Roads Sector Plagued By Lack Of Political Will, Not Shortage Of Funds: Nitin Gadkari
The ministry for road transport is not facing any shortage of funds and is confident of achieving the road construction target for the current fiscal year, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said. “You are all welcome to invest in the sector but I want to give out the message that I am not depending on anybody (for money),” Gadkari said at a Bloomberg event on Monday. Speaking about where this money is coming, he said that his ministry’s budget is Rs 55,000 crore for the current fiscal, which will amount to Rs 2 lakh crore over the next three years. In addition, the ministry can raise up to Rs 70,000 crore by issuing bonds and another Rs 1 lakh crore by monetisation of toll projects, he said. Further, ports are also generating profits and project turnover in that segment is around Rs 4,000 crore. “So money is not the problem. Strong political will is the most important thing,” Gadkari said. Will The Ambitious Target Be Met? The minister said he is confident of achieving the ambitious target of road construction set for this fiscal. At the start of the year, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) set an ambitious target of awarding 15,000 km of road and highway projects while an additional 10,000 km worth of projects were to be awarded by the road ministry. The NHAI later scaled back its target to 6,600 km. But he added that the system has to be geared to make time-bound decisions, “I am very much confident, but there is problem with the system. We need some improvement in the mindset of people working for government. We need positive, transparent and time-bound approach, fast track decision making and team work.” The problem lies not with land acquisition or shortage of funding, but with “the mindset of the people working in the system”, he said. Our toll income is Rs 10,000 crore. If we can securitise this income we get Rs 2 lakh crore from the market. We can raise bonds worth Rs 70,000 crore. We can issue masala bonds, we have people ready to invest in it. Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport & Highways Minister But Pace Is A Problem.. However, he said that fewer projects were awarded so far in this fiscal year compared to the first half of the last fiscal, party because several projects are stuck in green courts. Apprehension on the part of banks to lend to infrastructure projects also slowed down project approvals. But the minister sounded confident about the future as he said that as many as 95 percent of stalled road projects are now back on track. For every project, we have conducted 8-10 meetings and we have solved the problem. At the time when I took charge, there were 403 projects that were stalled with a total cost of Rs 3.85 lakh crore. Presently we have only 4-5 projects pending. Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport & Highways Minister The sentiment towards the infrastructure sector has now improved, he added. However, the problems plaguing the sector have not been completely solved, he said. “In public private partnership (PPP) projects, the health of investors is not good. All companies face a lot of problems. At the time, I took charge, they were in ICU, now they are shifted to general ward,” he added. David Mayo Womens Jersey
Govt urges farmers to join hands for greening of highways
Expressing grave concern over the rise in pollution levels, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Mansukh Lal Mandaviya on Monday urged for greater public participation, especially of farmers, in development and maintenance of highways as “green highways’ and said it would help curb the rising pollution levels. “The current pollution levels in Delhi are an indicator of how we have erroneously adopted the European industrial model, while abandoning our very own age-old Indian Ayurvedic traditions, thus moving away from nature,” he said, addressing the maiden national convention on ‘Innovations in Green Highways’. The Minister also suggested linking of the Green Highways Project with the ongoing Swachh Bharat Mission. “There would be a greater success in greening highways if the local farmers are also involved,” the Minister said adding if farmers are roped in plantation, maintenance, and protection of trees, it would give them a sense of responsibility and ownership. National Highways Authority of India Chairman, Raghav Chandra said he was happy that his organisation while constructing the National highways would also be associated with restoring the environment through aesthetic greening. Chandra said NHAI was confident of awarding 6000 km of National highways for greening by the end of the year, as per a statement from Road Transport and Highways Ministry. He stressed that that greening of National highways would improve the scope for rural employment and create jobs for lakhs of people associated with it. The statement said National Green Highways Mission (NGHM) also inked several pacts including with ITC for undertaking plantation, management & sustainable harvesting activities along NHs besides with Yes Bank for funding roadside plantations under CSR programme and TERI technical collaboration for fostering research & innovation in Green Highways. “NGHM will also sign MoUs with JK Papers for undertaking plantation, management & sustainable harvesting activities along NHs; INBAR for promoting bamboo based applications in Green Highways; World Bank for strengthening Green Highways Programme,” the statement said. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has promulgated Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy – 2015 to undertake highways plantations along National Highways. For the quick roll out of the scheme NGHM, NHAI has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing entire green highways programme for the Ministry, NHIDCL & NHAI. Zach Miller Womens Jersey
Kerala to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore for infrastructure development
The Kerala Assembly on Thursday cleared the amendment Bill to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore for infrastructure development projects. The amendment to Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) Bill will equip the board to float bonds and mobilise money from various countrywide financial agencies. Though the Congress-led UDF in the opposition showered flak on the amendment throughout the discussion on the Bill, all members finally agreed to state finance minister TM Thomas Isaac’s request to pass the amendment unanimously. The Opposition, however, expressed doubts about the practical utility of KIIFB. “At the first phase itself, the state expects to mobilise Rs 20,000 crore,” Dr Isaac said, presenting the bill. “Of this, Nabard has promised R5,000 crore. Eminent persons will be on the board to infuse market confidence,” he added. Though Kerala is currently a revenue-deficit state, within six financial years, it will emerge a revenue-surplus state, according to Dr Isaac. The minister refused to go by the Opposition’s demand that the projects under the KIIFB umbrella should avoid tolls and user fees. The Bill mandates that administrative panel headed by the chief minister and the executive panel headed by the state finance minister will spearhead the functioning of KIIFB. Former state finance minister KM Mani argued that the new outfit KIIFB would bypass the controlling reins of state’s budget and Assembly. “Like Aladdin’s hand on his magic lamp, Dr Isaac would have his hand on KIDBI to pay the loans. Any discussion, on the spending pattern of the share of state motor vehicle tax and petrol cess falling into KIIFB corpus, would be beyond the purview of State Assembly,” said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Charles Barkley Authentic Jersey
New Bengal highway corridor to bring deep seas close to Bhutan, Nepal, Northern Bangla
Drivers from Phuentsholing border in Bhutan, Hilli border in northern Bangladesh and Kakarvitta border in Nepal may soon bypass greater Kolkata region and save more than seven hours to pick up international cargo from Haldia port in the Bay of Bengal. A new Bengal Highway, that has recently got the requisite amount from lender Asian Development Bank and approvals from central government agencies, will open up the deep-sea Haldia Port to neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan besides benefitting the north east. Tenders for commencing the work of the highway is slated to be called soon. Dubbed the ‘North south corridor of Bengal’, the 270 km long Expressway connecting Morgram in Murshidabad district with Mechogram in Purba Medinipur district, will enable freight to bypass the congested Howrah suburbs and saving more than 300 km for the freight. Time saved will amount to more than seven hours. The project was envisioned as the neighbouring countries’ and northeast’s dependence on Haldia port increased with the siltation of Kolkata riverine port. The new highway will be built as a parallel highway to existing NH 34, which is in a very poor shape and witness to many accidents. The new highway will break off from the junction of NH 60 and NH 34 at Morgram and join NH 6 at Mechogram. The North south corridor was first proposed by the erstwhile Left Front government in 2009. In 2012, applications were sent by the present Trinamool government to the ADB for lending the requisite amount. Approvals for the project got entangled in red tapism. The ADB has agreed to lend 70%, (Rs 3,000 crore) of the total Rs 4,500 for the project, which would be paid back at an interest rate of 0.5% by the state government. “After completing the project, the state government will collect toll taxes from the stretch,” a senior government official told Express. “Clearances have been secured from the economic affairs, finance and environment ministries of the central government, ” the official added. According to the official, the land acquisition for the highway project has been done and compensation paid according to the ADB guidelines. “The corridor when completed will also help in growth of allied industries and commercial enterprises along the stretch, enabling more employment,” an official of state secretariat Nabanna said. Tomas Nosek Jersey
Set up road transport regulatory authority, ASSOCHAM urges Centre
Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has mooted a proposal to the Union government to constitute an appropriate authority either at central or state level to fix ceiling on road freight rates and breaking local monopolies. “Transporters charge exorbitant rates for movement of iron ore and other raw materials from mines and ports to steel plants. Besides they also prevent free competition through their dominating presence in local areas,” said ASSOCHAM highlighting the double whammy being faced by domestic steel sector. ASSOCHAM has also submitted various suggestions to the Union steel ministry to bring back India’s steel sector on growth trajectory. “There is an urgent need to withdraw import duty of 5% imposed upon metallurgical coke and coking coal to restore competitiveness of the domestic steel industry,” ASSOCHAM highlighted in a paper submitted to the Union steel ministry highlighting various issues that are restricting growth of the sector. It also urged the steel ministry to bring down rate of royalty on iron ore to reduce the cost of raw materials for steel plants. “About 15% royalty rate on iron ore together with district mineral foundation (DMF) at 30% translates into royalty burden on end user of 19.5% of iron ore cost,” it noted. The apex chamber requested to reduce the DMF rate for new mines from 10% for captive consumption of iron ore. Considering that higher transport costs result in higher costs of production of steel in India, there is an urgent need to bring down freight tariff rates by up to 25% across all raw material and steel products to gain competitive edge. It is also imperative to prevent import of cheap steel in India through a combination of minimum import price (MIP) and import duties/safeguard duties on a sustained basis. ASSOCHAM has also suggested that inclusion of pig iron, sponge iron and billets in the list of products covered under MIP since protection for upstream primary reduction of iron is equally vital. Further, banks should extend working capital loans to steel companies on a priority basis, especially those which have not defaulted on interest payment, while structural problems relating to high debts of various steel companies would take time to resolve. There is also a need to create a special funding mechanism for providing capital for brown-field expansion of capacities at the existing steel mills, more so as commercial viability of brown field expansion of steel plants is significantly higher than Greenfield plants. Sharing certain budget proposals, ASSOCHAM has reiterated its demand to accord strategic industry status to steel sector. Besides it also suggested to bring import duty on coking coal and metallurgical coke down to zero. A comprehensive package for steel sector should be unveiled encompassing special financing arm for providing capital for expansion of capacities, easy extension of working capital loans, long-term policy on freight tariffs and augmenting transportation infrastructure capacity to meet needs of steel production. Besides it should also include total revamp of process for grant of statutory approvals for mines and steel plants, long-term policy to prevent cheap imports of steel products and security of raw materials. Nico Hischier Womens Jersey
Freight corridor land cost increases by 75 per cent
The dedicated railway freight corridor has finally managed to award all contracts for the Dadri-Mumbai link over 11 years after the flagship infrastructure project was announced. But on the eastern front -that will connect Ludhiana with Dankuni in West Bengal -nearly 10 per cent of the land, which is close to 450 hectare, is yet to be acquired even as funding has now been tied up. For the Rs 81,450 crore project, land acquisition and clearances have been the biggest headache so far. The project needed around 11,600 hectare -6,000 hectare for the western and 4,587 hectare for the eastern stretch. While it was battling court cases and arbitration, a third blow came by the way of the new land acquisition cost, which pushed up the average price from around Rs 1.3 crore a hectare to around Rs 2 crore -an increase of around 54 per cent. Project cost has also been increased as the land acquisition cost rose 75 per cent from the budgeted level of around Rs 8,000 crore to nearly Rs 14,000 crore now . This could go up further depending of the arbitration awards. In recent years, land acquisition has been a major headache for most infrastructure projects -highways, railways, power generation and special economic zones (SEZs). In several cases, the projects needed to be reworked, if not shelved. The corridors running across 3,360 km are aimed at building electrified railway system to enable each train to carry a load of up to 13,000 tonnes -which is the load carried by 1,300 trucks. On each corridor, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) is laying double lines, which will treble the average speed of the double-stack goods trains from 25 kmhour to 75 kmhour.While the western leg is funded by Japanese agency JICA, eastern stretch is financed by the World Bank. “There is no escalation in the project cost. Whatever increase is there is on account of higher cost of land,“ said DFCCIL managing director Adesh Sharma, adding that the project would be fully ready by 2019-end, a year behind the original deadline. But, before that it needs to battle nearly 2,000 court cases and over 9,500 arbitration awards, of which nearly half are yet to be disposed off. DFCCIL planned the project in a way that it avoided large cities, where land acquisition was going to be a problem. But, challenges have come mainly from areas around the large cities, where prices are higher and “fertile“ agricultural land is being acquired. Sample this: Nearly half the arbitration cases that are pending are in Haryana (2,277 out of 4,679 cases). When it comes to court cases, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 669 out of the 1,020 pending cases. “Most of the arbitration cases relate to compensation based on the latest registration price. Wherever, there is an award, we are paying higher compensation,“ Sharma said. Gary Zimmerman Womens Jersey
Price of making DND Flyway free to use amounts to Rs5,000 crore
The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) will have to pay Rs.5,000 crore to the company operating the DND Flyway connecting Delhi and Noida if the government entity terminates a 30-year contract at its mid-point and takes over the toll road. Last week, the Allahabad high court barred Noida Toll Bridge Co. Ltd, which operates the flyway, from collecting toll. The 117,000 vehicle owners using the 9.2km toll road every day save money—cars pay Rs.28 for a one-way trip. But Noida Toll Bridge, which is promoted by IL&FS and is a listed company, is losing Rs.30 lakh a day and its market capitalization has eroded by about 30%. The first memorandum of understanding to build a New Delhi-Noida expressway was signed under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in 1992, a year after India initiated economic reforms. The toll road started operations in 2001. This is a 30-year build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) contract, where Noida Toll Bridge would operate the flyway for 30 years or until it recovered its investment. Further, it was promised an assured return of 20% on its total cost, which included the initial project cost, the running cost and the shortfall in profit. The result: the road cost Rs.378 crore to build, but this unmet assured return of 20% has led to the total cost under the agreement spiraling to Rs.5,000 crore in 15 years. After a slow start, DND Flyway is now reporting healthy profits with three-fourths of toll revenue coming in as profits. In 15 years, Noida Toll Bridge earned Rs.1,052 crore via toll collection and a cumulative net profit of Rs.348 crore. Nearly eight out of 10 vehicles crossing the toll booth is a car, probably fuelled by development of residential areas in Noida and Greater Noida. Total number of vehicles crossing has increased by nearly six times in the last 15 years. Linus Ullmark Authentic Jersey
Japan government keen to fund Delhi Metro’s phase IV project
The Japanese government funding agency JICA is keen to extend its association with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) beyond the phase III, a senior official of the agency said. The Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) India office Takema Sakamoto said there is a need for huge capacity expansion in public transportation and the agency is likely to discuss further association with the Delhi Metro. “For public transportation, we need huge capacity and that is why we are now discussing for the further extension for the Delhi Metro even after the phase III. The DMRC is likely to request for support for the phase IV very soon,” Sakamoto told PTI. JICA has been supporting DMRC’s metro project since phase I construction in 1997. “We are now supporting the construction of the phase III of the DMRC and it is targeting completion in 2016 or next year,” he added. The third phase of the DMRC is being supported by JICA with a 48.57 per cent loan by the Japanese funding agency. The estimated cost of the third phase project is Rs 41,079 crore. The loan comes at a concessional rate of 1.4 per cent and carries a repayment period of 30 years with grace period of 10 years. Sakamoto said DMRC is also likely to make a further request for procurement of many more coaches for enhancement of the transportation capacity in the capital. JICA is ready to discuss the proposal with the Indian government, including the Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said. Sakamoto said the agency is also likely to support the high speed bullet train project proposed between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The matter is being discussed directly between the two Prime Ministers’ offices –Narendra Modi (India) and Shinzo Abe (Japan). “The bullet train project has been discussed between the two Prime Ministers’ offices. The high speed railway investment is very safe. We do not need very large space for building stations. That is why we can squeeze the cost,” Sakamoto said. The bullet train project will be supported both in the form of yen loan and technical assistance, he added. During Abe’s India visit in December, the two countries vowed to realise 3.5 trillion yen of public and private financing to India in five years under the ‘Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership’. Milan Lucic Authentic Jersey
The need for speed: What good are new roads when they are incapable of moving people and goods quickly?
“Sir, can’t you pass a central law and solve the Bengaluru traffic problem for us”, went the impassioned plea from Flipkart’s executive chairman Sachin Bansal to Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari at an awards event for startups recently. Bansal was not the only one to petition the minister that day, and Bengaluru was not the only city whose traffic problem was brought to Gadkari’s notice. Because of poor quality roads and virtually non-existent traffic planning and management, Indian city dwellers spend far too many hours on the road every day. If time is as precious as money, our cities impose a hefty tax on us, and they still lose more money. One estimate pegs the economic loss because of Bengaluru traffic congestion at Rs 3,700 crore a year, including a whopping 50 crore litres of annual fuel losses. Extrapolate these figures to Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities and we have a full-blown economic crisis on hand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed startups. I wonder if Bansal’s plea reached his ears, for there is nothing that puts an Indian startup in a more disadvantageous position compared to its foreign counterparts than the crippling infrastructure around it. Imagine the hidden cost Flipkart pays for delayed shipments because the delivery boys keep getting stuck in traffic all the time. I recently left Gurgaon’s Cyber City in the evening hours with a French client who made a telling point during our hour-plus commute to south Delhi. “I can easily do 5 or more meetings in a day even if they are spread across in Singapore or any European city. In Delhi or Bengaluru, I can never plan more than 2 or maximum 3.” Gadkari’s ministry measures its performance in kilometres of new roads built per year. What good are these new roads, or the existing roads for that matter, when they are rank incapable of moving people and goods quickly? It takes anywhere between 5-7 hours to drive between Jaipur and Delhi – instead of the 3 hours it should take a modern car to cover the 250-odd kilometre journey. Also, India has the worst record of road accident deaths in the world; every 4 minutes a person dies on our roads. That awards evening, the minister patiently explained that city roads are not his ministry’s responsibility, these actually fall under local city municipalities, or peculiarly in Delhi’s case under the Public Works Department of the state government. Even if we know who to blame for our broken, potholed and permanently congested roads, we still cannot do anything meaningful about it. But surely the prime minister of India can? His promise of an economically developed India is held to ransom by some of the most corrupt and incompetent civic bodies. He should help pass laws to give urban transportation the urgent and focused attention it truly deserves. One of these laws must define the standards for road construction, design and safety, like the vaunted German Autobahn standards or the American federal specifications for road construction. Centre must make these standards universally applicable to all civic, state and central bodies responsible for our roads; while simultaneously making any violation prosecutable, like the Germans have done. This pan-India road standardisation alone can potentially fix half of our problems with traffic. The best of our roads collect potholes and slow us down because the constructor never bothered to camber them properly, or the municipality never thought of ensuring adequate water drainage on the kerbside.Because there are no universal lane markings, drivers indiscriminately cut into visible or invisible lanes and slow down the entire traffic behind them. Because there is no standard mandating pedestrian walkways, all pedestrians turn into jaywalkers, causing serious traffic jams, besides risking their own life and limb. Of course, the best standards, rules or laws amount to nothing if they are not enforced. Part 2 of fixing our traffic crisis involves centrally supervised enforcement because clearly our states and municipalities are not up to task. WHO’s Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 gave India a rating of 3 or 4 out of 10 for enforcement of laws on speed limits, drunk driving or wearing helmets on two wheelers. Better enforcement will not only reduce accidents and save precious lives; it would also mean that vehicles aren’t parked illegally and obstructing traffic, keep to their lanes and that roads themselves are free of potholes and illegal encroachment. The final part of the solution is simply to create effective public and alternate transportation systems that take vehicular traffic off our roads. Mass rapid transportation systems like the Delhi Metro work extremely well, but our cities are decades away from having a functional citywide system that also seamlessly integrates with other forms of transport. In fact, the continuing short-sightedness in planning effective urban transportation is apparent when you see how cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad went on to build airports well outside city limits without putting a high-speed rail link to the city centre, like nearly every other major metropolitan city around the world has done. As a country, we have so far failed to see the link between fast and efficient urban transportation and economic growth. The prime minister should take the wheel in his own hands. On the lines of Swachh Bharat and Digital India, he should give us Gatisheel Bharat. Garrett Grayson Jersey
Super E-way to cost Rs 16,000 crore more?
Indicating that the total cost for 710-km-long Mumbai Nagpur Super Expressway has increased by almost Rs 16,000 crore, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the implementing agency for the project, claimed that the total cost of the Expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur would be `46,000 crore. The estimated cost of the project was Rs 30,000 crore when chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the project in the State Assembly during the Monsoon Session in August 2015. Radheshyam Mopalwar, managing director, MSRDC, said, “Civil construction cost would be around Rs 24,000 crore followed by Rs 12,000 crore approximately for land pooling and acquisition of around 10,000 hectares of land. Another Rs 500 crore would be used for shifting of utilities and the rest on management of site while construction.” “Rs 30,000 crore was never the cost of the Expressway and the total cost at the moment is Rs 46,000 crore,” asserted Mr Mopalwar. Meanwhile, it is said that the MSRDC officials and the State Bank of India (SBI) and IDBI Bank officials are in talks with each other for funding for the construction of Expressway. “The state government has agreed to fund Rs 2,400 crore for the construction of 24 townships on the proposed Expressway,” said Kiran Kurundkar, joint managing director, MSRDC. The MSRDC plans to construct 24 townships with facilities like Wi-Fi, IT, education and logistics hubs along with solar panels and runway for emergency landing of planes belonging to the Indian Air Force (IAF) along the Expressway. Currently, the corporation is in the process of preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for the project. The deadline for the E-way is 2019. It is expected to reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur to 10 hours from the current 15-17 hours. The E-way will pass through 350 villages from 27 talukas where non-cultivable landowners will get developed plot of 25 per cent of the area given up by them. For those having irrigated or cultivable land, it will be 30 per cent of the land given up. Irving Fryar Womens Jersey