SPV meeting next week to plan projects in Pune
he first meeting of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will implement infrastructure projects under the Smart Cities Mission will take place next week. The Centre will release the first instalment of the funds soon, municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar has said. “All legal procedures, including registration of the company, have been completed and the implementation of the project plan will be done without delay,” Kumar told reporters on Thursday. The state government approved the formation of the SPV last month and appointed the municipal commissioner as the head of its committee, despite opposition from political parties. Kumar said, “The first meeting of the SPV will be called next week. Initially, there was an impression that the Smart Cities Mission will focus on one part of the city. But the entire city is going to benefit from the mission. Pune Municipal Corporation is all set to implement the projects.” While the civic chief is gearing up to launch the smart city project, mayor Prashant Jagtap has submitted a memorandum to Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu seeking more rights for elected representatives on the board of the SPV. “Elected members and the mayor are members of the SPV. But they have a limited role and authority compared to other non-elected members. The minister has said that he would consider the demand,” Jagtap said. The Union urban development ministry has said that each smart city in the country will have an SPV headed by a full-time CEO. It will have nominees of the Union and state governments and the municipal corporation on board. The SPV will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate development projects under the plan. The state and the municipal corporation will have to ensure that a dedicated and substantial revenue stream is made available to the SPV so as to make it self-sustainable. The company can evolve its own credit-worthiness to raise additional resources from the market.
Smart City Mission likely to revive green projects in Jaipur
The Walled City’s proposed eco-friendly and heritage conservation projects which have been lying dumped for the past several years are expected to get a fresh boost under the Smart City Mission. At the first meeting of the board of directors of Jaipur Smart Mission Limited (JSML), it was decided to initiate the work on ‘public bicycle sharing (PBS) project before June 15. Besides, renovation of facade (heritage wall) would also begin soon. These projects are need of the hour. The heritage wall needs an urgent repair. The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) was not able to do this work due to shortage of funds. Similarly, the public bicycle sharing project is needed as it would reduce pollution and decongest the Walled City area. Mayor Nirmal Nahata said, “The projects for which detailed project reports (DPRs) have already been prepared will be considered and first-phase work will begin soon. The facade work will also be taken up.” A senior JDA official said that after the Walled City became the busiest and congested area due to swelling population, the JDA, with assistance from the Central government, had proposed to launch the public bicycle sharing project. The project looked feasible as it was cost-effective and could have become an added attraction for the tourists. The detailed project report (DPR) was also prepared, but nothing happened thereafter. A JDA engineer said, “The decision to reconsider the PBS project is a good idea. Pedestrians and cyclists are an ignored lot in the Walled City. Considering this fact, we had drafted a detail project report of the scheme during the previous government. The project was stalled after the change in regime.” Similarly, the heritage wall will get a new life if the Jaipur Smart Mission Limited takes up the project this year. For the past so many years, the restoration work was ignored due to fund crunch. An official said that a report prepared by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) for restoration of the wall was submitted to the court in July 2014. Today, only 25% of the original wall exists and there is extensive damage to that also. At some places, the wall has made way for newer passages, while at other places it has become the leaning pillar for construction of shops and residences.
PPP needed as funding for Smart City, AMRUT inadequate: Venkaiah Naidu
The government has decided to bring in the PPP model for the implementation of the Smart City and AMRUT schemes as funds allocated for these are inadequate, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today. “Presently, the funds we are providing under the Smart City and AMRUT schemes are not adequate. I know it. The figures (of allocation) are very big but they are not adequate from the point of implementation,” he said. “The investment potential in the urban sector in the next 5-6 years is Rs 18 lakh crore, including Rs 1 lakh crore under AMRUT, Rs 2.50 lakh crore under Smart City Mission and Rs 66,000 crore under Swachh Bharat Mission. “These figures are good-looking but not adequate; I know it. That’s why we have decided to bring in the PPP model,” the Urban Development Minister said at a meeting of the All India Council of Mayors here. Naidu told mayors from across the country that the Centre would provide Rs 87,147 crore directly to urban local bodies between 2016 and 2020. As regards concerns and complaints of mayors that the 74th Amendment Act pertaining to urban local bodies has not been fully implemented by many states, Naidu said it was a “serious matter” and he was looking into it. “There needs to be a consensus over implementation of the 74th Amendment Act. States are always asking for more powers; but at the same time they have to devolve more powers to local bodies and that is not happening,” he said. The government will incentivise the states that implement the Act, he said while noting that “public pressure” could push the unwilling to fall in line. Naidu said he was in favour of a separate municipal cadre for urban civic bodies, maintaining that even the Prime Minister had seen the proposal and UPSC had been directed to study it. Earlier, after the meet began with the singing of ‘Vande Mataram’, chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ were raised by some of the mayors affiliated to BJP. Naidu later told reporters that the chanting of Bharat Mata Ki Jai was not a matter of “dispute”. He accused opposition parties of “maligning” the government and engaging in politics over the chant and said it had also been uttered by the likes of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Referring to comments by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over a Pakistani team’s visit to probe the Pathankot attack, Naidu said the AAP leader should seek “pardon” from the country for levelling allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
MSRDC plans office in Mahape to draw smart cities’ blueprint
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will launch its town planning office in Mahape on April 16, to further its ambitious smart city project next to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. R Mopalwar, vice-chairman and managing director of MSRDC, talked on the issue at Belapur on Tuesday evening. Mopalwar was speaking as the chief dignitary at a symposium organized by Youth Wing of Builders Association of Navi Mumbai (BANM) to discuss smart cities project of MSRDC, on the similar lines of Cidco’s Naina (Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area). Haresh Chheda of BANM told TOI, “City developers welcome the entry of MSRDC into this new and emerging scenario of making smart cities in Raigad, just like Cidco has been doing over the years. Mopalwar delivered a very factual and informative talk on how the smart cities along the Expressway will chart new territories in realty development.” As the 89-km long Expressway will be the nerve centre of these planned smart cities by MSRDC, its phase-1 will include 67 villages in Khalapur taluka and 17 in Panvel, but will exclude those under the announced Naina project of Cidco. An MSRDC official said that things are going to move fast in the weeks ahead, once their Navi Mumbai (town planning) office is set up where they can discuss and plan their blue prints for the smart cities. An expert consultant is also likely to be appointed by MSRDC in this endeavor. “This is indeed a golden opportunity for developers to participate in this mega future development of cities. We are also glad that MSRDC is forthcoming with their vision and are ready to listen about the actual ground realities and hurdles likely to crop up for such a big project. From the common man’s point of view, housing is also likely to become affordable,” added Chheda.
Road building pace at all-time high of 20 km a day: Nitin Gadkari
Road construction in India has accelerated to an all-time high pace of 20 kilometres per day, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Gadkari said that his ministry will be constructing 25 km of roads per day by the time the Narendra Modi led NDA government completes two years next month. The current pace is a third more than the previous best of 15 km per day achieved in 2012. “We’ll touch our target of 30 kilometres per day in another five-six months,” Gadkari said at industry body CII’s annual session. In the current financial year, the government has a target of constructing 10,000 km of greenfield highways, for which it has made a budgetary allocation of Rs 57,000 crore. Gadkari 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,” he said. About 14 road projects with an investment of over Rs 25,000 crore are stuck due to various reasons including cost escalation. Gadkari said adoption of a projectspecific approach to address the issue of stalled projects has already resolved about 85% of these projects. “The emphasis now has been on awarding the projects under the innovative hybrid annuity and toll-operate-transfer mode so that there are more opportunities for private sector investment,” Gadkari said. The minister said the government has already awarded contracts worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore. “We’ll award road construction projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore by 2017,” he said. He also urged the private sector to develop lighthouses and islands in and around waterways which will spur tourism as well.
Adani mulls takeover of SunEdison’s India assets
Adani Group is looking at buying the local assets of US-headquartered SunEdison Inc, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, after the heavily indebted US solar power developer sought partners for its projects. SunEdison, which a unit said was at “substantial risk” of bankruptcy, has several solar plants in India and last year won an auction to sell solar power in the country at what was then a record-low tariff. The win brought criticism from analysts for aggressive bids despite it needing to strengthen its finances. The auction was part of government efforts to raise solar energy capacity by five times this decade to end chronic power shortages. But troubles for SunEdison at home – facing $12-billion debt and regulatory scrutiny – has cast doubt over its ability to take advantage of India’s biggest push toward renewable energy. Standing to gain from SunEdison’s predicament are companies such as Adani that have solar projects and want to expand. Adani has already told bankers it is interested in SunEdison’s assets, the people said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. Adani did not respond to requests for comment. Foreign firms such as SunEdison, compatriot First Solar Inc and China’s Trina Solar Ltd are important for India as the country does not have the know-how or money to develop large-scale solar projects. SunEdison reached a $4-billion (Rs 26,400 crore) agreement last year with Adani to build a factory in India making solar cells and panels, but has since ended the deal. The US company also runs solar plants in India with capacities of about 450 megawatts (Mw). It has another 800 Mw of capacity under development and won a tender for a 500-Mw plant in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. Those assets could also draw interest from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp and Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology, who have pledged to invest about $20 billion in Indian solar projects with local partners. Pashupathy Gopalan, SunEdison’s Asia-Pacific head, said nearly 500 megawatts of its Indian projects are funded and under construction, and that it was in talks to sign partners. “As a business model, we continue to pursue equity partnerships in our projects to the extent allowed by PPA (power purchase agreements with buyers),” Gopalan said, without elaborating. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal said SunEdison planned to file for bankruptcy protection in coming weeks, citing people familiar with the matter.
Government green-lights Rs 1,622 crore highway project in Karnataka
The government today approved a Rs 1,622-crore highway project in Karnataka under its flagship road-building programme NHDP. “The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to development of the four-laning of the Hospet-Bellary-Karnataka/Andhra Pradesh border section of National Highway 63 in Karnataka,” a statement from the Road Transport and Highways Ministry said after the cabinet meeting. This work will be under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) phase-IV, the statement said, adding that the approval is on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. “The cost is estimated to be Rs 1,621.96 crore, including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities,” the statement said. The total length of the road will be approximately 95.37 kms. The government said about 3,88,728 mandays will be generated locally during the construction period of the highways, in line with the estimates that 4,076 mandays are required for building one kilometre of highways. The main objective of the project is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in Karnataka and also in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying on the Hospet-Bellary-Karnataka/Andhra Pradesh Border sector of NH-63. The main objective of the project is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in Karnataka and also in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying on the Hospet-Bellary-Karnataka/Andhra Pradesh Border sector of NH-63. The development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of the regions concerned of the state and also increase employment potential for local labourers for the project activity.
Government gives nod to National Hydrology Project
Looking to provide real-time flood forecasts as well as data to help farmers plan their cropping pattern, the government today gave its nod to the multi- purpose National Hydrology Project (NHP) which has an outlay of over Rs 3,679 crore. The decision to approve the project — which also intends to facilitate water resource management and ensure equitable use of water — was taken during a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Termed as a programme that is expected to boost India’s prestige in the field of scientific endeavour, the project with a total outlay of Rs 3,679.7 crore aims to cover the entire country as opposed to the earlier hydrology projects which covered only 13 states. “The project will help in the development of real-time flood forecasting and reservoir operations in a manner that does not result in sudden opening of gates leading to the inundation of the areas below,” said an official statement. “It will help in providing real-time information on a dynamic basis to farmers about the groundwater position for them to accordingly plan their cropping pattern,” it added. According to the government, NHP will facilitate integrated water resource management by adopting river basin approach through collation and management of hydro- meteorological data. It will also help in water resource assessment and prioritise its allocation and use for irrigation, the statement said. The project is expected to assist in promoting “efficient and equitable” use of water, especially groundwater, at the village-level and provide information on quality of water, it said. NHP will help in the gathering of hydro-meteorological data which will be stored and analysed on a real-time basis and can be seamlessly accessed by any user at the state/ district/village-level, the statement added. Of the total outlay, Rs 3,640 crore has been earmarked for NHP while Rs 39.7 crore has been kept aside for National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC). To be set up as an independent organisation, NWIC will be under the control of the Union Water Resources Ministry. Fifty per cent of the total project amount, that is Rs 1,839.8 crore, would be loaned from World Bank while the remaining amount would be central assistance from budgetary support.
Work on Jaipur smart city project to kick off from June 15
The work on smart city project in the city would begin from June 15. The first meeting of the board of directors of Jaipur Smart Mission Limited was held under the chairmanship of principal secretary Manjit Singh on Wednesday. In the meeting, the short-term and long-term projects, which would be initiated under the smart city mission were discussed. JMC CEO Ashutosh Pednekar, who is appointed as CEO of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for taking forward the smart city proposal informed, “The strategy to implement the project was discussed in the meeting. Initially, there would be short-term projects and work will be started before June 15.” Listing few short-term projects, the company would take up public bicycle scheme (PBS), heritage facade, rainwater structures, smart toilets, digital signages work before the given deadline. Under the smart city mission, the development work in the Pink City will be carried out in two different strategic components: area-based development and pan-city development. Under the area-based development, an area of 650 acres of the Walled City (or old city) between the Albert Hall and the Jorawar Singh Gate has been identified for retrofitting. Modern infrastructure that is missing in the old city would be developed now. Under the pan-city development, the infrastructure outside the Walled City would be strengthened with improved facilities like solid-waste management and smart multi-modern mobility. Under the pan-city smart solution, a single problem for the whole city would be selected and smart solutions will be identified. Under the area-based development strategy, innovative solutions will be implemented either by re-designing or bringing some minor changes in a particular area. Under retrofitting, ideas would be implemented without altering any existing infrastructure of the area. The state government had proposed to spend Rs 2,403 crore for the city. Under area-based development, Rs 1,521crore was proposed to be spent, while Rs 819 crore for the pan-city development. Offical informed that the first instalment has been released by the Centre for the project, which is Rs 186 crore for Jaipur and Rs 159.20 crore for Udaipur.
Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment will take 10 years: Maha CM
The city’s most ambitious cluster redevelopment projectthe Bhendi Bazaar makeoverwill take at least 8-10 years to be completed, said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The project is being executed by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) and is estimated to cost Rs 4,000 crore. In a written reply to the legislative council, Fadnavis said the project is spread over 65,880.4 sq m, which includes 280 plots that house 245 buildings. In all there are 3,200 residential tenements and 1,250 shops. Fadnavis said the master plan for the project was approved by the BMC in January 2015. The project has been divided into nine clusters and work has already begun in two clusters. Abbas Master, chief executive officer of SBUT, said work has begun on clusters one and three that face J J flyover. He said the trust on its own has begun the work of excavation and piling. “We are currently in the process of appointing the main contractor for executing the project,” he said. “Of the 3,200 residential tenants we have shifted 1,700 to transit camps and on rental basis. Similarly, 450 of the commercial units have been shifted. This is a brownfield project spread across 16.5 acres and has to be done in phases. We will bring back those who are in transit buildings once the buildings are ready and then shift the others out and begin work on the next clusters. We are planning to construct 17 towers,” he said. The detailed plans will also be approved by the BMC in phases.