Asian Development Bank clears $300 million loan for upgradation of UP roads
Multi-lateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a project loan of $300 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) for upgradation of over 400 km of major district roads in Uttar Pradesh. The project supports the state government’s core road network improvement master plan, under which the government plans to improve the roads through a combination of state, private and multilateral resources, ADB said in a statement. The loan, which is ADB’s first road sector assistance in Uttar Pradesh, will be used to improve around 430 km of major district roads, upgrading them to standard design widths, suitable for use in all types of weather and with safety features, including widened and strengthened culverts and bridges. The Manila-based lender said a key element of the project is the inclusion of 5-year performance-based maintenance contracts to ensure ongoing high-standard upkeep of the roads. Uttar Pradesh is the country’s most populous state and has the largest rural population, along with widely dispersed industrial centres, making its total road network of around 3,00,000 km crucial for its economy and development. However, significant stretches have inadequate widths and poor surfacing, leading to higher economic costs and making them hazard-prone. Along with ADB’s loan, the government of Uttar Pradesh will provide support of $128 million for the project.
Maharashtra looking to collaborate with Shanghai, St. Petersburg to solve infra, housing issues
The government of Maharashtra is looking to collaborate with global cities including China’s Shanghai and Russia’s St. Petersburg to resolve its infrastructure and housing issues, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Mumbai is struggling with infrastructure and affordable housing issues. We are keen to learn from experiences of global cities. There’s lot to learn from these cities including Shanghai’s affordable housing model and St. Petersburg’s water transport,” Fadnavis said at the concluding session of the BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave 2016 in Mumbai. The state government is looking to collaborate and seek St. Petersburg’s expertise on making Mumbai’s Mithi River navigable. Separately, Fadnavis also added that the government has sought a report from the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner on water supply and requirement of water for breweries there. The state government will consider action based on this report in the next 3-4 days, he said. He was responding to queries regarding Shiv Sena’s demand that the government should stop water supply to beer manufacturing units in the drought-hit Marathwada region in order to tackle shortage of drinking water.
Government to consider two new SEZ proposals on April 28
Government will on April 28 consider two new proposals, including from Infosys, for setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The proposals will be taken up by the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZ, chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia. Infosys Ltd has proposed to set up an IT/ITeS zone in Bengaluru over an area of over four hectares. Chhindwara Plus Developers Ltd has proposed to set up a multi-product SEZ in Madhya Pradesh over an area of 1,320 hectares. Further, as many as 19 developers and units have sought more time to complete their projects which are under different stages of completion. Wipro Ltd has requested for further extension of its letter of approval for setting up an IT SEZ in Bengaluru. “The developer has been granted two extensions, validity period of which is upto May 26. The developer has requested for further extension so as to implement the project,” the agenda of the BoA meeting said. Similarly, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd has sought extension of the validity period of formal approval, granted for setting up an SEZ for manufacture and export of aluminium in Odisha, beyond May 22. Others who have sought more time include Brooke Bond Real Estate, Avash Logistic Park, Sealand Ports and Indofil Industries. SEZs are exports hubs which contribute to about 23 per cent to the country’s total outbound shipments. The commerce ministry is taking steps to revive investors’ interest in these zones. Exports from such zones in 2014-15 stood at Rs 4,63,770 crore as compared to Rs 4,94,077 crore in the previous fiscal.
Government chalks out Rs 25,000-crore road map for construction of highways in 12 hill states
The government is preparing a Rs 25,000-crore plan for construction of about 2,000 kilometres of highways in 12 hill states in the country. Officials said the highest number of highway kilometres will be awarded in Arunachal Pradesh, followed by Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur. Majority of these projects will be awarded as per the government funded model of engineering, procurement and construction or EPC while a few high traction projects that connect religious places in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir will be taken up in accordance with the newly conceived hybrid annuity model, they said. The target for the current fiscal for these states is more than double of that in 2015-16, when the government managed to award projects adding to a little less than 1,000 km. “Projects worth Rs 10,000 crore were awarded in hill states last year, only 10% of the total projects awarded in the country. This year, we’re focusing more on hill states as they border with China, Nepal and Pakistan, and are of high strategic importance to India,” a senior transport ministry official said, requesting not to be named. The Prime Minister’s Office has also asked the road transport and highways ministry to increase the pace of road development in these states. The ministry plans to award projects of about 300 km in Arunachal Pradesh, 256 in Mizoram, close to 250 km each in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, 100 km in Manipur and the remaining in Uttarakhand, Assam, Sikkim, Nagaland and West Bengal. Most of these projects will be undertaken by the newly constituted National Highways and Industrial Development Corporation. “In all these states, we will be dividing our road contracts into small packages so that they can be awarded to local contractors to generate road building capacity at local level and increase local employment,” the official said. In 2015-16, the ministry awarded about 10,000 km of highway contracts worth Rs 1 lakh crore. The construction pace picked up, with the government constructing nearly 6,300 km at the rate of almost 18 km a day on average. For the current year, the target is to construct nearly 10,000 km that will accelerate the pace of road construction to 28 km per day. In the budget for the current fiscal, the road transport and highways ministry got an allocation of Rs 57,000 crore and the National Highways Development Authority has been allowed to raise tax-free bonds worth Rs 15,000 crore.
NHAI comes up with a proposal to decongest NCR; seeks views
NHAI has come up with a proposal in for decongesting the National Capital Region traffic by constructing link roads, flyovers and underpasses. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also created a separate cell to work on decongesting Delhi and the NCR, which comprises 13 districts of Haryana, UP’s 7 and 2 of Rajasthan as well as boats of over 88.50 lakh vehicles. It has uploaded the proposal for decongesting the NCR on its website and urged architects, town-planners and other citizens to send in their suggestions and comments by April 30. “NHAI has prepared a decongestion proposal for Delhi. It recognises the urgency of decongesting Delhi and the critical need to optimise limited capital resources, while giving citizens maximum connectivity and comfort,” it said in a statement. The NCR is India’s largest and world’s second largest urban cluster with a population of over 54 million. It has an area of 46,208 sq km out of which NCT-Delhi has an area of around 1483 sq km and Central NCR (CNCR) has about 2000 sq km. NHAI has proposed to provide an efficient connectivity through radial routes of outer ring road with Eastern Peripheral Express (EPE) and Western Peripheral Expressway (WPE), which will decongest Delhi. It proposes to connect Azadpur to Sonipat, Kashmiri Gate to Baghpat, Nizamuddin Bridge to Dasna, Lajpat Nagar to Kherli Kankar in Haryana and Bhikaji Cama Place to NBRC Gate on NH-8 in Haryana among others for radial connectivity of Outer Ring Road to EPE and WPE. It also proposed to decongest the settlement areas through elevated corridor or by rerouting the networks by a green field alignment. Besides, NHAI says that new links to NH-8 will further decongest Delhi-Gurgaon road, Palam area, Aya Nagar, Vasant Kunj and MG (Mehrauli-Gurgaon) Road. In order to decongest NH-8/Gurgaon, NHAI proposes a links to connect Vasant Kunj to Aya Nagar on Gurgaon-Mehrauli road (NH-236), Sikandarpur/Guru Dronacharya Metro station to NSG Gate on NH-8, among tohers. To decongest the Delhi-Gurgaon section of the NH-8, NHAI proposed construction of flyover and underpass at Hero Honda Chowk on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway as well as constructing of underpasses, overpasses etc. for improvement of 3 junctions at IFFCO Chowk, Signature Chowk and Rajiv Chowk. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said Delhi’s pollution has been catching all attention and government will solve it in 2 years with thrust on improving road designs, decongesting traffic and promoting eco-friendly fuel. In November 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of 3 National Highway projects – Eastern Peripheral Highway, Western Peripheral Highway and eight-laning of NH between Mukarba Chowk in Delhi and Panipat in Haryana. The projects, with a combined length of 341 km will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 10,166 crore and will run through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Five developers approach government with SEZ cancellation plea
Five special economic zone (SEZ) developers including Abex Infocom have approached the government to surrender their IT sector tax-free zones. The Board of Approval (BoA) chaired by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia would take a decision on these applications in its meeting on April 28. All the five zones are from IT/ITeS sector. In all these cases, “formal approval has been granted by the Department of Commerce. However, since there is no significant progress made by the developer, the concerned Development Commissioner has proposed for cancellation of formal approval granted to the developers,” the agenda of the BoA meeting said. Last year, about 80 developers had surrendered their zones as progress made by those developers were not satisfactory. Other developers who have sought government’s approval to cancel there zones include Orion IT Parks, Salarpuria Properties, Bengal Shristi Infrastructure Development Ltd and ML Dalmia & Co Ltd. Withdrawal of incentives and imposition of taxes like MAT and DDT have impacted the development and growth of these zones. To revive investors sentiment, the Commerce Ministry is pitching for removal of minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax (DDT) on SEZs. SEZs are mainly exports hubs which contribute to about 23 per cent in the country’s total exports. The ministry wants tax incentives being enjoyed by SEZs should not be abolished. In the Budget, the Finance Minister had said the income tax benefits benefit new SEZ units will be available to those units which commence activity before March 31, 2020. Exports from such zones in 2014-15 stood at Rs 4,63,770 crore as compared to Rs 4,94,077 crore. The Export Promotion Council for EoUs and SEZs (EPCES) had said that MAT and DDT on SEZs have dented the investor friendly image of these zones.
Remove all speed breakers from national highways, orders Union road transport ministry
The road transport ministry has asked state governments and agencies like NHAI, state PWDs and BRO to remove all speed breakers from highways, which hinder smooth movement of traffic apart from being a safety hazard on high-speed corridors. The ministry has sought details of action taken by next Wednesday. It has also asked for details of rumble strips that have been laid with approval. According to the Road Accident Report (2014), published by the ministry, 4,726 lives were lost in crashes due to humps while 6,672 people died in accidents caused due to potholes and speed breakers. In its recent circular, the ministry mentioned that at many places local authorities are constructing road bumps or speed breakers to check vehicular speed despite guidelines being in place. “This is undesirable, as the function of national highways is to facilitate movement of traffic. Speed breakers can be a source of serious hazards and accidents to the fast-moving traffic,” it said. Referring to its earlier circulars, the ministry said these recommendations provide for properly designed rumple strips at locations such as sharp curves on level crossings and congested or accident-prone areas where control of speed on national highways is unavoidable. “It has been noted that such rumble strips are being provided indiscriminately,” the ministry said adding that location of such traffic-calming measures must be approved by the highway agencies. It also said the agencies should explore the possibility of providing foot over-bridges or pedestrian underpasses on national highways to prevent pedestrians from coming over. International Road Federation chairman K K Kapila agreed there should be no speed-breakers on highways, but said these come up as highways pass through villages and people need to cross over to the other side. “We need to provide pedestrian and vehicular crossings to end this menace,” he said.
IL&FS keen to invest in infra projects in Hyderabad
Prominent infrastructure firm IL&FS today evinced interest in investing in different infra projects in Hyderabad, including housing and roads, the Telangana government said. IL&FS representatives met Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao and held talks with him, a state government release said. IL&FS expressed its readiness in taking part in the revival of Musi river here, the release added.
Bhopal to get Rs 22,000 crore ‘smart’ booster
Development in Bhopal is set to receive a huge boost with about Rs 22,000 crore to be pumped into revamping city infrastructure in the next five years. On Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced Rs 15,000 crore will be spent on Bhopal’s development in the next five years. Later Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) clarified that Chouhan’s announcement was apart investment in proposed Bhopal Metro, which is likely to take off from June. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has in principle agreed to provide a soft loan of around Rs 7,000 crore for development of first phase of 83-km metro rail in Bhopal. “People who come to the state capital get swayed by its beauty. Rs 15,000 crore will be spent on Bhopal’s development in the next five years and a blue-print for this has been drawn,” said Chouhan. He also inaugurated the longest rail-over-bridge (RoB) that has been named after Veer Savarkar. In a reference to opposition of smart city development at Shivaji Nagar, Chouhan indicated there was no going back on location project site. A redevelopment model for smart city development in Bhopal and its impact on the green cover has highlighted by citizen groups in the recent past. “Greenery will be enhanced by the smart city project. Smart City development will bring about more jobs and development,” he assured. Rs 8,000 crore smart city project pitch was selected in union government smart cities mission. Bhopal is among the 20 cities selected in the first phase. An additional, Rs 100 crore from the CM infrastructure development was also allocated for BMC. It would cover for additional cost incurred in construction of Habibganj RoB and two other flyovers on Upper Lake and Lower Lake. Habibganj RoB has been built for Rs 82 crore. It was originally estimated to cost Rs 37 crore. Rs 1,500 crore will be spent on development of Hamidia road including a new interstate bus terminal (ISBT) at Old Sabzi Mandi, said BMC mayor Alok Sharma. It would part of the Rs 15,000 crore to be spent on Bhopal’s development in the next five years, as announced by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday. Speaking on the side-lines of the inauguration of Habibganj RoB, Sharma said, “Development of Bhopal as a whole is being planned. Over the years, old parts of the state capital have not received due attention,” said Sharma. “Existing bus stand cannot handle the current requirements. Those coming from nearby areas, usually get a connecting train from Bhopal main railway station rather than Habibganj. A new ISBT would cater to this demand,” he said. Sources said the BMC has put forth the proposal and would be incorporated in the upcoming Bhopal master plan. BMC tax increase likely: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan commented at low tax collection in Bhopal. BMC sources said that development of the city could mean additional cess by BMC. Multiple bodies, development plans overlap Each of the urban bodies in the state capital is out to get a piece of the various development projects in the state capital. In the absence of a master plan, most of the projects like construction of flyover to grid-separators on congested intersections may not be a reality anytime soon. In the Bhopal Development Authority (BDA) budget for 2016-17, its chairman Om Yadav proposed, construction of flyovers with to unclog Bhopal city traffic. BDA’s main proposal are at Lal Ghati and Board Office square at MP Nagar. Metro rail is proposed to pass through both the places and BDA’s proposal for a grid-separator at the intersection may never see the light of day. Similarly, BMC proposed flyover at Rangmahal remains unlikely given the metro rail project. Development projects related to the Rs 15,000 crore would be take shape in the days ahead after with between BMC, Bhopal Development Corporation, Bhopal Smart city development corporation limited and Madhya Pradesh metro rail company limited (MPMRCL), clarified a government official. After Raja Bhoj, statue of Rani Kamlapati at Upper Lake Rani Kamlapati Palace, Bhopal’s only archaeological survey of India (ASI) protected structure may get much needed lift over. The only remaining part of Rani Kamlapati palace, is considered to be the bath and wash area of the once majestic seven-storey structure built around in early 18th century. “City’s heritage look will be maintained. Rani Kamlapati palace will be renovated. Instruction has been given to install a mammoth bust of Rani Kamlapati at Upper Lake. Bhopal will be transformed into smart city where more greenery will be there and city will wear a unique look after transformation,” said CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He also announced installation of a statue of Gond queen, Rani Kamlapati on the Upper Lake.
Remove all speed breakers from national highways, orders Union road transport ministry
The road transport ministry has asked state governments and agencies like NHAI, state PWDs and BRO to remove all speed breakers from highways, which hinder smooth movement of traffic apart from being a safety hazard on high-speed corridors. The ministry has sought details of action taken by next Wednesday. It has also asked for details of rumble strips that have been laid with approval. According to the Road Accident Report (2014), published by the ministry, 4,726 lives were lost in crashes due to humps while 6,672 people died in accidents caused due to potholes and speed breakers. In its recent circular, the ministry mentioned that at many places local authorities are constructing road bumps or speed breakers to check vehicular speed despite guidelines being in place. “This is undesirable, as the function of national highways is to facilitate movement of traffic. Speed breakers can be a source of serious hazards and accidents to the fast-moving traffic,” it said. Referring to its earlier circulars, the ministry said these recommendations provide for properly designed rumple strips at locations such as sharp curves on level crossings and congested or accident-prone areas where control of speed on national highways is unavoidable. “It has been noted that such rumble strips are being provided indiscriminately,” the ministry said adding that location of such traffic-calming measures must be approved by the highway agencies. It also said the agencies should explore the possibility of providing foot over-bridges or pedestrian underpasses on national highways to prevent pedestrians from coming over. International Road Federation chairman K K Kapila agreed there should be no speed-breakers on highways, but said these come up as highways pass through villages and people need to cross over to the other side. “We need to provide pedestrian and vehicular crossings to end this menace,” he said.