Gadkari seeks US investment for Indian roads, highways
Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday concluded his week-long trip to the US, which he termed successful upon receiving assurances from infrastructure and investment companies to boost Indian roads and highways. During the trip, Gadkari held a series of productive interactions with investment bankers, fund managers and captains of trade and industry in the infrastructure sector at business platforms in Washington, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and placed on record convincing statistics of the rapid growth of this sector under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He outlined the government’s policy initiatives and his own vision to strengthen India’s infrastructure sector and offered lucrative investment opportunities in road and highways construction and port-led industrialisation, listing the incentives to the US industry for joint ventures and collaborations on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. Gadkari also explained about the new highways under construction in the difficult terrains of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himalayas, the North-Eastern Region and coastal areas and the financing mechanisms under PPP models, framing of policies for logistics parks and modernization of roads, said a statement. The Minister visited Tesla and proposed joint ventures between the electric car manufacturers and the Indian automobile companies with a view to introducing pollution free road transport in India, especially commercial and public motor vehicles. He invited Tesla to make India their Asia manufacturing hub and offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of their vehicles to South and South East Asian countries. Gadkari said he was returning home fully satisfied with his visit which has broken new ground in the bilateral ties between India and the US and given the much needed impetus to cooperation in the field of infrastructure, particularly road transport, highways and shipping sectors. Scott Stevens Womens Jersey
Roadmap for PPP mode infra projects
With infrastructure development at crossroads in the State, a roadmap for sustainable infrastructure development in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode has been formulated to overcome challenges in projects developed with private investment. The roadmap has been formulated in the backdrop of the D. Narayana committee report which states that “the lack of clarity in the concept of PPP is a serious concern” and that lack of proper interpretation of PPP was affecting structuring, financing and implementation of the projects. Setting up of a committee has been suggested to formulate an approach paper defining the PPP. A PPP Cell in the Finance Department for faster and efficient decision making is part of the roadmap. The roadmap also suggests enacting of a legislation on infrastructure development, which should be followed with rules, regulations and procurement framework for PPP projects. The PPP procurement should be different from current procurement guidelines. Infra board A ‘Kerala Infrastructure Development Board’ with the Chief Minister as chairman has been suggested to lead infrastructure development initiatives. The board should coordinate with all departments and existing multiple agencies. The vision should outline long-term investment and financing plans, identify possible revenue sources as well as the extent of financing that can be enabled bringing the gaps in financing. The government has been asked to come up with the model documentation. The documents created by the erstwhile Planning Commission can be used as the base, but has to be made flexible to accommodate the ground rules of Kerala and the Infrastructure/PPP Act. PPP Cells in all major departments, capacity building, in-house consultants to do the project appraisals, interaction with stakeholders and other government entities have been suggested. An alternative C. Prathapmohan Nair, Consultant Advisor for ADB and World Bank in South Asia, who had worked out the roadmap, says the availability of quality infrastructure is crucial to attaining sustainable growth of the economy of the State. “PPP is an alternative approach to speed up infrastructure development and it is not a panacea.” The intent is not just finances by private sector but efficiency in developing and managing projects, he added. Archie Manning Authentic Jersey
NHAI to build roads connecting export hubs with ports
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is identifying highway projects connecting export hubs with port cities, its chairman Raghav Chandra said on Tuesday. “We are looking at creating an economic bridge of projects to identify roads connecting export markets with ports or with other important economic destinations,” Mr. Chandra said while speaking at an event organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here. “For instance, we may look to connect Moradabad with the mainstream or Agra to Mumbai, Mumbai to Kolkata. We will build road connectivity which brings out greater economic competitiveness of our highways,” he said. The government has already identified industrial corridor Delhi-Mumbai, Amritsar-Kolkata, Chennai-Visakhapatnam and Chennai-Bengaluru to connect the hinterland with the ports. The freight corridor which passes along the corridor will act as a conveyor belt, as per the plan. NHAI will bid out more than 10,000 km of highway projects this year, Mr. Chandra added. In the next three years, 30,000 km of road projects will be commissioned. Mr. Chandra said NHAI was also targeting greenfield expressway projects on Delhi-Jaipur, Lucknow-Kanpur, Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Delhi-Jammu stretches. NHAI is ready to bid out the first phase of the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway. “It will be a 250-km stretch from Vadodara to Kim. We will be bidding out on the BOT (toll) basis because it turns out that it is a viable project over a period of 20 years and the existing road we will give along with that as a sweetener to the concessionaire,” Mr. Chandra said. C.J. Anderson Womens Jersey
Deadlines for completion of strategic road projects
73 roads are identified as strategic Indo-China border roads (ICBR), out of which 61 roads have been entrusted to Border Roads Organisation (BRO) with a length of 3417 km which were planned to be completed by 2012. Out of which 22 roads of length 707.74 km are completed. The revised completion schedule of 39 ICBRs is as under: 2016 – 5 Roads 2017 – 8 Roads 2018 – 12 Roads 2019 – 8 Roads 2020 – 6 Roads Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal agency for the fencing along the border regions. The status of fencing works is as under: Indo-Bangladesh border (Phase-I): 857.37 km of fencing in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram has been completed in 2000. Indo-Bangladesh border (Phase-II): Out of 2468 km of fencing, 1872 km has been completed. The completion schedule is March 2019 for ongoing works. Indo-Myanmar border: Out of the 9.12 km fencing, 2.79 km has been completed. Government has taken following measures to expedite the pace of road projects: States of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura have constituted the Empowered Committee to resolve issues related to land acquisition, forest / wildlife clearance, allotment of quarries etc. Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) has given the General Approval under section 2 of forest (conservation) Act, 1980 for diversion of forest land required for construction / widening of roads entrusted to BRO in the area falling within 100 kilometers aerial distance from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and for link roads between Border Roads in the area within 100 kilometer aerial distance from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and National Highways / State Highways / Other roads subject to certain conditions. Outsourcing has been allowed to augment capacity of BRO. Long Term Roll On Work Plan (LTROWP) and Long Term Equipment Plan (LTEP) have been approved. Enhanced financial and administrative powers have been given to the executives of BRO. Jamar Taylor Womens Jersey
More ‘green’ roads across the country soon
There will be more ‘green’ roads across the country with the help of a unique technology developed by Assam-based Bitchem company. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently appreciated the cold mix technology by the firm during an innovation exhibit in Africa. “We are extremely delighted at the rare acknowledgment by the Prime Minister about the technology. This strengthens our resolve to keep propagating about this highly efficient and green technology and push through policy hurdles to scale up its acceptance. “We are committed to creating concept of green roads in the country and elsewhere,” company’s CEO Rajeev Agarwal said today. Cold mix technology is greener, safer and enables faster black-topping of roads. Cold mix is tailor made and can be used in all-weather conditions besides being more durable as it contains anti-stripping properties. The technology is also an impressive option to solve the problems of road connectivity in India, and especially in hilly states as various factors like heavy rainfall often delay the construction and maintenance of roads in such regions, Agarwal said. “Over the years, despite the stiff challenges, we have been able to use this technology to lay over 4,000 plus km in challenging conditions and remote rural areas. However, we feel we have many miles to go provided we are able to create an enabling environment and right policy framework,” he said. The biggest advantage of the cold mix technology is that on an average in cold mix precious fossil fuels — approximately 1,500 litres of diesel per kilometre — are saved and if over 1,000 km of roads are constructed in a year in each state, the benefits would be enormous. “If we consider 30,000 km annual road construction, cold mix can save the nation 45 million litres and 145.35 million kg carbon footprints,” he said. Zach Hyman Jersey
High WPI to boost toll road revenues for FY18: ICRA
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) increasing to a 20-month high of 1.6 per cent in June from 0.8 per cent in May will augur well for the toll road projects revenues for financial year 2017-18, according to Icra Research. “We expect the toll rates to increase in the range of 3.0-3.7 per cent during FY2018 – the highest growth after FY2015, following significant de-growth in toll rates for two consecutive years,” it said. It estimates the average increase in WPI for 2017 to be around 3 per cent. The report also said the toll fees are revised annually to adjust for inflation, as determined by the movement in the WPI, which links the revenues of toll road special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to movements in the WPI. “For FY2018, the toll rate hike is estimated to be in the range of 3-3.7 per cent. While traffic is expected to increase by about 5-6 per cent in terms of annual average daily traffic. Overall, the growth in toll collections is expected to remain healthy at more than 10-11 per cent levels. With rising inflation, the operations, maintenance and interest costs will also witness an increase; however growth in revenues will be higher, resulting in improved profitability,” Icra Senior Vice-President Rohit Inamdar said. Icra noted that the impact of negative WPI is seen during FY2016 and FY2017. “Projects for which toll rates are linked fully with WPI, the toll rates were revised downwards whereas for the other projects, the increase has been 2.7 per cent in FY2016 and 1.9 per cent in FY 2017,” the rating agency said. However, the traffic growth has been robust during FY2016 which is likely to continue during current fiscal, it added. As per the report, in a low inflation scenario, when there is no commensurate fall in interest rates, the profitability of the toll road projects gets adversely affected. Prince Fielder Womens Jersey
Government committed to complete rural road projects by 2019: Ram Kirpal Yadav
Government is committed to complete road projects indentified under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) by 2019, Rajya Sabha was informed today. The scheme was envisaged during the previous NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee but the progress slowed down as the UPA government reduced its funding, Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kirpal Yadav said, adding that “we have increased the fund amount for the scheme.” Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Yadav referred to Bihar and said it had made comparatively less progress under PMGSY and added that the pace at which work should have been carried out by the state government was not maintained. Yadav also said that paucity of funds was not a reason for the slow progress made till now. Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar also shared details relating to Bihar as per which in the last four years, 6,301 road works were sanctioned for the state by the ministry. Of these, 2,942 road works have been completed and 3,359 road works measuring 6917.517 kms are under consideration. The states are responsible for tendering, awarding and executing road projects under PMGSY, Tomar said. In reply to another question on allocation fund for cleanliness campaign, Tomar who also holds the charge of Drinking Water and Sanitation, said the criterion adopted for allocation of funds to various states for ‘Swacch Bharat’ campaign was based on the population and number of families in the state. He was asked on what basis was Himachal Pradesh given Rs 98.3 crore under the scheme, to which he said it was as per the set criteria. In Maharashtra, he said a total of Rs 528.94 crore has been sanctioned for the year of which Rs 264.47 crore released till June this year, assuring that more funds will be released after receiving Utilisation Certificates. Concerns were also raised in the House about the success of the project for constructing toilets especially in hilly areas, with members saying it should be linked with the availability of water, “otherwise it remains a subject of advertisements”. Kevon Looney Authentic Jersey
Nitin Gadkari asks Tesla to choose India as its Asia manufacturing hub
Urging U.S.-based electric car major Tesla to make India its Asia manufacturing hub, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has offered it land near major Indian ports to facilitate exports to South and South East Asian countries. Road Transport and Highways Minister Mr. Gadkari visited the Tesla factory near San Francisco and offered to promote joint ventures between the firm and Indian automobile companies with a view to introducing pollution-free road transport in India, especially commercial and public motor vehicles, an official statement said. Mr. Gadkari said the Indian government was committed to encouraging alternate pollution-free transport in the country by providing incentives to bio-fuel, CNG, ethanol and electric vehicles. Offers land “He proposed to the Tesla senior executives to make India their Asia manufacturing hub and offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of their vehicles to South and South East Asian countries,” Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in the statement. Tesla senior executive admitted that their manufacturing hub has to be outside the U.S. for markets in rest of the world. They appreciated the Indian offer of cooperation which they said will certainly be considered at the appropriate time in future, the statement said, adding that the company assured him that India will definitely be a market for its next generation low-cost sustainable Model-3. “Replying to specific queries from the Transport and Highways Minister regarding manufacturing of electric trucks, buses and two wheelers, the Tesla team said they have future plans for trucks and pick-up vans but not buses and two wheelers,” the statement said. They evinced keen interest in knowing if there was any subsidy on electric vehicles in India, to which Mr.Gadkari asked Tesla executives to outline their plans.
‘Construction equipment sector seeing strong growth’
The construction equipment and earthmoving industry — traditionally seen as bellwethers of economic activity — has seen strong growth in the first half of this calendar year, an indication of optimism in business sentiment and a revival of economic activity, according to a top official at JCB India, one of the largest providers of such equipment in the country. “De-growth in the sector started in April 2011 and went on until September 2015,” Vipin Sondhi, managing director and CEO of JCB India told The Hindu in an interview. “Then October to December 2015 was a period of flat growth. In the last six months, January to June, the industry has clocked a growth rate of more than 40 per cent.” Business activity “People won’t buy the machines unless they are expecting to begin work soon,” Mr. Sondhi said. “This involves large capital investments. The actual digging of earth on the ground is a sign of business activity, not just new project announcements.” The first five months of 2016 recorded sales of 21,869 units in the construction equipment sector as a whole, according to industry data shared by JCB, which represents a growth of 47.6 per cent over the same period of the previous year. The growth in the sector accompanies an average 8.25 per cent growth over the same period in the cement category of the Index of Eight Core Industries as computed by the government. This is far stronger than the nearly flat average growth rate of 0.01 per cent seen in the sector in the January-May period of 2015, lending further weight to the assertion that the construction sector is seeing a revival. Optimism “There is a business sentiment of optimism, but it has not yet translated in all industries,” Mr. Sondhi said. “Some of the bellwethers have started moving faster. The heavy commercial vehicles sector has grown, as has the construction equipment sector.” However, the construction equipment sector is yet to recover to the highs of 2011, Mr Sondhi said. “The industry is likely to reach to that level by the next calendar year.” The sector sold 52,893 units that year, the data shows. Now that the infrastructure sector — roads and highways — has started growing, the economy needs sectors like railways, real estate, and irrigation to start firing, Mr. Sondhi said. “It is then steel and cement can pick up and the wheels of the economy can really start moving.” “But we need to be an investment-led economy,” he said. “Consumption is good, but is not enough for sustainable job creation.” Brian Urlacher Authentic Jersey
Restrict NH 169 width to 30 m, Rai tells NHAI
Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister B. Ramanath Rai on Saturday asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to restrict the width of National Highway 169 (Mangaluru-Solapura) between Mangaluru and Moodabidri to 30 m instead of the proposed 45 m, particularly in urban areas. Presiding over a meeting to discuss widening of the NH and land acquisition for the same here, Mr. Rai said that the reduction in width should be followed in Mangaluru, and from Gurupura Kaikamba to Thenka, Badaga Edapadavu. Mr. Rai also asked the NHAI not to acquire property belonging to Thodar Masjid and plan the alignment skirting it. Special Land Acquisition Officer Gayathri Nayak informed that about 448 acres of land, including 307 acres of private land, would have to be acquired for the project as per the preliminary notification issued on May 20. K. Abhayachandra Jain, Moodbidri MLA, B.A. Mohiuddin Bava, Mangaluru North MLA, zilla Panchayat president Meenakshi Shanthigodu, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim and others attended the meeting. Frank Gore Womens Jersey