Demonetisation: National Highway Authority of India forgoes toll worth about Rs 1,238 crore
The National Highway Authority of India would suffer an income loss of Rs 1,238 crore due to suspension of toll collection on highways till December 2 post demonetisation, Parliament was informed on Thursday. Post demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000, government has suspended user fee collection on National Highways with effect from November 9, 2016 (17:30 hrs), Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. NHAI issued necessary instructions to concessionaries, including BOT, OMT operators, and the commuters have been allowed to travel through the user fee plazas without paying any fee from November 9, 2016 (17:30 hrs) to December 2 (midnight), he added. “The average toll collection per day is Rs 51.59 crore from the fee plazas under NHAI, which is not accruing to the Government with effect from November 9, 2016 (17:30 hrs),” the Minister informed the House. Taking into account exemption till December 2 (midnight), the income loss to NHAI due to suspension of toll collection on highways is be around Rs 1,238 crore. In a separate reply, Radhakrishnan said: “Government will suitably compensate the toll operators for loss incurred due to suspension of fee collection.” The decision was taken to ensure smooth traffic flow across all National Highways and provide relief to the cash-strapped people lining up outside banks and ATMs after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were scrapped. The government had announced its decision to keep the toll collection in abeyance till November 11 mid-night, which was later extended to November 14, 18, 24 and later to December 2. Pavol Demitra Jersey
Government appoints new NHAI Chairman
The government has appointed Yudhvir Singh Malik as the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Malik, an 83 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, was earlier posted as special secretary in Niti Aayog. The outgoing chairman Raghav Chandra, an 82 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, has been moved to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes as secretary. Malik will have a huge task at his hands meeting government’s ambitious road construction target of 10,000 km for the current year. Malik will also have to get the work started on the Delhi-Meerut expressway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been personally monitoring this project and has already told the roads ministry to finish the work within the timeline of two years. The NHAI has a budgetary funding of Rs 22,000 crore and has been given permission to raise bonds worth Rs 50,000 crore. In the current year, the authority plans to undertake highway construction works of around Rs 70,000 crore. Rick Leonard Womens Jersey
Demonetisation drives 70percent trucks off India’s roads says transport union
Kultaran Singh Atwal, a transporter, owns seven trucks. Now, he says, he is forced to keep five of his fleet idle due to demonetisation, as he has been deprived of the minimum Rs 20,000 cash per truck per trip that he requires as running expenses. Atwal is not an exception. There are many like him. With the government’s curbs on withdrawal of money and exchange of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the motor transport business is suffering, since 80 per cent of the business is cash-based. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) — a representative body for 9.3 million truckers, and more than five million bus operators, tourist taxis and maxi cabs — says 70% of the vehicles of their members are already off the roads. The association warns that if the situation is allowed to persist not only the supplies of essential commodities like milk, fruits, vegetables and medicines will get increasingly affected but it will also cripple the lives of 20 crore people directly or indirectly dependent on this industry. “Under the Finance Act, I’m allowed Rs 35,000 per truck per trip in cash for expenses on diesel, octroi, etc.,” Atwal, who is the Chairman of AIMTC, told IANS. “How can I survive when there is an overall withdrawal limit of just Rs 50,000?” he queries. “The government must hike the withdrawal limit or allow cheque-based transactions in our sector.” Echoing similar sentiments, Bal Malkit Singh, advisor and former President of AIMTC, says: “Our operations are getting badly affected as the withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 that we have been given is very little.” What is happening in the process is the supply chain has been hit. “Movement of products is slowing down. Supplies of essential commodities like food, pulses or any export consignment is either getting slow or even coming to a halt in some places.” What the truckers association has sought to drive home is that this industry contributed 4.8% to the country’s gross domestic product in 2015-16, which amounted to Rs 544,800 crore. This is a little over Rs 1,492 crore daily. With 80% of the transactions in cash, Rs 1,194 crore is what the industry needs daily to sustain operations — the bulk of which is just not available today. The fortunes of truckers is also linked to that of the trading business in India, which is facing its own set of woes. With bulk purchases in mandis almost drying up, delivery of products also becomes redundant. “The lack of cash flow in the markets is equally affecting us traders and the transport sector as well, since both these businesses totally function on cash,” said Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders. “Our businesses have seen an overall drop of 75% due to the demonetisation. There is a lack of money flow in the markets,” Khandelwal told IANS. “After demonetisation, around 60 per cent of freight is not in movement,” added Naveen Gupta, the association’s Secretary General. Gupta said there is also a sharp drop in long-haul movement because, apart from diesel and tolls, all the other expenses, like the daily expenses of drivers, local taxes are also paid in cash. “The ones plying are the short-haul vehicles, which are either running on diesel bought with leftover old currency and because there is an exemption on tolls,” Singh added. Danny Woodhead Womens Jersey
With Nitin Gadkari big targets in sight, NHAI seeks Rs 60,000 cr borrowing limit in FY18
The ministry of road transport and highways has sought a borrowing limit of close to R60,000 crore for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for 2017-18, roughly the same as the ceiling for the current year. The borrowing limit is sought to be maintained despite NHAI having raised just R12,500 crore in the current fiscal — R2,500 crore through tax-free capital bonds and R10,000 crore through taxable bond from Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Last fiscal, it raised R19,000 crore taxable bond and R5,000 crore through tax-free bonds. Incidentally, NHAI’s project awards have also been slower during the April-October period of the current fiscal. Compared with the 2,615-km project awards in the April-October period of the last fiscal, it has awarded 2,330 km in the first seven months of the current year. NHAI had awarded 4,344-km highway projects in 2015-16 and 3,067-km in 2014-15. Asserting that there was no paucity of funds for awarding projects, an official said delays in land acquisition have been coming in the way. NHAI awards projects only after acquiring 90% of the required land. NHAI acquired 9,000 hectares of land in 2015-16 against 6,750 hectares in the previous year. For the current fiscal, it is targeting to acquire 10,000 hectares. The cost of land acquisition stands at an average of R2.13 crore per hectare compared to R1.35 crore per hectare in the last fiscal. Land acquisition now accounts for 40-45% of the total project cost. “Funds could be raised as and when required,” the official said, adding that the authority has sufficient funds to carry out project awards. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, NHAI had constructed 1,501 km and 1,987 km, respectively. The road transport and highways ministry has asked NHAI to award 15,000 km and construct 8,000 km highways in the current fiscal. Borrowings apart, NHAI’s major source of funds is the highway cess, the proceeds from which would go up from R9,566 crore in 2014-15 to R25,356 crore in 2017-18. It also hopes to plough back tolls collected from projects to the tune of R8,596 crore in 2017-18 for building new highways. Firmly poised to achieve its ambitious targets on road construction, the ministry of road transport and highways will ask for budgetary allocation of R91,000 crore for 2017-18, up 57% from the current year’s outlay, which the ministry is set to overshoot by about R4,500 crore. Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has set ambitious targets of awarding highway projects of 25,000 km and building 15,000-km long roads during 2016-17. Josh Gordon Authentic Jersey
Noida seeks layout plan of FNG from NHAI
Noida Authority on Tuesday said that it has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to provide it with a detailed layout plan of the under-construction Faridabad-Noida-Ghaziabad (FNG) expressway. The NHAI has been given the mandate to develop the stretch as a National Highway. The highway aims at connecting Ghaziabad, Faridabad with Noida and Greater Noida besides decongesting existing road networks. According to Noida Authority officials, they need the details of the layout map and the alignment of the highway to integrate the changes into its Master Plan. “A meeting was held with the NHAI officials last week,” said P.K Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Noida Authority. “We have sought the details including the alignment and land required for the project so that we can make the relevant changes in our Master Plan and also ensure that NHAI do not face any hurdles during construction,” he explained. “We will also make sure that there is no delay in any land acquisition for the project,” he added. Agarwal further said that a consultant has been appointed by the NHAI to prepare a project report on the highway. The consultant will take about a year to complete its report and before work can be started at the site, he said. “A report will be provided to us in next 2-3 months on the 17 km stretch that falls into Noida. This report will be used to construct approach roads and underpass to connect areas falling along this route,” the CEO said. The FNG was planned way back in 1989 and work kick-started on it in 1993. Work in Noida started on the FNG in 2008. In November last year, the Uttar Pradesh government had given a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the Center for granting a National Highway tag to the expressway. The government of India had also been urged the latter to complete the project soon. Once complete, the much-awaited FNG expressway is touted to provide fast connectivity to daily commuters of the area. The objective of the highway is to decongest Delhi roads and mitigate pollution caused due to vehicular emissions. Of its total length, about 19.9km falls in Noida-Greater Noida region, 8km in Ghaziabad, while the rest 28.1km is in the Faridabad region. In Noida one end of the FNG e-way is located at Chijarsi on the NH-24, while the other end is at the entrance to Faridabad near sector 168. Once it is extended till Sohna—as has been proposed—its length will be 75km. Though Noida has completed about 70% of the project some stretches are yet to be completed for use of commuters. Since NHAI has adopted the highway, completion will now be the responsibility of the highway authority. Dominic Moore Womens Jersey
CBDT allowed Rs 4,500 cr of irregular benefits to infra companies: CAG
Government auditor Comptroller and Auditor General on Tuesday said I-T department has provided “irregular” tax benefits to infrastructure companies without verification, which have cost the exchequer over Rs 4,500 crore. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) did not have any established mechanism to assess the impact of revenue foregone on account of deductions under Section 80 IA on the economy and industrial growth of the country, it said. The Income Tax department has “irregularly” allowed deductions to various companies engaged in infrastructure business which have tax effect of Rs 4,524 crore, CAG said This included Rs 1,766.74 crore tax benefit availed by Reliance Ports & Terminals Ltd for construction of captive jetties at Port Sikka in Bihar. The other major companies that availed of such benefits include JSW Energy (Rs 340 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 51.88 crore), Tata Power (Rs 36.99 crore) and Gujarat Fluro Chemicals (Rs 22.75 crore). “There is no existing system to ascertain from the sponsoring ministries as to whether the tax holidays have had the desired impact on the growth of the economy,” CAG said. It adding that in the absence of such a mechanism the auditor failed to ascertain whether the very purpose of tax holidays has been achieved. CAG mentioned in its performance audit of the Revenue Department that CBDT may evolve a mechanism for proper linkage between tax benefit allowed by the I-T department with the actual investment made by the assessee to assess the impact of tax holiday. In order to encourage investment in infrastructure, the government provides tax holiday to companies under Section 80 IA for deduction in respect of profits and gains of companies engaged in infrastructure development at 100 per cent for a certain period. The report, tabled in Parliament, is based on test audit conducted by CAG between 2012-13 and 2014-15. Justin Evans Authentic Jersey
Centre approves 2,600-km National Highways in Telangana
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held discussions with Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on several issues including the pending National Highways, development of other roads, conversion into four-lane roads and waterways on Godavari. The Centre has given its assurance that the 2,600 km of National Highways would be developed once Telangana acquires land required. Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao addressed the media on Monday where he informed that the Centre had announced several National Highways after the formation of Telangana for which they have sought principle approval. He said that the Union Minister assured to issue orders soon. Land acquisition for expansion of 650 km of roads under National Highways Authority of India, a second bridge over Godavari at Bhadrachalam, expansion of Yadadri-Warangal four-lane road, Highway works at Amaravati, Kothagudem, Jagdalpur were also among the other issues taken up with Gadkari. Deion Sanders Jersey
India approves monetization of national highways under TOT model
The government on Tuesday approved a model under which toll highways operated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for over two years will be leased out to entities which will collect toll and operate the project for a specified duration, in a return for a fee. The money raised will be used to invest in developing more highways. In a tweet, the Union roads ministry said it has identified 75 national highway projects adding up to 4,500 km for the so-called toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model. The overall annual toll collected from these projects is about Rs2,700 crore. Projects under the TOT model will be awarded through international competitive bidding where foreign funds can also take part. Mint had reported on 10 October quoting NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra that the country is preparing to start the process of monetizing toll-based operational road assets under the TOT model, aimed to bring new investments to the highways sector. This will be India’s first exercise in auctioning NHAI’s operational projects after a cabinet clearance in August. Under the TOT model, the investor will collect toll and be responsible for operation and maintenance of the project. The TOT model will help attract long-term foreign investment, financial investors and investment bankers told Mint. I Squared Capital, a US-based investor in road projects, had told Mint in October that it was hopeful of NHAI finally launching its TOT programme, which could then serve as a model for other sectors as well. “As a global investor, we believe that NHAI’s TOT model, if executed properly, could be a win-win for everyone. Proceeds from TOT auctions will free up valuable taxpayer capital that can then be recycled for much-needed new infrastructure projects,” I Squared Capital had said. IDFC Alternatives, which has bought controlling stakes in operational road projects, is waiting to see the fine print, Aditya Aggarwal, partner (infrastructure), IDFC Alternatives told Mint in October. The model is likely to help NHAI raise upfront capital to fund road projects based on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and hybrid annuity models. It will also be an opportunity for pension funds and infrastructure investors to invest in India’s road sector. Nyheim Hines Authentic Jersey
NHAI will own timber rights on the lands
The Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) has signed MoU with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for undertaking roadside plantations on the lands owned by NHAI under the National Green Highways Mission (NGHM). NHAI will have rights on timber on these lands and FDCM will prepare site specific plans as per National Highways Green Policy 2015. Since the lands on which plantations will be taken up will be NHAI property, in future will not be declared as protected or reserve forests. The MoU now makes it easy for NHAI to fell planted trees as they don’t need other permits and agreement of greening highways in force by NHAI to any party, not executed, the work will be given to o FDCM. “The NHAI may resume the said lands at any time for development and widening with the consent of managing director of FDCM without any compensation or payment other than cost incurred by FDCM for that portion,” states the MoU. FDCM sources said there will be a simple procedure to fell trees on these lands. A joint inspection by NHAI and tree officer will be done before marking trees. Interestingly, any agreement of greening highways in force by NHAI to any party which has not executed the work will be entrusted with FDCM. Tony Jefferson Authentic Jersey
Central government extends support to states to expedite land acquisition for roads
Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highway Mansukh Mandaviya said the central government has taken a string of steps to expedite land acquisition for road and highway constructions. Several steps have been taken to address issues that lead to delay in land acquisition, and various directions have been issued, which are as under: Determination of the amount of compensation in consonance with the relevant provisions contained in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 with effect from 01.01.2015; Providing the necessary technical and organisational support to the revenue authorities in the State Government; Appointment of additional officers as Competent Authority for Land Acquisition and Arbitrator for expediting acquisition; Procurement of land as per respective State Government policies and including the administrative charges and other charges payable by the land acquiring department as per the concerned State Government’s policy in the Land Acquisition estimates for National Highway (NH) Projects; Procurement of land through consent where missing plots are left out from the bulk acquisition and/or additional land is required due to alteration of alignment at implementation stage. Sean Doolittle Womens Jersey