NHAI to take up one-time upgrade of highways
Given the states’ demand that one-time improvement (OTI) works on national highways be funded by the Centre, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to carry out such works out of budgetary allocations or borrowed funds. When a national highway (NH) stretch gets congested, a stretch is developed bypassing the stretch. Upon requests from the state, while NHAI develops the new stretch, MoRTH had earlier taken upon itself the task of redeveloping the existing stretch since 2015-16, which otherwise is the duty of the state through which the highway passes through. However, MoRTH does not want to carry on with the activity, which used to burden it with around Rs 1,000 crore a year, any longer. This is because of limited budgetary allocation. Outgoing secretary Sanjay Mitra, who is set to take over as defence secretary, has already communicated the ministry’s decision to NHAI chairman Y S Malik. “The ministry has been receiving several proposals for one-time improvement (OTI) works from states/NHAI for implementation under NH (O). Keeping in view the limited available budgetary allocations under NH (O) and the need to focus on development of existing non-NHDP NHs and development of NHs approved in-principle in a time-bound manner, it has been decided that all new works of OTI, shall, henceforth, be implemented by NHAI,” he wrote. “NHAI shall implement OTI works out of the budgetary allocations and additional resources mobilised through market borrowings of NHAI. No additional Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) funds to be earmarked to NHAI for these works,” he added. NHAI, which spent around `70,000 crore for development of highways last fiscal, however, is not perturbed. A senior authority official said the additional annual burden on NHAI would not be more than `1,000 crore as the ministry says no additional GBS funds must be given for such works. “This will not impact NHAI’s works since the amount is pretty small,” he said. Taking in toll collection and cess on highways, NHAI is likely to get around `20,000-crore budgetary support from the ministry out of the total `64,900 crore budgetary allocation for the 2017-18 fiscal. NHAI raises funds through bonds for highways development. Last fiscal, it raised around `40,000 crore through both taxable and tax-free bonds in 2016-17, a quantum jump from the previous three years’ average of `24,000 crore. However, in 2016-17 too, it could not exhaust the permissible limit of `59,297 crore. The limit has been kept at the same level in the current fiscal. NHAI has been asked to construct 6,000 km and award 10,000 km highways in the current fiscal. Jon Casey Jersey
Stage set for land pooling: Delhi government makes 89 villages urban areas
In a major development, the Delhi government has declared 89 villages here as urban areas which will help the authorities develop infrastructure projects in those localities. The Urban Development Department of the Delhi government issued a notification in this regard yesterday, after Lt Governor Anil Baijal approved the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) Land-Pooling Policy (LPP). The policy was stuck for around two years. After the approval of the LPP for the 89 villages, the Delhi government won’t need to buy land from the DDA for developing facilities such as electrical sub-stations, stadiums, industrial areas, old-age homes, hostels, schools, etc. The LPP is aimed at getting individuals or a group of land-owners – living in urban villages on Delhi’s periphery – to pool their land and hand it over to the DDA. The DDA will develop public infrastructure like roads on part of the pooled land and return a substantial portion of the plot to the owner. The returned portion of the land will have its value increased due to the development of infrastructure nearby. Sultanpur Dabas, Bazidpur Takran, Mukhmelpur, Neb Sarai, Baprola, Bakkarwala, Goela Khurd, Neelwal, Salahpur Majra are among the villages which have been declared as urban areas by the AAP government. The policy’s implementation assumes significance as the DDA’s Master Plan Delhi (MPD) 2021 proposes construction of 25 lakh housing units by 2021 for which 10,000 hectares of land will be required. As per DDA estimates, 2.5 lakh houses, including 50,000 EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) units, will require 1,000 hectare of land. Providing relief to small farmers, self-penalty on DDA for delays, and flexibility to farmers to trade their land or tie up with developers for land-pooling are some of the important features of the policy. Welcoming the move, BJP MLA and Opposition Leader in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta said the “historical” move would accelerate the process of providing affordable housing to 20 lakh families. “It would fill up Delhi’s infrastructural deficit that has led to cropping up of unauthorised colonies. The notification comes due to direct cognisance taken by the Delhi L-G,” Gupta said. Vadim Shipachyov Womens Jersey
Government likely to rank State Transport Corporations
The Narendra Modi government will soon come out with a policy to reward the best-performing state transport corporations through central funding to move to less polluting electric buses and set up charging and maintenance infrastructure. The scheme being conceptualised by the transport ministry will involve ranking of the state transport corporations across the country on the basis of financial performance, connection to towns and villages and condition of bus terminals and passenger amenities. The best performing ones will be shifted to electric mobility gradually. In the first year, the ministry wants around 5,000 such buses to go on road to be increased to almost 30,000 in the second. “Currently, state transport corporations incur heavy losses because of bad management and high maintenance and operations cost. The ones which perform well as per our performance standards would be given electric buses,” a top roads ministry official said. “It will bring down running cost by almost half. Currently, on an average, every transport corporation makes losses to the tune of `20 per km. Electric mobility will completely wipe out their losses, besides saving a lot on carbon emissions,” the official said. The government is separately working on a policy to move India to electric mobility in a major way by 2030 as a part of its green initiative. Separately, a proposal to buy almost 2 lakh e-cars for government departments, ministries and other bodies is also being considered. In a recent interview to ET, roads transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari said the government would come out with the electric vehicles policy by the end of the year. Gadkari added his ministry will soon have a fund to procure such buses. Gadkari’s ministry has already floated a proposal saying that electric taxis should be exempted from all permits and various state taxes to make acquisition and operation of such cars as commercial vehicles easier and cheaper. “With the kind of volume that India will give to these companies is going to be unprecedented. The ministry has already offered sops such as land to Tesla to manufacture in India. Once we make a visible push towards electric mobility, such companies would come on their own,” the official said. Tom Compton Womens Jersey
NDA beats UPA, rolls out roads faster
The government’s work order for highway expansion has shot up by 122% during the first three years of Modi government and the pace of construction has gone up by 25%, according to data released by the road transport and highways ministry. During 2011-2014, daily highway construction was about 13 km in comparison to 17 km during the three years’ of Modi government. The acceleration in award of works to road builders — over 11,000 km on an average in the past three years against only 5,000 during UPA’s corresponding period — has significance considering that this will translate into actual construction of roads by April 2019 when the government faces election. It is expected that by 2019, the government will be in a position to achieve more than 30 km of highway construction per day, a source said. Highways minister Nitin Gadkari has set the target of pushing daily highway construction to 41 km. Highway development is considered one of the biggest job generators and increased road connectivity has been recognised as a major contributor to economic activities even in the hinterlands. However, for the current financial year, the government has set the target of awarding at least 30% of highway projects on public private partnership (PPP). Last year only 17% projects were bid out on PPP mode. Similarly, shipping ministry data show high increase in capacity of 12 major ports under government from 745 million tonnes in 2012-13 to 1,065 million tonnes in 2016-17. The total cargo handled at all these ports have also increased from 570 million tonnes in 2011-12 to 648 million tonnes during the last financial year. Officials said there has been a greater cohesive planning in the road, rail, shipping and waterways sectors to improve connectivity, which was missing during the earlier government. Target for smart tags The government has set the target of a three-fold increase in installation of FASTags in vehicles in the next one year. Till March end, about 4.1 lakh such tags have been fixed in vehicles, which allow these vehicles to pass through toll plazas on highways without waiting at toll gates. At a meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi earlier this month, the roads ministry has been asked to increase it to 15 lakh by April 2018 and 25 lakh by 2020. Paul Molitor Jersey
Highway construction in April at 22.63 km/day against 41 km/day target
Highway construction in the first month of the current fiscal stood at 679 km, averaging at 22.63 km a day, against the ambitious target of 41 km per day for entire 2017-18. In the last fiscal, the Nitin Gadkari-led ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) kept the target for construction at 15,000 km, but only 8,142 km could be built, averaging at an all-time high pace of 22.3 km per day. Sources said the ministry, through the state PWDs, built 445-km highways during April this year. While the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) built 221 km, the remaining 13 km was built by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL). The internal target for construction was kept at 507 km for the month. Data compiled by the ministry showed that in April last year, a total of 464-km highways was constructed at a pace of 15.64 km a day. The rise in pace was attributed to better monitoring of the highway works coupled with the higher awards, mostly through the EPC route, in the preceding years. One of the focus areas of the Narendra Modi government, construction of highways figures prominently in its overall effort to spruce up the infrastructure sector. The pace of construction has been growing steadily since the NDA assumed power in May 2014. Compared with 4,216-km highway construction in 2013-14, the number grew to 4,410 km in 2014-15, 6,061 km in 2016-17 and 8,142 km in 2017-18. The pace of awards in April this year has been slower at just 59 km. In the same month last year, NHAI, MoRTH and NHIDCL cumulatively awarded 139-km highway roads for construction. While MoRTH and NHAI awarded 122 km and 17 km, respectively, in April last year, during the same month this year, MoRTH awarded them all. NHAI failed to award a single project in April this year. Unlike in the past, MoRTH or NHAI do not award any highway project unless 90% of the land is available. Sources said since a maximum of the sanctioned projects are generally awarded before March to make the annual numbers look better, in April the numbers look pale. Any project worth below Rs 500 crore is awarded by the highways secretary. The minister has the power to award projects worth up to Rs 1,000 crore and beyond that, the Union Cabinet takes the call. Starting from 2014-15, in the last three years, 7,980 km, 10,098 km and 16,036-km highway projects have been awarded and it generally takes two to two-and-a-half years to complete a highway project. For the current fiscal, the target of awarding highway projects has been kept at 25,000 km – same as the last fiscal. Gadkari had earlier attributed the slow pace of highway construction to problems in land acquisition and utility shifting, non-availability of aggregates, poor performance of contractors and delay in various clearances. The government has taken several steps to address the private investment famine in the sector. It eased the exit policy for developers to enable them to invest in new projects and introduced the hybrid annuity model where the Centre bears 40% of the project cost. Josh Kline Womens Jersey
Modi diktat paying off: India infrastructure projects on a roll
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to push delayed infrastructure projects are paying off. About a quarter of 1,201 projects valued at 16.9 trillion rupees ($262 billion) were delayed as of January, down from 43 percent two years back, according to a government report seen by Bloomberg News. Cost overruns have also come down to 11 per cent from 20 percent from March 2015. Of the total projects — each worth at least 1.5 billion rupees — 329 are running behind schedule, 293 have cost overruns, while 95 have both time and cost overrun compared to their original implementation schedules. Since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has been reviewing infrastructure projects, setting targets for ministries, taking steps to ease bottlenecks and encouraging overseas companies to set up factories. Still, projects from sectors including coal, power, petroleum, railways and road have been running behind schedule, primarily because of a delay in attracting finance, land acquisition and environmental clearances and a lack of infrastructure support and linkages. As the government implemented initiatives such as the delegation of decision-making power, setting deadlines and reforming contract rules, the stalled public projects stared moving, said Manish Agarwal, Leader, Capital Projects & Infrastructure, PricewaterhouseCoopers India. “Government intentions have translated into reality.” The government is focusing on an “increase in public spending, completion of stalled projects rather than the announcement of new projects, the resolution of private stalled projects and bringing new projects into the market for private investment,” said Agarwal. With the government’s recent steps to reduce non-performing assets of banks, there will be some increase in private investment, said Agarwal. In the latest review meeting on April 26, Modi called for a consolidated approach to existing projects. India needs $646 billion investment in the next five years to meet its infrastructure demand, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in April. Denzel Perryman Jersey
Transport Unions Strike, 22,000 Buses Go Off Roads, Commuters Hit In Tamil Nadu
Commuters are facing a harrowing time in Tamil Nadu as 22,000 state-run buses have remained off roads after many transport unions began their indefinite strike on Sunday. Their demands include revision of wages, settlement of Rs. 1,700 crore dues for more than 10,000 retired workers and government taking over operational losses of transport corporations among other issues. As a majority of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation buses stopped plying yesterday after talks with the government failed, passengers across the state were stranded for hours with not many commuting options available. The government has agreed to discuss the matter with the unions to reach a consensus. Transport Minister MR Vijayabaskar said 37 unions were in support of the government. Ten other unions, including those headed by DMK and Left, are participating in the strike. He said the government was ready to hold talks to break the logjam if the unions came forward for discussions. “Efforts are on to operate the bus service in full strength even as 2,000 private vehicles have been pressed into action in Chennai to clear the rush,” he said. Police protection is being provided to buses plying on the roads, the minister said. The government is also mulling deploying retired and private drivers to run additional buses, officials said. It has also requested the Southern Railway to operate inter-city services between Chennai and other cities. It has also increased number of services on the various suburban routes in and around Chennai. Derek Watt Jersey
Villagers in Haryana end protest over expressway construction
The construction work on the KGP and KMP Expressways has resumed as farmers at Badhkhalsa village at Sonipat ended their protest after assurances from the district administration that they’d be duly compensated, the state authorities said on Sunday. The villagers had been protesting against the acquisition of their land for construction of road and roundabout of Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal Expressway and Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressways since November 17, 2005, an official statement said on Sunday. “As the villagers were not ready to give up their land, the construction work had to be halted. The farmers recently ended their protest,” it said. The construction of the road was restarted after the BJP government came to power in Haryana in 2014. “On April 19, 2016, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a meeting with the villagers where he offered the villagers land in other locations in lieu of the land to be acquired. He had also instructed the district administration to comply with these orders,” the statement read. Following this, Sonipat Deputy Commissioner, K Makrand Pandurang, held talks with the villagers and offered land or enhanced compensation. “While 70 farmers were recently paid compensation, land at other locations would be provided to the remaining 212 farmers, for which the process has already been started,” it said. The 135-km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (KGP) envisages signal-free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gautam Budh Nagar (Greater Noida) and Palwal. The two expressways were planned in 2006 following the Supreme Court order to form a ring road outside Delhi for channeling non-Delhi bound traffic bypassing the national capital. Evan Turner Authentic Jersey
Safety on NHs and State Highways raising concern
Eight deaths in two accidents barely few hours apart on Friday, that too just two days after the ghastly accident that claimed two lives including that of Nishith Narayana, and the question is back again. How safe are our roads and highways? That the highways, both National and State, passing through the State, along with the Outer Ring Road (ORR), have turned virtual death traps over the last few years is not a new fact. As many as 2,377 people have lost their lives in 3,137 road accidents from 2013 to 2015 on 12 NH/SH stretches and the Outer Ring Road (ORR). And in 2016, as per figures from the National Accident Data, 225 accidents were recorded on every 100 km of national highways, while there were 126 deaths recorded on every 100 km of State highways. And with Friday’s accidents, the toll has climbed higher. “There is a need to re-do the road safety awareness programmes and safety campaigns,” feels Additional Director-General of Police (Road Safety), T Krishna Prasad. A massive awareness campaign was taken out in January, which Prasad says had yielded major results. The accident growth rate in the first quarter of the year had gone up by six per cent across the country, while in Telangana, it had dipped by one per cent. This was in comparison with the figures of the first quarter of 2016. The number of deaths in accidents, again when the two first quarters of 2016 and 2017 were compared, had grown by seven per cent across the country, while in Telangana, it fell by four per cent. However, public memory is short, and the campaign has to be taken up again, he says, adding that educational institutions, IT firms, and all other stakeholders would be involved in another massive campaign to be taken up in the first week of July. At the same time, efforts are on to straighten out a few bottlenecks on highways, like clearing defects which make certain stretches black spots on highways, apart from mapping hospitals nearest to such black spots using Geographic Information System (GIS). Villagers will also be sensitised to help accident victims, Prasad said. Study pins the blame on poor reporting, infra Hyderabad: Poor implementation of laws, lack of coherent data collection and glitches in infrastructure are some of the reasons behind India’s increasing road mishaps, a study by National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) says. Titled ‘Advancing Road Safety in India: Implementation is the Key’, the study was conducted in collaboration with global safety science consultant UL as part of the fourth United Nations Global Road Safety Week (May 8-14). The study, which puts out bare facts on road accidents and deaths, points at inefficiency in the implementation of laws due to divided responsibility between Central and State governments. It also says the country lacks comprehensive data collection and analysis of police and hospital records. Poorly maintained roads and trauma centres is another reason the study lists out, among other factors. According to the study, pedestrians (30%-40 %), two-wheeler riders/pillions (30%-40 %) and cyclists (10%) account for nearly 80% of casualties and injuries. These figures are in complete contrast with government records due to flawed reporting practices. Some studies suggest that the number of deaths is likely to be 20% higher than what is declared, while serious injuries are underreported by more than 50%. The study goes on to quote Ministry of Road Transport and Highways data — only 22.1% of accidents and 11.3% of road deaths of the total 50 million plus cases were reported in 2015. “A large number of crashes and deaths occur on rural roads (most of these include national and State highways) where road safety is yet to gain prominence,” it states. The study will be used as reference to address the road safety crisis afflicting the country, a statement read. DeAndre Jordan Jersey
12 new expressways to be constructed: Nitin Gadkari
At least a dozen new expressways would be constructed in the coming year to connect various states in the country, of which three will be started in 2017, it was announced here Friday. “Eastern Peripheral Highway is just the beginning. We will make 12 such express highways. Three of such highways will be started in 2017 itself,” the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said. Gadkari, who was here to review the ongoing construction of 135 km long Eastern Peripheral Highway, said: “This is the country’s first access control highway from both sides of the road. We are trying to make under passes through such roads and avoid any hindrance.” The Eastern Peripheral Expressway is expected to be thrown open by August 2017 and the two roads will divert around 2 lakh vehicles passing through the national capital to reduce Delhi’s traffic congestion by 50 per cent beside reducing the air pollution. Gadkari was accompanied by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairperson Yudhvir Singh Malik and Bagpat parliamentarian Satpal Singh. One lakh cement bags were being used per day for the road which will be a control access highway, he said. “Through this highway the nearby areas and the cost of the land is estimated to rise three times,” said Gadkari. He said the government was also planning to plant trees on the sides of the road to make it a green highway. The construction of the highway is likely to get over by August. The project built by five major construction firms on divided stretches was started after Supreme Court’s Directive in 2006 to construct a ring road for by passing non-Delhi bound vehicles moving between Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Initially the project was to take 2.5 years. But following the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive the project is being constructed within 400 days. The Eastern Peripheral Expressway will become India’s first 135 km green road to be lit entirely by solar panels and will have advanced traffic system. The project which commenced in May, 2016 will consume a million tones flash from National Thermal Power Corporation’s various plants to utilize waste and minimize pollution. The expressway passes through Sonipat, Bagpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Faridabad, and Palwal in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The proposed alignment crosses the Yamuna at Khurrampur/Khata in Uttar Pradesh and Faizpur Khadar in Haryana and crosses the river Hindon. Deatrich Wise Jr Womens Jersey