Works worth Rs 7000 crore to be started in 2 years in J-K: Nitin Gadkari
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said work on projects worth Rs 7,000 crore would be started by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the next two years in Jammu and Kashmir. “I want to assure you that in coming two years we will start works worth Rs 7,000 crore in the state,” he said at a rally yesterday. “I am happy that the Prime Minister has dedicated the biggest road tunnel to the nation,” he said after Modi inaugurated the Chenani-Nashri tunnel, which will reduce the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by around two hours and the distance by 31 kilometres. “We are working on 13 new projects in Jammu and Kashmir and I hope that it will further strengthen the road network and road communication for people,” the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways said. He said work on ring roads in Jammu and Srinagar would start in the next three months. “I am happy to announce that the ring road in Jammu and Srinagar, costing around Rs 2,100 crore and Rs 2,200 crore respectively, are going to be constructed. “Tenders have been floated for the Jammu ring road, while that for the Srinagar ring road will be floated in next two months and within three months, the work will start on both the projects,” he added. The Centre will also float a tender for construction of the Zojila tunnel which will cost around Rs 6,000 crore in the next two months, Gadkari said, adding with the construction of the tunnel, the highway to Leh and Kargil districts of the Ladakh region will become an all-weather road. “The Prime Minister had announced a package of Rs 24,160 crore for Jammu and Kashmir, out of which, I am happy to announce, projects worth Rs 4,463 crore have been implemented,” he said. “I want to assure the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the Prime Minister’s focus and vision is to make India a vibrant and strong country,” he said, adding “the PM wants to build best infrastructure in the country which will be no less than that of any other country.” On the newly inaugurated tunnel, Gadkari said, “This tunnel will result into job creation, the state’s hotels, motels and related businesses will get a boost and that will create new job opportunities for unemployed youths of Kashmir.” “The Chenani-Nashri tunnel is a state-of-the-art project. It will boost tourism and increase employment potential and ensure supply of essential goods. It is a revolutionary step. “It is a very proud moment for all of us. Sophisticated electronic arrangements of global standard were made,” the minister added. Keegan Kolesar Womens Jersey
Rs 1.2 lakh crorer spent on national highways development in 3 years
A total of Rs 1.2 lakh crore was spent on development of national highways during the last three fiscals, Parliament was informed today. “About Rs 1,20,036 crore have been spent on the development of national highways during the last three financial years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16,” Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan told Lok Sabha in a written reply. A total of Rs 71,517 crore was spent by the private sector on national highways construction under PPP mode during the last three years, the minister said in a separate reply to the lower house. The minister said that private companies that got work from NHAI during the last three years included Larsen & Toubro, IL&FS Engineering, HCC, IRB Infrastructure, IRCON International, Ashoka Buildcon and Dilip Buildcon. Jason Spriggs Jersey
States want National Highways converted to urban roads to circumvent SC’s liquor ban order
Several states have approached the union roads transport and highways ministry to find out if it is possible to convert national highways within their borders into urban roads to circumvent the Supreme Court order to shut down liquor vends and bars along highways. Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Goa and Uttar Pradesh have consulted the roads ministry to find out a solution to the unexpected fallout of Supreme Court order banning sale and serving of liquor within 500 meters of highways. “They have reached out to us informally,” a senior government official told ET. “States such as Goa, Maharashtra and even some union territories like Daman, which have strong tourism industry, are the ones who are suffering the most because of this ban,” the official said. After the Centre denotifies some national highways, states along with their local urban bodies would have to renotify them as urban roads or district roads. The official said there have been several cases earlier where national highways were denotified as urban or major district roads. “The Ring Road stretch that passes through areas such as South Extension and Bikaji Cama Place in Delhi was a national highway earlier. Later, we passed it on to the state and it was christened as urban road,” the official said. In Delhi, all hotels in Aerocity near NH 8 are set to be impacted by the SC order. The basic criteria for declaring any road as a national highway is that how critical that road is for connectivity of two cities in major towns. Arterial roads that enable sizeable reduction in travel distance and achieve substantial economic growth are also christened national highways. The conventional standard used is that of passenger car units per day on that road, which should be more than 10,000. Uttar Pradesh has already notified several of its state highways as urban roads or major district roads. Even Chandigarh has moved ahead on the same lines. The idea to ban sale on liquor near national highways was pushed by the roads ministry more than a decade ago when it said that no liquor vends should be allowed within 100 metres of national highways. However, an exception was made for national highways going through cities. Logan Cooke Jersey
In One Of The Biggest Reforms In Road Transport Sector, Cabinet Okays Amendments To Motor Vehicle Bill.
The Cabinet on Friday approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 that provides for linking of driving license and vehicle registration with Adhaar-based platform and proposes heavy penalties for traffic violations. Why it is seen as a big reform is because the move will put enough checks and balances on de-duplication of licenses and registration of stolen vehicles. The government has decided to make an all-India register for driving licenses and vehicles which would be available across the country. “We have proposed an amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act where people need to have Aadhaar number to apply for driving license and need not to visit transport offices to get a learning driving license as it all will be online,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. “The Bill proposes Aadhaar-based verification for grant of online services including learner’s license. This would ensure the integrity of the online services and also stop creation of duplicate licenses,” he said. Mr Gadkari said the Cabinet has approved various changes in the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016. These include 16 amendments and rejection of three suggestions made by the Parliament Standing Committee. The three major suggestions rejected by the government include registration of vehicles by only RTO and inspection of vehicles by RTO. With the Cabinet approval, now decks are cleared for the government to bring much-needed reforms in the transport and road sector, he said, adding the government may table the bill in Parliament next week. Once the bill is approved vehicle dealers will be authorised to issue vehicle numbers and register them through an all-India electronic register. He said the government has also proposed compulsory vehicle recall, amendments like third party insurance, relief to good Samaritans, stricter punishment and fines to traffic rule violators, etc. The bill introduced in Parliament last year had proposed 89 clauses for amendment out of which only 57 were accepted by the Parliament Standing Committee on Transport, headed by Mukul Roy. The important aspects of the bill are 100 per cent e-governance to be brought in transport sector, the minister said, adding identity verification using Aadhaar will be used, bad roads contractor to be liable for fine, drivers will included in third part Insurance and Claims would be time bond. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 9, 2016 and was referred to Departmental Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, headed by Mukul Roy. The Motor Vehicle Act 1988 is a 30-year-old instrument which had not kept pace with the change of dynamics of road transport & information technology. The bill specifically targets traffic offenders with stringent penal provisions. The bill has identified priority areas for improving road safety. Stricter penalties are proposed for high risk offences such as drunken driving, dangerous driving, overloading, non-adherence to safety norms by drivers (such as use of seat belt, helmets). The bill provides for facilitating delivery of services to the citizens and transporters. The bill aims to provide for maximum governance with minimum government. This would help in reducing the harassment faced by the stakeholders in the RTO offices. A national data base of vehicles and driving licenses would help in safety and security and avoid malpractices. The minister said it is a largely pro-people initiative and will reform the Motor Vehicle insurance sector. “It provides specific timelines for processing of insurance claims. A tenfold increase has been made in the amount of compensation awarded under a simplified process of claims disbursal wherein the family of an accident victim would get compensation of Rs. 5 lakh as settlement within four months of the accident. Presently it takes at least four to five years for an award,” he said. In the accidental death cases arising from hit and run accidents, the bill proposes an increase of compensation to Rs. 2 lakh, an eight fold increase over current. James Carpenter Womens Jersey
10 multi-modal hubs likely under transport master plan
The Narendra Modiled government is working on a Rs 10 lakh-crore National Transport Master Plan that will provide seamless movement of freight and passengers across multiple modes of transport. This is the first time that the country will have a National Transport Master Plan, which will be jointly developed by the ministries of road transport and highways, shipping, aviation and railways. The plan will include construction of multi-modal transport hubs that will have railway stations, light railway stations (metro) and bus terminals under one roof. “National Transport Master Plan (NTMP) will be a strategic framework and investment plan for sustainable development of the transport infrastructure,” a draft note on the plan said. “It will forecast the future transport demands and projected infrastructure and service requirements, and will develop a framework of a transport strategy and investment plans to meet the demands as well as the tools for implementation,” the note said. The roads ministry plans to develop 10 such hubs across the country in partnership with railways and shipping ministries. “The construction work for these hubs, which are still in the process of being identified, could be given to National Highways Authority of India,” a government official said. Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and railway minister Suresh Prabhu are working to have such a plan in place. The shipping ministry’s Sagarmala project, which focuses on port-led development of the country, will have several such multi-modal hubs under it. The Sagarmala project includes setting up of coastal economic zones and providing last mile connectivity, which will also involve construction of expressways connecting these multi-modal hubs. Recently, Gadkari told ET about the integrated logistics policy his ministry was working on. The railway ministry is also developing its own national railway plan under the transportation master plan to identify deficiencies in rail infrastructure across the country and suggest ways to overcome the same after considering the efficiency of existing and planned transport infrastructure. At a recent event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government was not merely looking at roads and railways as independent modes but was focusing on development of the transportation sector in entirety. The Prime Minister said that the government has allocated Rs 3 lakh crore for the next financial year for the development of transportation and infrastructure sectors in the country. Jason Pierre-Paul Authentic Jersey
Study drafts desi rules for road planning
When should a road be widened or augmented with features like flyovers? A scientific guideline for the same has been put together by CSIR-CRRI in association with seven other institutes in the country. The manual could change the way roads, intersections and pedestrian facilities are mapped in cities. “Indian traffic and driver characteristics are fundamentally different from other countries. Yet, we use values recommended in highway-capacity manuals from the US, China, Indonesia, Denmark, Finland, Australia and Taiwan,” said S Velmurugan of CSIR-CRRI, which is spearheading the project. Values recommended by Indian Road Congress (IRC) have also become obsolete, experts have pointed out. Reflecting the Indian realities, Indian Capacity Highway Manual lays down the guidelines for when and how to expand or manage all types of roads. The manual also sets norms for managing intersections, with corresponding impact on pedestrian facilities. “The analysis methods in the manual can be used for better road planning covering a gamut of roads — from single-lane, two-lane, multi-lane roads to inter-urban highways, expressways,” said Velmurugan. In Delhi, for instance, the road network, spanning 33,000km, can be checked using the manual guidelines and decisions can be taken on further work using Indian yardsticks. The manual, which is in the draft stage, lays down the characteristics of types of road, carrying capacity and when to augment it. “When the traffic volume on any urban road crosses the threshold level, it’s time to make provisions for road expansion,” said Velmurugan. This could be in the form of flyovers or a new road altogether. “A flyover is a quick-fix solution to address intersection problems,” he said. The long-pending Kalindi Bypass “can provide relief to the Ashram intersection as well as Mathura Road from Nizamuddin-Badarpur”. On the other hand, the on-going extension of the Barapullah elevated road, with its two ends at Mayur Vihar and Indira Gandhi International Airport, will offer a wide-range solution as it will help relieve load on Inner Ring Road, Outer Ring Road and, to some extent, on Lodhi Road and the NDMC connectors to IGI/Dwarka and Gurgaon, he added. There are levels of service (LoS) that determine the time to augment. “LoS is a qualitative measure used to relate the quality of traffic service. It is a measure of the restrictive effects of an increase in traffic volume on any road,” explained Velmurugan. The manual, which is expected to be finalised soon, will also be incorporated in the IRC guidelines, said CSIR-CRRI officials. “It will help decision-makers make appropriate allocation in the budget for road sector development,” said Velmurugan. Pierre Garcon Jersey
Nod to convert 57,500 km state highways into NHs: Govt
The Centre has given in principle approval to upgrade 57,500 km of state highways to national highways so as to augment the existing 1.13 lakh km of NHs across the country, Parliament was informed today. “About 57,500 km length of state roads have been approved ‘in principle’ for their declaration as new NHs subject to outcome of their detailed project reports,” Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply. Keeping in view the requirements to enhance road safety, reduce congestions, improve road connectivity, the Ministry has taken decision to augment the NHs network of existing 1,13,298 km, he said. He said the ministry has also reduced threshold traffic for 4-laning of NHs from 15,000 passenger car units (PCU), 11,000 and 8,000 PCUs per day to 10,000 PCUs, 8,500 and 6,000 PCUs a day for plain, rolling and mountainous terrains respectively. Decisions have also been taken to entrust 4-laning of all such NHs to the National Highways Authority of India for their implementation through additional market borrowings etc in a phased manner by leveraging limited available budgetary allocation, he said. Taylor Lewan Womens Jersey
NHAI urged Odisha Government to give land for free for building National Highways
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has urged the State Government to give land for free for building National Highways as the district Collectors are asking it to deposit funds before handing over Government land. NHAI Chairman Yudhvir Singh Malik requested the State Government to reconsider its decision to demand cost of the land for building NHs. Malik, while appreciating the State Government for handing over land in the Talcher-Dubri-Chandikhole stretch of National Highway 200/23 for improvement, requested State to review its order to demand deposits for acquisition land in other cases. The Odisha Government in the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has issued orders in this regards and had asked the district Collectors to collect deposits from the NHAI before handing over the Government land. The NHAI is saying that by setting up the National Highways in the State, the social and economic benefits accrue to a community once transportation networks between towns and cities are strengthened. Tramaine Brock Womens Jersey
Government looks to capture big gains from infra boom via VCF policy
A classic get-rich-quick scheme for the well-connected is picking up land cheaply near a new national highway, a railway line or in a smart city before such plans are widely known, then making a killing as prices inevitably soar. Not for much longer. The government has decided to implement a value capture financing (VCF) policy for all infrastructure projects starting April to recover the premium that public investments generate for private landowners. “The government has decided VCF to be an integral part of detailed project report (DPR) of all projects of the central government,” the finance ministry wrote in a note sent to all ministries and departments. ET has reviewed the note. The financing tool, which is used the world over, is based on the logic that the government makes large investments in developing public infrastructure leading to rapid economic development in those areas and a spike in land prices. A VCF policy would mean tapping into this increment through additional taxes, government-as-realtor and other tools and then using these finances to fund future infrastructure projects in the same area. The government has decided to implement such a policy after considering it for six months and conducting intensive stakeholder consultations. Ministries and departments will identify the mode by which the VCF policy can be implemented for every project. Each project proposal put before the Public Investment Board (PIB) and the Delegated Investment Board (DIB) will contain these details. “It has been decided that the PIB headed by the secretary (expenditure) as well as the DIB chaired by the administrative department concerned while appraising a project of the Central government being implemented in the states, would see whether the ministry/department piloting the proposal relating to the project has examined the option of VCF or not,” said the finance ministry note cited above. This is the first time a VCF policy has been framed and is being implemented at the Centre. Though the policy details some financing tools–including land value increment tax, fee for changing land use from agricultural to non-agricultural and area-based betterment charges–nothing specific has been recommended. Each project will be gauged and varied tools can be employed on the basis of location–urban or rural. State governments have been employing the financing tool sporadically. The above policy has been recommended to the states but won’t be mandatory for them to follow. Jodie Meeks Authentic Jersey
Monetisation of 75 highways likely to fetch Rs 40,000 crore: Crisil
The first 75 operational highway projects, which will be monetised by the NHAI under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model, are likely to fetch around Rs 40,000 crore, much lower than the government estimates, says CrisilBSE 0.73 %. According to the rating agency, investors would factor in the freight-heavy nature of national highway traffic, the associated volatility, and reduction in road freight growth expected after the implementation of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) before placing bids. Further, implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, while not necessarily negative for road traffic, may alter the type of vehicles that would be used on certain routes, it said. “Variation and volatility in traffic can reduce returns. Investors would take a hard look at this, including the impact of DFC and GST, when placing bids. They would also be wary of latent defects in roads that are not detected during technical examination,” Crisil Research Senior Director Prasad Koparkar said in a statement. He pointed out that there could arise issues pertaining to competing roads. “If an alternate route is built and is longer than the original stretch by 20 per cent, then it is not treated as a competing route,” Koparkar said. In TOT model, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) transfers ownership and the right to collect toll of operational highways to private entities for 30 years in return for a one-time upfront payment. According to Crisil, the calculation assumes annual toll revenue growth of 7-8 per cent and return on equity of 14-16 per cent. “Theoretically, Rs 40,000 crore can fund the construction of 2,800 km of four-lane national highways, which would be equal to the execution expected in fiscal 2017,” it said. Crisil estimates that between fiscals 2018 and 2020, construction of highways would require investments of Rs 2.2 lakh crore, or more than twice the Rs 1 lakh crore set to be spent between fiscals 2015 and 2017, with higher execution of publicly funded projects. “TOT could achieve the dual objective of releasing both the bandwidth of public agencies, otherwise used up for road maintenance activity, and funds for road construction. While traffic risk does exist in this model, offering bundles of diversified stretches – both by geography and traffic composition – could mitigate some of this risk,” its Director Ajay Srinivasan said. DeMar DeRozan Authentic Jersey