Norms for road projects will be diluted: Nitin Gadkari
“I have decided to dilute technical and financial bid norms for road projects to increase competition,” said Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. At an interaction organised by BusinessLine on Friday with top executives from the corporate sector, he said the norms now allow for about 100-125 contractors to participate in the bids but “I hope to increase the number to 500,” he said responding to a question from H Jayaram, Managing Director, GMMCO, which represents construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar in India. The Road Transport Minister plans to expand the national highway network to about 2 lakh km from the present 1.5 lakh km and enhance road safety. At the time he took over, of the 52 lakh km of roads 96,000 km were national highways. “The approach of the earlier government was conservative because of the five lakh accidents and 1.5 lakh deaths every year,” he said. “I decided to increase the national highways to 2 lakh km and today it is 1.5 lakh km and take steps to bring down accidents by half at least,” he said. The 96,000 km of highways, which is just 2 per cent of road length, carried 40 per cent of national traffic. With 2 lakh km, it will go up to 80 per cent, he says confidently. To illustrate the change the Centre has brought into the road sector, the Union Minister recalls the time AM Naik, Chairman, Larsen & Toubro, the largest infrastructure company in India, had thrown up his hands and said L&T has decided to exit road projects “and at that time I could not convince him to change his mind then,” Gadkari said. But “now his company is doing nine projects at an estimated ?15,000 crore and some of them at 20 per cent below cost. This is the difference after the new government took over,” he asserts. Over 90 per cent of the issues relating to 403 stalled projects valued at about ? 3.5 lakh crore have been addressed. Just about a couple of dozen projects are still pending, he said responding to a question from TV Karthikeyan, Chief Financial Officer, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects. Hybrid model The Minister said the Centre will push ahead with the hybrid annuity model for funding road projects. By March next year, it will complete contracts for ?2 lakh crore and in the next year target ?5 lakh crore. This model is a big boost Indian investors and contractors, he said. On enhancing road safety, Gadkari said the new Motor Vehicle Act will soon be finalised with the Yunus Khan Committee set to hold its final meeting. This will benefit insurance companies, he said in response to a query from MS Sreedhar, Managing Director, Royal Sundaram General Insurance. “We are identifying black spots and have provided ?11,000 crore to improve 726 black spots, private sector companies including those in insurance can support this initiative,” he said. Road safety The Ministry has taken a ‘historical decision’ and moved a Cabinet note to provide for 1 per cent of cost of construction for road safety. This is equal to ?5,000 crore as of now. Funds are also being allocated to State governments to improve road safety, he said. “I am confident we will reduce accidents by 50 per cent in next two years,” he said. Reacting to a suggestion from Preetha Reddy, Vice-Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals, he said there is a plan to establish 1,200 road side amenities, including immediate-care facility and ambulances for accident victims. These ambulances will be equipped with rescue equipment to extricate victims from damaged vehicles. The Ministry is also planning to establish with private sector participation over 50 yards for concrete precast across the country to supply pre-cast components to infrastructure projects. The private sector has a huge opportunity to participate in these, he said. David Mayo Authentic Jersey
Smart infra: Modi govt’s Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor SPV+ Telangana search for foreign partners
The Indian government’s newly formed SPV Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) has started scouting for foreign partners in a bid to converge next generation technologies across infrastructure sectors. The corporation has already held talks with technical partners in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany and Sweden, before it floats an RFQ (request for quotation) in June to select partners for specific projects. Following the RFQ, the DMICDC would appoint a transaction adviser to finalise a detailed project report and select partners. While visiting the Volvo Experience Center at Gothenburg in Sweden recently, DMICDC CEO and managing director Alkesh K Sharma told FE that there were opportunities in developing electric and hybrid energy based transportation in the newly conceived eight smart cities across the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, and generating hybrid energy with a mix of solar, biogas, wind and tidal was also a possibility. Such hybrid energy could be transmitted through micro and mini grids in the residential zones of smart cities and DMICDC was weighing those options, he added. European companies like FOB Biogas, PPAM Solarcraft and Team Maksus were already running mini and micro grid pilot projects with hybrid power in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Volvo has already introduced hybrid and mini buses for the European market. The Indian smart cities could be another market for them if DMICDC agreed to incorporate infrastructure for running hi-tech vehicles. “We will incorporate facilities in our trunk infrastructure to run electric and hybrid buses in the smart cities,” Sharma said after meeting Haken Agnevall, president, Volvo Bus Corporation. MG Gopal, special chief secretary in the Telangana government, who also visited Volvo’s Gothenburg experience center, said there were opportunities to create hi-tech infrastructure in Telangana since the government there would have to start most of the things from scratch. Sharma said the first phase of developing a smart city and investment region at Dholera in Gujarat was in the offing, entailing an investment of `40,000 crore. The investment would be basically used for creating trunk infrastructure,” Sharma said, adding that the project work would take off through first constructing a `2,300-crore international airport followed by a complete aerotropolis project. He said DMICDC would source funds from infrastructure financing companies like IFCL and HUDCO. The corporation would also issue land and infra bonds to raise money. “We are looking at the time frame between now and 2030 and there will be a point of time when we will run into deficit financing. So, we will have to work out a mix of financing options like sovereign funds and external commercial borrowings. But all such financing options will be used for funding the entire $100-billion project which would comprise trunk infrastructure for eight smart city projects across the entire Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor,” Sharma said. Although Japan government is partnering with the government of India in implementing the project, DMICDC will keep options flexible for participation of foreign partners. “We can make outright offer of land, it can be a leasing model depending on the type of financing the developer is looking at. Even DMICDC can give a hand-holding support to a technological partner by picking up majority stake in certain trunk infrastructure projects,” he added. At an interactive session with investors at Gothenburg organised by India Unlimited, an initiative of the Indian embassy in Sweden, Telangana special chief secretary Gopal said, in case of selecting technological partners, the Telangana government under its Industries Development Enabling Act can depart from the traditional route of competitive bidding and adopt a process of reverse bidding for unsolicited proposal. “In case the initial proponent matches the best price proposal in the reverse bidding, the initial proponent will be roped in as the qualified bidder,” he said, adding that industrial projects can be started at Telangana through self-certification and online application, which gets clearance in 15 days. Meanwhile, Akash Passey, Volvo Buses’ vice-president-Business Region International, said Volvo would start exporting India-made buses to Europe this year, initially on a small scale to a select few countries. Earlier, Volvo announced its plan to export India-made buses to Europe in 2015. Ryan Hartman Authentic Jersey
Indian Railways to lay tracks at 7.7 km per day, save thousands of crores with new techniques
Indian Railways is set to commission 2,800 kms broad gauge track at the rate of 7.7 km per day, a senior railways official said. V.K. Gupta, member engineering (ME) of Railway Board said that railways has commissioned around 4,800 km of broad gauge track in the last two years which includes about 1,200 km of new line, 1,900 km of gauge conversion and 1,700 km of doubling. “In the North-East region, Indian Railways commissioned about 900 km of broad gauge in the last two years, leaving only about 50 km of metre gauge lines to be converted in 2016-17. In addition, a 132 km part of third alternative connectivity route to the North-East (New Maynaguri – Jogighopa) was also commissioned,” Gupta said here. “Udhampur-Katra (25 km) railway line in Jammu and Kashmir, Rangapara-Murkongselek and Balipara-Bhalukpong (362 km) section in Arunachal Pradesh, Lumding-Silchar (210 km) gauge conversion in Assam are some of the important railway lines commissioned in the last two years,” he added. He further said that railways was committed to bring the North-East region on the railway map. “Passenger services have been introduced between Silchar and Agartala, thereby bringing, the capital of Tripura on broad gauge. Similarly, Dudhnoi-Mendipathar (20 km) new line has brought Meghalaya on Indian Railway broad gauge network. With the commissioning of Kathakal-Bhairabi and Arunachal-Jiribam sections, the states of Mizoram and Manipur have also come on broad gauge map of the country,” he informed. He added that railways have adopted innovative techniques in the last two years which resulted in savings of hundreds of crores. “Many innovations were done in design of bridges, formation etc. resulting into an immediate saving of about Rs. 700 crores for Northern Railway. In fact, these innovations would result in perpetual savings of thousands of crores every year for Indian Railways,” he concluded. Walter Payton Jersey
Himachal Pradesh adjure Centre to include Shimla in Smart City Mission
Himachal Pradesh government has urged the Centre to include Shimla in Smart City mission and Dharamshala under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). HP Minister Sudhir Sharma yesterday met Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu in Delhi and urged him to include Shimla in Smart City Mission as it was a famous international tourist destination, besides being the state capital. “Shimla’s pre-eminent position as largest city of the state and heritage status qualifies it for Smart City tag,” the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Minister said. Shimla had already been included under AMRUT, Sharma said. Sharma also demanded inclusion of Dharamshala, which was already included under Smart City mission, under AMRUT Mission and said a proposal in this regard had been submitted under fast-track mode to the Centre. He also urged the Union Minister to adopt a cluster approach to include more towns by clubbing small towns like Kullu-Manali and Mandi-Sundernagar under AMRUT. Sharma also demanded funds for Dharamshala sewerage scheme and informed the Union Minister that Municipal Corporation, Dharamshala has prepared a detailed report with estimated expenditure of Rs 101.36 crore for providing sewerage facility in the left out areas of the town. Donte Moncrief Authentic Jersey
Third eye: Western influence in Smart City initiative
The urban development ministry’s Smart City initiative came under fire in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as BJP MP Bhola SIngh pointed out that cities from east and south have not found a place in the first list of 20 chosen through a competition. The MP from Bihar said that though all knowledge is concentrated in east and south India, western cities have been favoured. Regulation issues at UGC Differences of opinion over the overhaul of regulations of deemed universities said to have derailed the UGC meeting scheduled for Monday. In fact, the meeting was cancelled after some UGC members had arrived at the UGC Office. It is learnt the HRD ministry had strong views on the amendments to the regulations proposed by UGC. Well-groomed minister Union minister Venkaiah Naidu is on a roll these days addressing meetings in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. His speeches, filled with alliteration, frequent shifting to Telugu and his pace of delivery, have struck a chord with the audience. What amused his audience was how he quickly moved the comb over his head minutes before PM Modi came on the stage. New headache for KVs As if it was not facing enough pressure on student admissions references, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) is now faced with staff transfer requests backed with ‘strong references’. So much so that the Commissioner KVS has issued directions that stern disciplinary action under Rules 16 of CCS conduct will be taken against any staffer who now on “tries to bring outside pressure/recommendations or extraneous influence”. Josh Martin Authentic Jersey
Delhi-Meerut Expressway widening gets nod Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for development of 14 laning of Delhi-UP border and Dasna section of Delhi-Meerut Expressway on NH-24. The cost is estimated to be Rs 1983 crore including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will be approximately 19 kms. The project will be awarded under the newly conceived hybrid annuity model. The project will help in expediting the improvement of infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh and in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Delhi and Meerut. The project is expected to take three years to complete. The road transport and highways ministry has broken the 90 km Delhi-Meerut expressway into four packages- Nizammudin to UP border, UP border to Dasna, Dasna to Hapur and new alignment between Dasna and Meerut. The cost of the total project is expected to be Rs 7000 crore. Josh Martin Jersey
Smart City programme: Ambassadors of 150 countries invited to Investment Summit
In a major international outreach to garner investments in the flagship Smart City programme, the Narendra Modi government has invited ambassadors of all 150 missions in India to a grand investment summit on May 19. The government would pitch projects worth Rs 50,560 crore across 20 cities, chosen through a competitive process conducted all over India, to be developed as smart cities in the first phase. According to sources, most countries have confirmed their participation in the summit, which is being held at Taj Mansingh hotel. Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu would inaugurate the summit and invite countries for investment opportunities. The day-long summit would see presentations from the urban development ministry and participation of state governments. Representatives of six major countries — United States of America, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, France and Spain —have agreed to give presentations at the investment summit regarding interests, opportunities and concerns of business community. Apart from the 20 cities, another 23 cities, which had missed the bus in the first competitive round of selection, have submitted their re-worked plans. Sources indicated that the urban development ministry would include more cities in the first phase from these 23 cities. A senior official confirmed to ET, “This decision would be taken by May 15. At the investment summit we may have projects from more than 20 cities for investment. The final list would be released by the minister before the summit.” The urban development ministry is eager for investments from international players. So far, US and France have agreed to develop three smart cities each in India. United States has vouched its support to develop Vishakhapatnam, Allahabad and Ajmer as smart cities. Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagpur will be developed as smart cities with the help of France. The initiative was launched on June 25 last year. The ministry is keen that with an international push some projects would be initiated when the programme completes its first anniversary. The Centre is monitoring the progress of states regularly. Ahead of the international investment summit, the state governments are now busy in converting their smart city plans into actionable projects to be pitched for investment. Lanny McDonald Authentic Jersey
Smart cities need to be customised to Indian context: Piyush Goyal
Development of smart cities in the country will have to be customised to the Indian context while leveraging on economies of scale to make the requisite technology affordable, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal today said. Addressing Smart Cities India Expo here, he said the development of smart cities or towns would have to be done “smartly”. The smart city concept should be practical, doable and affordable, which can be deliberated, discussed and then implemented, he added. “We got to think smart when we think of smart cities or smart technologies playing a role in India. How can we do it customised to the Indian context. How can we do it with the bare bone essentials, which would help have an impact. How can we do it to scale so that we can leverage the large economies of scale,” Goyal said. The Centre had in January announced the first batch of 20 smart cities in 11 states and New Delhi. These 20 cities proposed an investment of Rs 50,802 crore over the next five years. The minister said the power of economies of scale, the power of leveraging billion plus aspiring individuals, ensuring affordability to make a programme self sustainable, practical application in the Indian context are the keys to the implementation of smart cities. Goyal said India has certain challenges but the country that has demographic advantage also offers huge market opportunities. He talked about importance of disposal of wastage for the smart city movement and stressed on the need for adequate dustbins at an affordable cost. Citing the example of electric distribution network, Goyal said there is a need to replace the existing meters with smart meters, which in Indian context should have tamper-proof mechanism and two-way communication. “That’s the smart meter I am looking for. I don’t think it should cost more than $12-15. If we can do it at $15, I have a proposition of 250 million smart meters. That is the scale at which India offers opportunities,” he said. On energy efficiencies, Goyal highlighted that the Centre is running a 770-million LED bulb programme, which will cost less than $1 billion with no government investment. The cost of the LED bulb has come down by 83 per cent from Rs 310 to Rs 54.90 per piece, Goyal said adding people could save $6.5 billion every year in their electricity bills by switching to LED bulbs. Anthony Sherman Authentic Jersey
Work on phase I of coastal road in Mumbai to start by December
Work on the first phase of the much-delayed Rs 14,000-crore coastal road project in Mumbai is expected to start by the end of this year, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said today. The municipal corporation of Greater Mumbai will implement the 34-km project in eight phases. “We have invited Expressions of Interest (EoI) from interested parties and waiting for the pre-bids to come out. We are hopeful that by November or December we will be able to start the civil work on the first phase,” Mehta said at a seminar here. He said the first phase includes a road from Priyadarshani Park to Bandra. It would provide an alternative to the existing traffic-clogged Western Express Highway. Mehta said the draft Development Plan 2034 for the city is ready and by the end of this month it will be made public for suggestions. The draft DP 2034 was first announced in February last year, only to be withdrawn two months later after being criticised for errors such as wrong reservations applied to certain zones and plots. Ryan Miller Authentic Jersey
MMRDA starts bidding process for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link
In a major development in the much ambitious Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) today started the bidding process for the project and the contract will be awarded in the next 5-6 months. “Yesterday, we received the approval from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding the project and today we started the bidding process,” Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan said at an event here. He said in the next 5-6 months, the contract will be awarded for Rs 17,500 crore worth project. The project completion deadline has been set at 2019, but the commencement is itself getting delayed. There was delay in signing of loan agreement between Maharashtra government and JICA for the project where the state will borrow to the extent of 80 per cent of the total cost. As per MMRDA’s plan, the MTHL will have a total of six lanes, three in either direction. Of the total 22-km, 16.5-km will be bridge component and the balance would be on coast at Sewri and Nhava. Earlier, there were plans to have a metro line for public transport on MTHL, but it has been shelved off by MMRDA officials to have a toll-based bridge.