund to develop regional airports was defended today by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the Delhi High Court. Terming as “misconceived” a plea challenging the scheme, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal were further told that the policy would eventually lead to the growth of the civil aviation sector as whole. “The government has proposed to take flying to the masses by making them affordable and convenient. For example, if every Indian in the middle class income bracket takes just one flight in a year, it would result in a sale of 35 crore tickets, a big jump from seven crore domestic tickets sold in 2014-15,” the ministry and the DGCA said in a joint affidavit. “This will be possible if air fare, especially on the regional routes, are brought down to an affordable level.” The reduction in costs will require concessions by the central and state governments and airport operators, the affidavit said. The ministry and DGCA’s response came in the backdrop of a plea by Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) which has said that while the scheme allows it to pass on the levy to the passengers, it cannot do so as it is not a fee for which the carriers are rendering any service to the flyers. The FIA, which represents scheduled carriers like Indigo, GoAir, Spicejet and Jet Airways, has sought quashing of the October 21 notification inserting the rule for imposing the levy as well as the November 9 order declaring rates of levy and the categories of the scheduled flights on which they would be imposed. Steve Grogan Authentic Jersey
DIAL defers charging fee on in-flight food & drinks
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) today agreed in Delhi High Court to defer till February 8, its decision to charge a fee on in-flight food and beverages provided by private airlines like Spicejet, Indigo, Goair and Jet Airways. DIAL gave this oral assurance before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva who issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DIAL, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and four flight kitchen operators — Oberoi Flight Services, Taj Sats Air Catering Ltd, Ambassador (SkyChef) and Sky Gourmet Catering Pvt Ltd — and sought their replies on a plea by Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) against the levy of 16 per cent fee on the cost price of food and beverages procured by the carriers. It asked the airlines to provide a copy of their food procurement agreement and the agreements they have with the various flight caterers to provide in-flight refreshments. FIA, which represents Spicejet, Indigo, Goair and Jet Airways, has claimed that as per the letter of November 11, the in-flight kitchen operators had to pay the fees to DIAL with effect from November 15. Another letter of December 1, 2016, which too has been challenged by FIA, had said that DIAL will not allow inside the IGI Airport any flight catering vehicle carrying items procured outside. FIA, represented by senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, has contended that DIAL’s actions will have a direct impact on the airlines as the in-flight kitchen operators will recover the charges from them and this in turn will affect the air fares. DIAL, represented by senior advocate Arvind Nigam, said the airlines cannot carry on the business of flight catering. He contended that once the agreements are perused, it might turn out that the airlines were procuring food through their sister concerns. The judge asked FIA to provide copies of its agreements to DIAL after redacting the confidential portions, but to file unedited copies in a sealed cover before the court and listed the matter for further hearing on February 8. DIAL agreed to defer its decision till then. In its petition, FIA has said that DIAL was already charging a fee from the flight caterers for allowing their vehicles to enter the airport and its latest decision to deny entry to them “amounts to abuse of dominant position”. Carlos Hyde Jersey
Vistara aims to be profitable by 2020-21
Vistara, the joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, aims to be cash positive by 2018-19 and profitable by 2020-21. The estimates were given by the airlne’s CEO Phee Teik Yeoh during the course of the Tata Sons board meetings on June 29 and June 30. The minutes of the board meeting have been reviewed by ET. Yeoh had also proposed an incremental equity requirement of Rs 600 crore. The board finally approved an equity investment of Rs 310 crore. For the year 2015-16, the airline posted a loss of Rs 400 crore. The airline posted revenue of Rs 713.6 crore for the year, missing the budgeted figure by 10%. Yeoh however said the airline is taking revenue enhancement steps including higher aircraft utilization, increasing seats and cargo capacity, innovative pricing, enhanced branding, increase in partnerships with international airlines, better network planning as well as higher perks to corporate clients. Donald Penn Authentic Jersey
Hardening crude will test diesel deregulation: K Ravichandran, Senior Vice President, ICRA
The expected hardening of crude oil prices following the latest OPEC decision to cut output may not adversely impact the government’s pre-budget calculations but a rise in oil prices over the coming months, if sustained, could test the deregulation of diesel, K Ravichandran, Senior Vice President at ratings agency ICRA tells Bilal Abdi in an exclusive interview. Edited excerpts.. Now that prices of crude have started going up, should the consumers brace themselves for Rs 5-6 per liter hike in petrol as being speculated? A Rs 5-6 hike in petrol would be a requirement from next month. As of now, the oil companies would not be comfortable passing on the burden especially when the overall consumer sentiment is very low due to the demonetisation issue. They would do it in stages. It will definitely be an added burden on the consumers’ pockets. Do you think a Rs 5-6 per liter hike in petrol prices would be the stage at which the government would intervene and announce excise duty relief? The government may be reluctant to cut excise duty as long as the crude oil prices are below $60 per barrel, as they also have to account for the subsidy outgo provided to consumers as well as take care of the under-recovery burden. The centre had budgeted for a petroleum subsidy burden of around Rs 27,000 crore for the current financial year. With the fiscal drawing to a close, what is the expected outgo? The actual subsidy outgo in the first six months of the present fiscal year was only Rs 8,000 crore. Hence, the government is in a very comfortable situation for the current fiscal in spite of the recent hardening of crude oil prices. As for 2017-18, the government’s finances will be impacted only if crude prices increase by $20 from the current level and the rupee also correspondingly depreciates to around 70. In that situation, it will be interesting to see whether the government will stick to its de-regulation policy on diesel as diesel has become an important fuel be it in agriculture or the industrial sector. How much are the total Gross Under-Recoveries (GURs) suffered by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the first half current fiscal? What are the chances the subsidy burden would be passed on to upstream firms? The overall under-recovery outgo was approximately Rs 8,000 crore which was entirely borne by the government. As per the current policy, upstream companies are asked to bear the burden when Kerosene under-recoveries go beyond Rs 12 per litre and for LPG, the cap is around Rs 255 per cylinder. Currently, the under-recovery for Kerosene is around Rs 11-12 per liter which is close to breaching the ceiling fixed and the ceiling will be breached if the crude prices harden at $60 per barrel. In case of LPG, the under-recovery level is around Rs 110 per cylinder. So, the upstream companies have a lot of buffer before they are asked to share the burden. At what level would the centre’s petroleum subsidy burden stand if prices were to cross anticipated level in near future? If crude prices are below $60, and the rupee hovers between Rs 68-70, the government’s outgo should be between Rs 25,000-Rs 35,000 crore in 2017-18 and for 2016-17, it would be around Rs 21,000 crore. A major reason why the government’s subsidy maths would not be affected is the increase in prices and reduction in subsidy volumes. In LPG, key policy initiatives from the government like Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) helped weed out a lot of bogus connections and the “Give it up” campaign helped reduce subsidy volumes. The demand for Kerosene has become almost flat mainly due to electrification, LPG penetration and increase in prices. While the government’s balance sheets are expected to be stable in the next fiscal year, the end consumer may have to face the brunt of hike in fuel prices. Dylan Strome Womens Jersey
Power transmission companies must monetise transmission assets, says Piyush Goyal
Power minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday urged central electricity transmission utility Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) and state transmission companies to unlock capital that has accrued over years in transmission assets. “It is high time PGCIL looks at moving from an asset holding to a project implementing company,” Goyal said at a conference to launch multiple reports on power sector. ET had on June 15 reported that global investors may get to own power transmission lines in India as the government is looking at monetising the assets by offering equity to international pension funds aimed at mopping up Rs 10,000-12,000 crore investments. The proposal aims at unlocking value of the existing power transmission lines to generate revenues that can be re-invested in strengthening transmission system and other infrastructure projects. PGCIL is India’s central transmission utility that owns and operates 131,728 circuit-Kilometer of transmission lines and 213 substations across the country with an inter-regional capacity of over 61,000 Megawatt. Xavier Williams Authentic Jersey
PSUs, private sector companies can swap coal: Piiyush Goyal
The government today approved swapping of coal supplies between public sector and private sector companies, a move that may help augment availability of fuel and reduce transportation charges. “Only today I have approved the proposal … henceforth government and public sector companies can swap their coal with private companies also and I would like it to be across sectors,” Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said here. “To begin with we are working on power to power sector,” Goyal said further. He was speaking during an event organised by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL). The guidelines which were being framed on the same would be out in the next 30 days, he said. “We would be allowing all public and private companies to swap coal to achieve the next level of efficiency through rationalisation of coal linkages…I would urge you..(power ministry) to talk to DIPP or any other administrative ministries or the coal ministry if possible we could look at the next stage where we could allow swaps across consumers in the country,” he said. He further stressed upon exploring the possibility of buying additional lands and setting up of industrial parks at the places where solar parks were set up so that power produced from the plant could be used in-situ. He also pressed upon the need for round the clock power supply to every telecom tower across the country and added that “not a drop of diesel should be used for the telecom tower”. He also added that the PGCIL should consider halving balance sheet size to unlock capital. “I think it is time now for Power Grid to seriously look at moving out of becoming an asset holding company into a project management, implementing company. These assets which have accrued over the last 25 years, it’s time to look at at least halving the balance sheet so that it can unlock your capital,” the minister said. He further said that Power Grid should explore infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) mode to unlock capital from assets. “You must look at investment trust that are permitted by the law. I would urge…(power ministry) to look at some amendments to the regulatory framework so that the projects which Power Grid has and any other transmission company has, can move from a cost plus scenario to possibly an escalating formula or a fixed plus, or inflation linked formula,” he said. David Perron Womens Jersey