tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75439161194273480972024-03-09T05:37:20.870+05:30Infrastructure UpdatesA blog focussing on Infrastructure servicesHarpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-21040911965939757782009-01-13T09:08:00.002+05:302009-01-13T09:24:16.326+05:30PPP projects faces liquidity crunchDespite the Finance Ministry ingECB norms recently, along with allowing IIFCL to raise Rs 30,000 crore through tax-free bonds, the fund raising for infrastructure projects seems to be difficult. Arvind Mayaram additional secretary & FA in the ministry of rural development says "that in the present scenario in India’s PPP projects still present the most attractive channel equally for equity investors and lenders.There is money out there. What is required is to convince the investors and the lenders that PPP projects are a great opportunity for them."<br />He further says even though the impact of slowdown has made raising money a difficult exercise but still PPP projects have three factors in India which make it a relatively safe investment vehicle. <br /><ol><li>Efficient price discovery through competitive bidding process.</li><li>Transferring commercial risk to public sector.</li><li>Viability gap funding in case of an unviable projects.</li></ol><p>More details can be seen <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/PPP_in_the_time_of_Slowdown_/articleshow/3970510.cms">here</a>.</p>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-17951861213578638742008-07-24T10:24:00.004+05:302008-07-24T10:34:54.857+05:30Electricity for the poor still a dream<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/24003015/Electricity-for-the-poor-still.html">This</a> link gives an update on the rural infrastructure scheme launched in 2005 with a target completion in 2009. We are far behind the targeted figure of 125000 villages out of which only around 47000 villages have been electrified till April 2008 and 18000 more can be expected to be electrified by the end of 2009. This statistics can be viewed <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/24003015/73856E83-0A03-41E0-B93D-5329E3C739C8ArtVPF.pdf">here</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span> which also gives the number of households below poverty line connected and targeted.<br /></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-6672960641002989062008-07-19T10:41:00.005+05:302008-07-19T10:47:08.230+05:30Fuel efficiency law need of the hour, says GreenpeaceGreenpeace also launched a nationwide "Let's Drive Change" consumer campaign to support the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in creating strong mandatory fuel efficiency norms for the car industry in India.<br /><br />Greenpeace demands:<br /><br />• Mandatory "CO2 emissions labelling" on all new cars in the Indian market, to enable consumers to make informed and responsible car buying choices<br />• Mandatory CO2 emission standards for the industry, which will require car manufacturers to progressively reduce CO2 emissions from new cars to achieve a fleet efficiency of 80 gm CO2/km by 2020<br /><br />If you also think that it is a good effort in working towards saving the environment, Please sign in <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/india/lets-drive-change/take-action">here</a>.Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-64113265397579004322008-07-19T10:36:00.003+05:302008-07-19T10:40:54.658+05:30Fuel-efficiency norms coming for 4-wheelersThe road transport and highways ministry estimates there were about 100 million vehicles on Indian roads at the end of 2007, of which about 17% are passenger vehicles.<br /><br />There is a proposal to make fuel efficiency norms mandatory by 2010. That means we might come to see more cars giving an average on 12-16 Km per litre.<br /><br />“Yes, there is a proposal and we will discuss it with the industry representatives on the 21st (of July),” said Ajay Mathur, director general, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, or BEE, the body mandated to notify energy efficiency norms under the Energy Conservation Act of 2001.<br /><br />More details are <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/19001333/Fuelefficiency-norms-coming-f.html">here</a>.Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-87844109355045436072008-07-19T10:27:00.005+05:302008-07-24T10:35:30.363+05:30Miscellaneous Links<ol><li>Centre to <a href="http://projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=16507&secid=41">rebuild</a> 11,500 km road network in northeast.</li><li><a href="http://projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=16508&secid=41">MMRDA</a> to raise funds, metro rail corridor planned</li><li><a href="http://projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=16505&secid=41">Underground</a> expressway to connect Sikkim and WB. This link is 53 Kms long at the cost of Rs 1550 Crores.</li></ol>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-44470276761755778692008-07-16T14:01:00.004+05:302008-07-16T14:24:48.708+05:30Road projects may get more co-drivers<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infrastructure/Road_projects_may_get_more_co-drivers/articleshow/3238515.cms">This</a> news item in ET says tht NHAI is in the process of revising the guidelines for bidding in RFQ statge. Developers went to the court asking for that change since NHAI asks for vast experiences in road sector which only large developers are experts in.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:10;"></span>In addition, the government is considering to limit the number of projects that a single player can undertake in one year to 5-6. In order to prevent monopoly, there is also a proposal to limit the number of bids that a single company can make in a month.<br /><br />I hope this will end up the monopoly of big firms like E & Y/ RITES/ IL&FS etc to name a few.Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-72989596007009202982008-07-14T13:54:00.004+05:302008-07-14T14:18:32.481+05:30Miscellaneous Links<ol><li><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><b></b></span>HP announces more bus terminals across the state with private sector participation.Details are<span><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;"> <a href="http://projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=16453&secid=41">here</a>.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><b></b></span>HCC to develop Badarpur <a href="http://projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=16454&secid=41">expressway</a>: Leading infrastructure development company Hindustan Construction Company Ltd has won a Rs 340-crore order for the 4.4-km elevated highway at Badarpur on NH-2 near Delhi. The project will be developed on BOT basis under a 20-year concession (including construction time of 20 months) from National Highways Authority of India.</li><li><arttitle>Private participation <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Guest_Writer/Private_participation_in_education/articleshow/3229421.cms">in</a> education.</arttitle></li><li><a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/11231137/Sad-state-of-affairs-in-school.html">Sad </a>state of affairs in schools.</li><li>Infrastructure sector growth <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/09155104/Infrastructure-sector-growth-s.html">slips</a> to 3.5% in May</li><li>Rail cargo <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/08005724/Rail-cargo-charges-to-pinch-mo.html">charges</a> to pinch more; set for big hike from 1 August.<br /></li></ol>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-11132628395567774702008-07-07T17:17:00.005+05:302008-07-07T17:26:05.092+05:30Determinants of PPP<div align="justify"></div><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"> </p><p align="justify">There is an IMF working paper prepared by Mona Hammami, Jean-Francois Ruhashyankiko, and Etienne B. Yehoue (Mona Hammami is a Ph.D. candidate at Oxford University. Jean-Francois Ruhashyankiko and Etienne Yehoue are Economists at the IMF. This paper was initiated while Mona Hammami was a summer intern at the IMF Institute.) In this paper they have put forward some basic questions like :<br />“Why are public-private partnerships (PPPs) increasingly widespread? Why are some<br />countries able to attract more investments in the form of public-private partnerships than<br />others? Why are certain types of PPPs found in some industries but not in others? What<br />determines the extent of private sector participation in such ventures with the public sector?”<br /><br />This paper has made some hypothesis about the determinants of PPP in various countries. It says that there are factors related to:<br />1. Government constraints assumes two hypothesis:<br />H1: Governments with large deficits and a heavy debt burden are more likely to have PPPs.<br />H2: Rentier countries with large sources of exogenous revenue have soft budget constraints and are therefore less motivated to engage in PPP projects.<br />2. Political Environment assumes three hypothesis:<br />H3: PPP arrangements are likely to be positively correlated with ethnic fractionalization.<br />H4: Governments friendly to market-oriented policies are more likely to engage in PPPs.<br />H5: PPPs are more prevalent in politically stable countries with accountable governments.<br />3. Market Conditions and Macroeconomic Policies assumes two hypothesis:<br />H6: PPPs tend to be more common in larger markets where demand and purchasing power are greater.<br />H7: PPPs are more prevalent in countries with credible, predictable, and stable macroeconomic conditions. In particular, countries with lower inflation and stable exchange rates are more attractive candidates for PPPs.<br />4. Institutional Quality and Legal System assumes three hypothesis:<br />H8: Countries with weak institutions and low-quality bureaucracies are more likely to<br />display high country risk and are therefore less likely to foster PPPs.<br />H9: PPPs will be more common in countries with strong and effective legal institutions.<br />H10: PPPs will be more prevalent in environments where the legal code (laws on books)<br />better protects investors’ rights.<br />5. Past Experience with PPPs assumes this hypothesis:<br />H11: PPP arrangements are likely to be higher in countries with previous PPP experiences.<br />6. Private Participation in PPPs assumes one hypothesis:<br />H12: The extent of private participation in PPP arrangements is likely to be positively correlated with the degree of impurity of the goods or services to be provided and the technology structure required to provide them.<br />They have used the data from World Bank Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) database to prove their hypothesis set above. They have used econometric tools to analyze their data collected on PPP projects in various sectors. The research has indicated that “PPPs are at the heart of governments’ attempts to revive infrastructure investments in advanced as well as developing and emerging market economies.”<br /><br />The results indicate that the market conditions channel is the most important channel of determinants of PPPs. The evidence suggests that larger market size and higher customers’ purchasing power are crucial determinants of PPPs. The evidence from the macroeconomic stability channel suggests that inflation or lack of price stability limit the number of PPPs. At the same time, the evidence does not show any significant difference of private participation in PPP arrangements across all regions except for sub-Saharan Africa. These regional disparities occur while holding constant all seven channels—government constraints, political environment, market conditions, macroeconomic stability, institutional quality, legal systems, and past experience with PPP.<br /><br />If we see logically, then all the points mentioned above play an important role in attracting PPPs in a country.</p>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-26719532313180938752008-07-07T13:55:00.002+05:302008-07-07T13:58:10.534+05:30VGF for metros to be increased to 50 per cent<div style="text-align: justify;">Project Monitor reports "A high-level sub-committee on infrastructure has proposed an increase in viability gap funding (VGF) for metro projects by 30 per cent (from 20 per cent now to 50 per cent). A proposal to this effect is already under consideration with the finance ministry for metro projects.<br /><br />The private players will only be allowed to enjoy the benefits of higher VGF only if they follow stricter guidelines. The urban development ministry is working on stricter guidelines the companies will have to follow at the time of preparing detailed project reports.<br /><br />Moreover, projects will be scrutinised by government departments. All city authorities will have to mandatorily set up unified metro transport authorities that will ensure seamless disbursal of funds provided under the VGF policy. At present, the Centre provides 20 per cent loan to such projects as soft loans and the remaining 80 per cent cost is shared by the state government and the private partners."</div><p><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS;font-size:85%;"></span></span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS;font-size:85%;"></span> </span></p>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-75565346910114675622008-07-05T11:22:00.003+05:302008-07-05T11:54:27.000+05:30Finding the Missing Link<div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">The Rs 6,000-crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project, a vital infrastructure aiming to connect Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, is at a dead-end. MSRDC had called for bidding and it took four years for the process. The nodal agency had to call for bidding again. The 22-km has been frustrated by all sorts of delays—environmental, bureaucratic, corporate and legal. This is India's longest link and it turnes out to be a fight between—Mukesh and Anil Ambani—the only two contenders. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">MSRDC had kept the crieteria for selecting the developer having the lowest concession period. An intersting finding came forward. Mukesh Ambani's consortium had quoted 75 years concession period and Anil Ambani's consortium quoted less than 10 years- What a Mismatch.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">If developers cannot be finalised, the state government may be left with little choice having to do projects on its own. It is a grim proposition considering the huge finances involved. Private participation is inevitable, and so is the imperative of taking tough business-like decisions says Project Monitor</div><div align="justify"> </div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-88176796823720317442008-07-04T16:19:00.008+05:302008-07-04T16:35:45.866+05:30Understanding PPP<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />The definition and types of PPP can be seen<a href="http://infrastructureservices.blogspot.com/2008/05/need-of-ppp.html"> here</a> in my earlier post.<br /><br />A paper by <span style="font-weight: bold;">B. Raganelli, G. Fidone, Public Private Partnerships and public works, 2007 </span>explains the relationship between the Public and the Private partner in PPP set up .It says that the public and the private partner shares <span style="font-weight: bold;">P</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">rincipal– Agent Relationship</span>. They share a bilateral relation and they have to depend on each other for their functions. They end up having Information Asymmetries. The public entity looks after the public interest and good quality public work whereas the private entity is more concerned about the corporate profit.<br /><br />A decision has to be taken while selecting the private party for the proposed project. There has to be clear rules and regulations which help the private party to understand the project in a better way so that it doesn’t result in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Information Asymmetry</span>. These clauses should be in line of the Public as well as Private party’s interest.<br /><br />After selecting the private party, public party is unable to monitor the private party because of high monitoring costs so another problem arises of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Moral Hazard</span>. The private party indulges in practices which are contrary to the policies of the concession maker. This results in non performance of the private party leading to delay in completion of the project. That is why Penalty clause is always there in the concession agreement. The moral hazard problem could be solved by providing some incentives to the private operators for early completion of the projects or giving quality results.<br /><br />All three problems namely Principal-Agent relationship, Information Asymmetry and Moral Hazard can arise in any of the project where two parties are involved and responsibilities are shared. A solution to these problems can be derived by making the concession agreement include all the possible clauses which could cause these problems to occur<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-53467885213464654722008-07-03T12:33:00.003+05:302008-07-03T12:35:34.908+05:30DLF plans eight shopping malls by 2009<div style="text-align: justify;">DLF will develop eight shopping malls under leasing format in the metros by March 2009, besides commencing operation in four malls by end 2008. The company will also open four shopping malls in the, of which three will be in Delhi NCR and one in Chandigarh.</div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-61432059198912517172008-07-03T12:31:00.000+05:302008-07-03T12:32:06.456+05:30Eight consortiums shows interest to revive airports<div style="text-align: justify;"> <br />Eight consortiums have responded to the EoIs inviting consultants for or conducting pre-feasibility study on which of the 326 non-operational airports and airstrips around the country. Those in the fray include International Air Transport Association, KPMG and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India. KPMG has tied up with Mott MacDonald while Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has joined hands with Zabir 2005 of Spain for carrying out the study. The study is to be conducted on airports and airstrips that are either privately owned or with state governments, the Army or Indian Air Force. The consultants report is expected to list out the investment needed in terms of land and other assets, apart from suggesting a road-map for development and methodology to be adopted for providing air connectivity in a phased manner. </div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-26760655927144470422008-07-02T10:07:00.002+05:302008-07-02T10:29:28.500+05:30Miscellaneous Links<ol><li>Eleven trains to be introduced by Southern Railway. News clip is <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Railways/Eleven_trains_to_be_introduced_by_Southern_Railway/articleshow/3183861.cms">here</a>.</li><li>Airlines cut flights to beat fuel <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines_cut_flights_to_beat_fuel_woes/articleshow/3186596.cms">woes</a>. Kingfisher's Malaya in <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines__Aviation/Kingfisher_to_save_Rs_600_cr_with_direct_jet_fuel_imports/articleshow/3185771.cms">talks</a> with RIL to import ATF(aviation turbine fuel) through oil companies.</li><li>NMMC submits <a href="http://www.projectstoday.com/newsr.asp?newsid=22278">reports</a> for metro rail project in Navi Mumbai.</li><li>Ludhiana based Impact Projects <a href="http://www.projectstoday.com/newsr.asp?newsid=22281">signs</a> JV for township projects in Amritsar.</li></ol><p> </p>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-44523036595845817372008-06-30T11:49:00.002+05:302008-06-30T11:51:26.938+05:30Orissa to build four major roads through PPP route<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Project Monitor News Bureau says "The Orissa government plans to construct four major roads in the state on public-private partnership basis at a cost of over Rs 2,100 crore.The project involves four laning of a 165-km long road between Sambalpur and Rourkela at an estimated cost of Rs 1,340 crore; constructing a 70-km road from Khuntuni to Kuradmal at a cost of Rs 400 crore; building an 18-km road between Joda and Bamberi at a cost of Rs 188 crore; and constructing a 42-km Koira-Lahunipada road with an expenditure of Rs 217 crore."<br /><br />"The state government has started the preliminary works on the project and will soon appoint two private agencies for consultancy. The World Bank has agreed to bear the consultancy expenditure.<br />The funds for the project will be arranged after completing detail survey of about 900 acres of land required for all the four roads."</div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-56033089344518456742008-06-27T11:49:00.008+05:302008-06-27T12:09:46.820+05:30Hard and Soft Infrastructure<div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">I came across <a href="http://129.3.20.41/eps/urb/papers/0506/0506002.pdf">this</a> publication which defines Hard and Soft Infrastructure by Deepak Kumar who is an Associate consultant of ICFAI journal of Infrastructure.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">He says" Infrastructure sector is divided into hard and soft infrastructure. The hard infrastructure includes roads and bridges, ports, airlines, railway, power,telecom while the soft infrastructure includes education, health, tourism,etc." It also lists out Initiatives of UPA Government- (2004-05) in the field of Infrastructure. This paper gives details about both hard and soft Infrastructure initiatives taken by the govenment.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">I wonder how much of this is a true achievement as NHDP, NSEW coridoor are already in a fix cos of increasing cost of the projects and railway projects are also at halt as mentioned in my <a href="http://infrastructureservices.blogspot.com/2008/06/costlier-steel-halts-railway-projects.html">earlier</a> post.</div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-54880158337931723492008-06-27T10:40:00.008+05:302008-06-27T12:10:36.261+05:30Bangaluru Airport In a mess<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">The new Bangalore airport is located some 40 kms away from the city in Devenhalli. The congested roads and the increasing traffic on the roads is making it the least preferred option for the people to travel. although the Airport had all world class facilities, capacity of handling 10 million passenger in a year. It has 50 ckeck in counters and there are no x-ray machines to screen the bags but the public is suffering because of the distance they have to cover on the road to catch a flight.<br /><br />Passenger end up spending 3-4 hours travelling to and fro to the airport to catch a 1 hour flight. I wonder the land for the proposed airport was decided long back and it dint strike anybody's mind that distance could be a problem. More details are<a href="http://indianaviation.dotmsb.com/?p=27"> here</a>. </div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-76387381780157525162008-06-26T14:15:00.005+05:302008-06-26T14:38:57.506+05:30Infrastructure deficit can derail India's growth: Rangarajan<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:10;"></span><br />Sluggish infrastructure development could derail India's growth rate and pose serious challenges to development, says C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The main points which he made are:<br /></div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>"If we are to sustain the present growth rate and accelerate it to higher levels, we have to not only invest heavily in infrastructure projects through public-private partnerships but also ensure their timely execution."</li><li>"Efficient and speedy implementation of projects is critical in the infrastructure area.".</li><li>Yet, time and cost overruns, poor execution and bureaucratic hurdles have put a severe pressure on existing infrastructure, especially in urban areas. "As a result, our infrastructure facilities and urban amenities are groaning as they are stretched out," Rangarajan said.</li><li>"We need to invest equally in social infrastructure. The spending in health and education should be efficient as they are a function determining the quality of expenditure than quantum.</li><li>"The way out is to modernise and diversify the farm sector by improving the forward and backward linkages,"</li></ol><div style="text-align: justify;">This is what Rangarajan said. <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/Govt_plans_to_develop_inland_waterways_system/articleshow/3165839.cms">Here</a> is another effort by the government to develop infrastructure by means of developing Inland waterways for transporting goods in wake of the rising fuel prices.<br /><br />I had <a href="http://infrastructureservices.blogspot.com/2008/06/put-railways-inland-waterways-in.html">pointed</a> earlier here a similar news item wherein they talked about putting the inland waterways in the forefront. Lets see when will it happen.<br /></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-73230839091394581482008-06-25T10:02:00.004+05:302008-06-25T10:13:06.011+05:30Bandra skywalk project inaugurated<div align="justify"><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS;">On 24 June 2008, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh inaugurated Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority's Bandra skywalk project.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS;">The project built at a cost of Rs.13.63 crore will cover a distance of 1.3 km having five entry/exit points. The skywalk will connect the railway foot over bridges to Kalanagar, passing through Annat Kanekar Marg, DP Road and Nandadeep Garden. It also provides crossing of Western Express Highway, Sio-Dharavi link road.<a href="http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Inaugurated-by-CM-first-skywalk-is-shaky-by-evening/327115/">Here</a> is the news clip.<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS;"><br /></span></span></p> </div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-61493170004177490522008-06-24T10:25:00.019+05:302008-06-24T17:09:50.561+05:30Miscellaneous Links<ol><li><span style="font-size:100%;">A man from India Blog <a href="http://www.manfromindia.com/">points</a> out to A Billion Dollar Home and A Billion Dollar Slum.</span></li><li><span><span>Gammon-Dragados<a href="http://projectstoday.com/newsr.asp?newsid=22171"> begins</a> work on Mumbai offshore container terminal after the acceptance of Pre Feasibility Report.</span></span></li><li><span><span>Railways to <a href="http://projectstoday.com/newsr.asp?newsid=22162">invite</a> bids for Pune-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor.</span></span></li><li><span><span>Kochi cruise terminal to be developed on BOT basis.</span></span></li></ol><h1><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span></span></span></span></h1>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-89604451942525493842008-06-24T10:02:00.006+05:302008-06-24T10:23:38.754+05:30Road projects face further delays on rising input cost<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br />Rising steel and crude oil prices may again <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/Road_projects_face_further_delays_on_rising_input_cost/articleshow/3158226.cms">delay</a> awarding of road projects under the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP). It explains that rising input costs make the projects unviable for the developers who are then reluctant to take off with the projects. To make it viable if the developer starts charging higher toll rates then the project might not be able to attract the expected traffic which will lead to further delays in the concession period awarded thereby again making it all the more unviable.<br /><br />I had earlier also hinted at slowing down of the railway projects because of rising steel prices <a href="http://infrastructureservices.blogspot.com/2008/06/costlier-steel-halts-railway-projects.html">here</a>.<br /></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-77631859930196886652008-06-23T11:59:00.003+05:302008-06-23T12:11:28.046+05:30BMC and Monsoons<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />A man from India Blog <a href="http://www.manfromindia.com/2008/06/bmc-and-monsoons.html">lists</a> out the possible reasons for the failure of BMC every year to manage the monsoons and the result is Mumbai drowns. He blames it on Politics, Basic resources not being available to the traffic cops, Subway flooding, Corruption last but not the least Lifestyle of the Mumbai Indians.<br /></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-82053653225873420572008-06-23T11:13:00.003+05:302008-06-23T11:29:21.843+05:30Put railways, inland waterways in the driving seat<div style="text-align: justify;">Dipankar Bose <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/06/23/stories/2008062350810600.htm">reports</a> in Business Line two crucial issues that India faces, the soaring crude price and urban congestion and the transport sector may have an answer to the problems. He talks about the NESW corridor being developed at huge cost of rs 60000 crores. He argues to say tht roadways should be complemetary and not supplementary to Railways. In practice, however, the opposite is the case. He further says,</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">"A detailed study by the Planning Commission found that barges of 1,500 tonnes with a load of 75 per cent moved on inland waterways consume 46 per cent of the energy consumed by diesel rail traction and only 7.4 per cent of the energy consumed by diesel trucks.The state of the waterways is certainly better than earlier, but it is still far from satisfactory."<br /><br />He concludes by saying "Thus, a shift in emphasis away from national highways to the railways and inland waterways for long haul of bulk goods and to the State highways and the district roads for short haul can reduce the nation’s oil import bill and urban congestion. <tagline type="std">(The author was formerly Senior Economist Assocham, New Delhi and M.N. Dastur & Co. Ltd, Kolkata.)</tagline></span></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-66498086573104331502008-06-21T12:23:00.004+05:302008-06-21T12:35:06.805+05:30Government considering various options to start Mumbai trans-harbour link<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial Unicode MS;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial Unicode MS;font-size:85%;" ></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;">After Reliance Infrastructure <a href="http://www.projectstoday.com/newsr.asp?newsid=22027">failed</a> to extend the validity of bids for the sea link project between Sewri and Nhava-Sheva, the Maharashtra government is now considering various options like forming an SPV with financial support from the state-run institutions, to go ahead with the project. The state government may form SPV with funding from City & Industrial Development Corporation, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and probably a Japanese bank.<br /><br />The project will be awarded to Maharashtra State road Development Corporation. The government is also likely to consider the options like inviting fresh bids, close bidding or re-bidding from qualifiers in the final round of bidding - Relaince Infrastructure and Sea King Infrastructure.<br /><br />Reliance Energy Now Reliance Infrastructure had bagged Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project. Financial bids were opened today for the 25 kilometer six-lane project of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The company has quoted a concession period of 9 years, 11 months, as compared to 75 years quoted by the only other bidder, a consortium led by IL& FS.<br /></div>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7543916119427348097.post-50855738463328632882008-06-20T10:20:00.003+05:302008-06-20T10:21:49.267+05:30Miscellaneous Links<ol style="font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Here is the <a href="http://www.redbus.in/">website</a> where you can book your </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Bus</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> tickets online. The service has been started by three engineers from Bangalore.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Punjab government plans Rs.1,225 crore for upgrading link roads. The Punjab government is planning an ambitious Rs.1,225 crore investment for expanding and upgrading link roads network in Punjab and modernizing its agricultural marketing infrastructure in the state.Details are <a href="http://projectstoday.com/newsr.asp?newsid=22102">here</a>.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://nhai.org/nhdpmain_english.htm">Here</a> is an updated map showing completion of Golden Quadilateral and NESW corridor under implementation and the NHDP routes yet to be awarded.</span></li></ol>Harpreethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00266066910517945860noreply@blogger.com