Private sector to play pivotal role in smart cities: Report
The private sector will play a pivotal role in the development of smart cities, according to a study taken up to gauge the challenges before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Smart City’ and AMRUT projects. Conducted jointly by the World Economic Forum and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PwC), it also said that problems in areas of water, waste management, energy and mobility would exacerbate if timely action is not taken. The private sector will play a pivotal role, with support needed to deliver much needed infrastructure and help address capacity issues across state governments and urban local bodies (ULBs), it stated. It further said that the global urban population is set to rise to over 66 per cent by 2050, and India is a significant contributor to it. While the country’s urban population currently totals around 410 million people (32 per cent of the total population), it is expected to reach 814 million (50 per cent) by 2050, as per the report. “But the growth of India’s urban population has not been accompanied with commensurate increases in urban infrastructure and service delivery capabilities. As a result, cities in India face a range of challenges in areas such as water, waste management, energy, mobility, the built environment, education, healthcare and safety,” it said. As per the report, these challenges may exacerbate further if timely and adequate action is not taken, and if neglected, it could even derail India’s growth. “This is why the plan announced by the Government of India for 100 smart cities and 500 Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities is so important,” it stated. Taking the leap to smart cities requires more than just government proclamation, the report added. Josh Hill Authentic Jersey
IFSC at GIFT City crosses $250-million business mark
Three banks which have started operations in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) have collectively done transactions worth $250 million, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) said in an emailed statement. Yes Bank, Federal Bank and ICICI Bank which have started their offshore units in this special economic zone have together issued buyers credit, foreign currency borrowing and other credit facilities worth $250 million in the six months to April even as GIFT now targets to corner a share of the NIFTY derivative trades which are executed through the Singapore Stock Exchange, Ajay Pandey, MD and group CEO at Gift City said. Besides the three banks mentioned above State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Corporation Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDBI Bank and IndusInd Bank will begin operating at GIFT IFSC in the next few months, the company said. “After crossing the US$ 250 million business mark at GIFT IFSC, the next target is US$ 500 million and then the US$ 1 billion mark in coming months. After banks, we expect a few insurance companies to start operations soon at GIFT IFSC,” Pandey said. In the first phase over 14 million square feet of built up area has been allowed in the GIFT SEZ and Non-SEZ area for development of office towers, residential apartments and social facilities. The second phase envisages a built-up area of 1.32 million square feet. Some local banks like Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Gujarat State Co-operative Bank and Janalakshmi Bank have also begun normal banking operations outside the SEZ.
US to focus on infra investment in smart cities: Ambassador
United States Ambassador to India Richard R. Verma on Friday said the US will continue to focus on making investments in infrastructure in Indian smart cities, which have an investment potential of $1.5 trillion. “Infrastructure development in smart cities in India will continue to be the focus of the US government. There is a market potential of $1.5 trillion in smart cities,” Verma said at the 24th annual general meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in India. “Investment in smart cities’ infrastructure is one of the pillars of the India-US commercial dialogue. The US will collaborate with governments at the Centre, states and India’s finance sector to take the smart cities projects off the ground,” he added. Currently, around 38 dialogues are in progress between India and the US at the government level, he said. “38 dialogues are on between India and the US, amongst which a number of US agencies are talking to the Indian government on smart cities,” the American ambassador said. “There is massive urbanisation happening in India at levels we have never seen earlier. Opportunities in rural India are drying up. India needs to construct a Chicago city every year to accommodate people moving to its cities,” Verma said. He said the US government had initiated a reverse trade mission under which 14 officials from the Vizag smart city project visited US cities to analyse the infrastructure requirements of a smart city. Talking about the growing partnership in India, he said: “We have seen broadening and deepening of our relationship. Year 2015 saw the India-US bilateral trade scale new heights. Soon the two countries will hit the $108 billion-mark.” Vladimir Tarasenko Authentic Jersey
Private sector to play pivotal role in smart cities: Report
The private sector will play a pivotal role in the development of smart cities, according to a study taken up to gauge the challenges before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Smart City’ and AMRUT projects. Conducted jointly by the World Economic Forum and PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PwC), it also said that problems in areas of water, waste management, energy and mobility would exacerbate if timely action is not taken. The private sector will play a pivotal role, with support needed to deliver much needed infrastructure and help address capacity issues across state governments and urban local bodies (ULBs), it stated. It further said that the global urban population is set to rise to over 66 per cent by 2050, and India is a significant contributor to it. While the country’s urban population currently totals around 410 million people (32 per cent of the total population), it is expected to reach 814 million (50 per cent) by 2050, as per the report. “But the growth of India’s urban population has not been accompanied with commensurate increases in urban infrastructure and service delivery capabilities. As a result, cities in India face a range of challenges in areas such as water, waste management, energy, mobility, the built environment, education, healthcare and safety,” it said. As per the report, these challenges may exacerbate further if timely and adequate action is not taken, and if neglected, it could even derail India’s growth. “This is why the plan announced by the Government of India for 100 smart cities and 500 Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities is so important,” it stated. Taking the leap to smart cities requires more than just government proclamation, the report added. Tom Barrasso Womens Jersey
Government may achieve FY’17 road awarding target: Citigroup
The government has increased the target for awarding projects by 2.5 times to 25,000 km for the ongoing fiscal, though difficult, there are chances that these targets might be achieved, says a Citigroup report. According to the global financial services major, the road sector in India is already seeing very substantial improvement in ordering and construction and this trend is likely to continue in the current fiscal as well. On top of an high level of activity in fiscal year 2016, the targets for this fiscal year translates into building over 40 km of highways a day. This target is “almost difficult to believe based on the track record before May 2014”, Citigroup said in a research note. “Recent performance in terms of award and construction has been extremely encouraging and a lot of ground work seems to have already been done. This raises the chance that FY17 targets may be achieved,” it added. According to the report even if absolute headline targets are missed by some margin, there is likely to be a substantial Y-o-Y increase in ordering and construction activity in this financial year. Of the total length of National Highways targeted for award, 15,000 km would fall under the target of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and 10,000 km under the target of the Road Ministry and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL). The speeding up of road projects has been made possible due to several policy interventions which include the Ministry being empowered to decide mode of delivery, increased threshold for project approval, enhanced inter-ministerial coordination, Exit Policy and promoting innovative project implementation models like Hybrid Annuity Model. Zach Zenner Womens Jersey
RBI permits infra debt funds to issue less than 5-year tenure bonds
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday allowed Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) to raise resources through bonds and commercial papers of less than five-year maturity. Presently, IDF-NBFCs are allowed to raise resources through issue of bonds of minimum five years maturity. “On a review, with a view to facilitate better asset liability management, it has been decided in consultation with the Government of India, to allow IDF-NBFCs to raise funds through shorter tenor bonds and commercial papers (CPs) from the domestic market to the extent of up to 10 per cent of their total outstanding borrowings,” RBI said in a notification. IDF-NBFC was created to raise funds to primarily fund infrastructure projects. RBI has capped the average exposure limit for IDF-NBFC at 50 per cent and maximum at 75 per cent of its total capital fund, apart from limiting such issuance to only PPPs which have been successfully operational at least for a year. Kerry Hyder Jersey
Move for an action plan on road safety and ease of transport
As part of its ongoing efforts to improve road safety in the country and facilitate ease of transport, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has convened a meeting of Principal Transport Secretaries of states and Transport Commissioners to deliberate on various issues in this regard, that need to be addressed urgently. The deliberations will focus on what needs to be done to make road travel safer, bring down number of accidents, facilitate ease of transport and enhance customer experience in transactions with transport and police departments. Today’s meeting is also being attended by stakeholders like representatives of motor transport companies, state road transport undertakings and bus operators among others, so that all areas of concern can be discussed in detail. Speaking on the occasion Shri Sanjay Mitra, Secretary Road Transport & Highways reiterated his Ministry’s commitment to facilitate building of a cogent mechanism for safe and seamless road travel in the country. Today’s meeting is in preparation for a meeting of the Group of Ministers for Transport of states, scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 29th April 2016. The GoM was constituted by the Central Government to suggest a road map for reforming the road sector. As a signatory to Brasilia Declaration, India is committed to reducing the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50 % by 2020. We need urgent reforms to weed out archaic rules and practices so that the road sector can support the high growth rates of the Indian economy. In order to ensure road safety and improve customer satisfaction there is an urgent need to make administrative changes, amend the Motor Vehicles Act and make optimal use of technology to cut down delays. The GoM headed by Shri Yunus Khan, Minister for Transport, Rajasthan and comprising state Transport Ministers, was constituted to suggest a road map for achieving the above objectives. The GoM will have its first meeting in New Delhi on 29th April 2016. The objective of today’s meeting is to crystallize the agenda points for the meeting of the Group of Ministers. These are likely to include issues like safety of non motorized vehicles, pedestrians, automobile safety features, quality control over automobiles, issue of driving licences, fitness of vehicles, public education, strengthening of traffic enforcement, enhancing customer experience in transaction with transport and police department and issues pertaining to improving ease of transport. Marcus Foligno Authentic Jersey
A ₹3,000-crore makeover for Buckingham Canal
The 1,095-km-long National Waterway 4, better known as Buckingham Canal, is in for a major makeover to bring it back to its past glory ferrying people and cargo. The waterway, which runs from Kakinada in East Godavari district to Puducherry, where it merges into the Bay of Bengal, cutting through Chennai, has the potential to play a big role in transport of cargo and developing the tourism sector, including offering House Boats as in the Kerala backwaters. The Andhra Pradesh government last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Inland Waterways Authority of India for the development of National Waterway 4 with an outlay of ?3,000 crore. Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy and Industries, Andhra Pradesh, told BusinessLine, “This is a move to revive the inland waterway network and will play a big role in reviving the economic activity along the waterway. Work on some segments such as dredging of the canal in AP has already commenced.” “Based on the detailed project report to be prepared by a consultant, and potential of cargo movement, Phase One of the waterway is proposed to be completed by 2018-19. The State government will help the Inland Waterways Authority with land acquisition and related issues,” Jain explained. While the NW-4 project was declared national waterway in 2008 and was to be developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India and scheduled for completion in 2013, it received fresh impetus after the N Chandrababu Naidu government assumed office in June 2014. With about 888 km of the 1,095-km waterway in Andhra Pradesh, its development is seen to play a major role in transport of cargo from East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts. The waterway is seen as having the potential to transport 11 million tonnes of cargo every year, and be especially useful to the agriculture sector in moving produce. While the waterway cost was estimated at ?1,500 crore in 2009, it has doubled now but its scope has been expanded as it seeks to link up Godavari and Krishna rivers and the Eluru Canal. In its efforts to shore up the economy along the waterway, the AP Government and Dredging Corporation of India have inked a memorandum to set up the country’s first dredging equipment repair facility port at Antarvedi near Kakinada, which will see an initial investment outlay of ?1,500 crore. It is also proposed to set up a skill development centre there. The Buckingham Canal started off as an 11-km saltwater navigation channel in 1806 in the erstwhile Madras state was gradually extended up to Vijayawada till the Krishna river. The canal, which was in service up to the late 1970s, was damage by floods and gradually its usage dwindled. Will the waterway get back to its glory days? Cordrea Tankersley Jersey
Government to terminate three highway projects due to poor performance of the developers
The government will terminate three highway projects – Ranchi-Jamshedpur, Rohtak-Jind and Haridwar-Dehradun due to poor performance of the developers, NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra said today. The cost of these projects is said to be around Rs 7000 crore. The government will soon start the process of rebidding these projects. Road transport and highway minister Nitin Gadkari had said that his ministry has proposed the formation of dispute resolution mechanism to the finance ministry for projects that are stuck. “We have requested the finance ministry to form a four-member dispute resolution cell for road projects for early implementation of stuck projects,” Gadkari had said. About 15 road projects with an investment of over Rs 25,000 crore are stuck due to various reasons including cost escalation. Carolina Panthers Womens Jersey
Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Cisco are betting big on India’s ‘smart cities’ project
Global majors such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Cisco are betting big on India’s ‘smart cities’ project, which is estimated to be an up to $50 billion (Rs 340,000 crore) business opportunity over five years. Players like Ericsson and Huawei have started working on some of the projects in the country, while Nokia could soon bid for some projects. Cisco, on the other hand, is involved in more than 25 cities, including the government’s 20 official smart cities shortlist. The government has defined a smart city in the Indian context as one that provides a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment, and supports the application of smart solutions. It has shortlisted 20 cities, including Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedbad, New Delhi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Ludhiana and Bhopal, which will be developed as smart cities. The smart city market opportunity in India will be $45-50 billion over the next five years, according to a report by Sustainability Outlook. The electronic equipment business, just for the first phase, will be a $220-250 million opportunity for these vendors. For companies like Cisco, which are largely looking at IT solutions, the opportunity is pegged at around $25 million per city, according to industry estimates. “The Indian government’s vision of a Smart Digital India is creating enormous opportunities,” said Orvar Hurtig, global head of industry and society at Ericsson. The company has identified three key industry segments—public safety, utilities and transport—as its focus areas in the country. The Swedish company has just won its first deal in India in the utilities space—to install 15,000 smart meters in Assam over the next three years for a public sector power company. Ericsson, which earlier created a separate vertical called ‘industry & society’ to tap ‘Smart City’ and ‘Digital India’ opportunities, expects up to 20% of its India sales to come from this segment by 2020. Sales from this segment are negligible now. Sandeep Girotra, Nokia’s head of India market, said the company is in talks with various state governments and the Centre and may soon bid for some projects. “We believe that there is no single approach that fits all cities and each city can have multiple drivers, therefore, it is absolutely vital to engage with state government, city administration and planners to understand their objectives and KPIs,” Girotra added. Cisco, which has worked on more than 120 smart cities globally, is working in 12-13 cities out of the list of 20. Besides, the company has been working in another 14-15 cities, according to Purushottam Kaushik, managing director-sales at Cisco India & Saarc. “We are not just providing its solutions to the authorities, but also providing consultancy services,” Kaushik said.