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GMR consortium wins Hungund-Hospet highway project

The consortium of GMR Infrastructure (Q,N,C,F) and Oriental Structural Engineers (OSE) has won the prestigious Hungund-Hospet highway project on a build, operate and transfer (BoT) basis through the international competitive bidding route.

GMR Group will hold 51% equity in the consortium and 49% will be held by OSE. The consortium received the Letter of Award from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Feb. 08, 2010. This is ninth highway project of GMR Group after successfully completing six projects as per schedule. Two projects measuring 211 kms are currently under development.

The project measuring 99 kms on NH-13 with an estimated project cost of Rs 17 billion entails designing, engineering, finance, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of four laning of the Hungund Hospet section in the state of Karnataka. This will ease traffic congestion and provide a tremendous boost to trade and commerce in the state. Apart from reduction in travel time, this development is expected to improve safety levels for travelers since it will be built to world-class specifications.

Several national and international consortia participated in this bidding process in which GMR Group-OSE Consortium was adjudged as the preferred bidder. The project will be implemented through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by the Group which will be signing the concession agreement with the NHAI for a period of 19 years. All activities leading to the concession agreement signing have been initiated.

Commenting on the significance of the project, Srinivas Bommidala-business chairman (Urban Infrastructure and Highways) of GMR Group said, “The project is of strategic importance to us since it provides vital link in the movement of major industrial and tourist traffic across Karnataka. We are delighted to be a part of this development and are keen on ensuring that the project caters to the needs of multiple stakeholders.“

GMR Group had entered the highways business in 2001 by winning two projects with benchmark annuity offer. It has even received an early completion bonus from the NHAI for completing the Tambaram-Tindivanam project in Tamilnadu ahead of schedule. Today, the group has a balanced portfolio of four annuity and four toll projects (toll operations for three projects have already commenced) totaling 630 kms across the length and breadth of the country. All six projects have been completed as per schedule and two are currently under developmental stage.

Shares of GMR Infrastructure declined Rs 0.5, or 0.89%, to trade at Rs 55.55. The total volume of shares traded was 845,260 at the BSE (1.29 p.m., Tuesday).

Source: myiris.com

Sadbhav Engineering Secures Road Project in Karnataka from NHAI

Sadbhav Engineering Ltd has announced that the Consortium led by the Company has been awarded the project “4 laning of Bijapur – Hungund Section of NH-13 from km 102.000 to km 202.000 in the state of Karnataka on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (“DBFOT”), Toll basis under NHDP Phase-III (Package No. NHDP-III/BOT/KNT/05)” from The General Manager (Tech), National Highways Authority of India (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) G-5&6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi-l10075 in the name of Joint Venture known as ‘SEL-MCL Consortium’ in the ratio of 77:23 respectively.

The proposed total cost of development of the said project stands at Rs. 1225.00 Crores. The Concession Period of the project is 20 (twenty) years including construction period of 910 Nine Hundred and Ten) days from the “Appointed Date”.

The stock was trading at Rs.1245, up by Rs.37.25 or 3.08%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.1294.80 and low of Rs.1215.

The total traded quantity was 5230 compared to 2 week average of 1222.

Source: Equity Bulls

HCC arm bags 3 NHAI orders

HCC Infrastructure, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has bagged three projects by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to develop three contiguous sections of nearly 256 km in length between Bahrampore and Dalkhola on NH-34 in West Bengal on a BOT (Toll) basis.

The special purpose companies, which will be implementing these projects under HCC, will get a capital grant of Rs 1,033 crore during the construction period, according to HCC’s official spokesman. In the wake of these contracts HCC’s order book position has move up by nearly Rs 2,860 crore, he said.

The first BOT contract entails the development of the existing two lanes to four lanes in the Baharampore and Farraka section of NH-34 (103 km) on a design, built, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. The second BOT contract includes the development of the existing two lanes to four lanes on the Farraka and Raiganj section of NH-34 (103 km) on a DBFOT basis.

The third BOT contract involves the development of the existing two lanes to four lanes on the Raiganj and Dalkhola section of NH-34 (50 km), also on a DBFOT basis. The HCC spokesman said that the little over one year old HCC Infrastructure has also crossed the Rs 5,000 crore mark in terms of assets under management (AUM), following these orders. HCC Infrastructure’s portfolio now stands at Rs 5,500 crore with 6 BOT road projects.

Source: mydigitalfc.com

IVRCL Infra bullish on BOT road projects

IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects Ltd said it has received a Rs 1,550 crore BOT (Built Operate Transfer) road project in Madhya Pradesh from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The concession will be for 25 years and the project will be completed in 30 months.

“The 155-km long road project will be executed by a special purpose vehicle owned by IVR Prime. The road construction will be taken up by IVRCL Infra,” said Mr E. Sudhir Reddy, the chairman of IVRCL Group.

“With this, IVR Prime has BOT projects — confirmed and lowest bidder — worth Rs 10,000 crore,” he said adding that the company expects to win six BOT projects by this year end.

The project, which is a part of National Highway 59, involves design, engineering, construction, development, finance, operation and maintenance of the road that runs between Indore and Ahmedabad.

Mr Reddy said that the debt-equity of 5:1 would be used to fund the project. “The equity component will be raised through internal accruals and raising debt will not be difficult for us,” Mr Reddy said.

Following the road transport and highways minister, Mr Kamal Nath’s target to build 20 km road every day by April 2010, the NHAI has put the process of awarding contracts on the fast track. “We are currently doing 9 km a day and would be in a position to scale up to 20 km a day by April-May 2010,” Mr Nath had said recently.

Recently, the government had approved road projects worth Rs 6,152 crore in five states for upgrading nearly 562 km of four-lane highways into six lanes.

Mr Nath had also coined the idea of issuing infrastructure bonds to raise money from non-resident Indians on the lines of the Resurgent India Bonds issued in 1998 and the India Millennium Bonds issued in 2000.

By 2022, govt to lay 18,637km of expressways

NEW DELHI: The government has drawn up an ambitious target to lay 18,637km network of brand new expressways by 2022. These high-speed, access-controlled roads will be of the four-lane and six-lane variety with 3,530 km to come up in the next three years.

The highways ministry is ready with a Master Plan for the National Expressway Network. The new target of expressway length was projected after receiving observations from 11 states including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, the final draft report prepared by the highways ministry had proposed to develop 17,661 km of expressway network.

The expressways network will not be an upgraded national highway network but will be developed entirely as greenfield projects. These will preferably be built with three-metre high embankments and will have service roads along the stretches where there is a need. Officials said there was an urgent need to develop expressways network as road transport would remain the mainstay for sustaining the economic momentum of the country.

“The existing arterial network cannot meet the latent and the emerging demands for connectivity and accessibility while ensuring the desired level of safety,” said a senior ministry official.

As per estimates, the construction cost per km would be Rs 14 crore in case of 4-lane and Rs 20 crore in case of 6-lane expressways excluding land acquisition and other expenses. A recent presentation made before the top brass of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the ministry also mentioned that while majority of identified stretches would be built on build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode, stretches which were unviable could be developed on annuity basis.

The Master Plan document has also phased the expressway development programme for 2012, 2017 and 2022 and this has been done on the basis of financial viability, relative traffic intensity along various corridor segments, network comprehensiveness, connectivity warrants and relative economic potential of each proposed project.

The ministry is already in the process of preparing a draft for creation of a National Expressways Authority of India (NEAI) on the lines of NHAI and the highway regulator has also got an exclusive wing for the expressway as a stop-gap arrangement.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

No state consent, NHAI goes ahead with four-laning of highway section

Without taking the state government on board, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already decided to go ahead with the four-laning of the 80-km Muzaffarnagar-Hardwar section of the Delhi-Dehradun corridor.

The state government has not yet given its consent to the State Support Agreement for a 21-km stretch, which falls within the state. The rest falls in Uttarakhand.

The bids for the project were invited in September and had to be opened on October 9. But the Highway Authority had later thought of abandoning the project as the state government had refused to sign the State Support Agreement. They have now decided to go ahead with the project.

“The 9 bids received for this project were opened on Wednesday. A contractor for the project will be finalised within a week,” said M K Jain, Project Director.

“The state government has not sent any letter of consent on the State Support Agreement. But the Highway Authority is going ahead with the project,” added Jain.

According to him, the four-laning of the highway will start from June next year. About 70-hectare would be required for 21-km stretch in the state.

“Land has been earmarked. A proposal has been sent to the authorities for approval on notification of land acquisition. The notification will be issued within a week,” said Jain.

The Muzaffaragar-Hardwar section will be four-laned on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis under the National Highways Development Project (phase-III). The project will cost Rs 900 crore. The Detailed Project Report has also been prepared.

The state government had refused to sign the State Support Agreement as it wants to develop an expressway along the Upper Ganga Canal from Noida to Hardwar which will also open a passage for Uttarakhand from UP and Delhi. Jain said if the State Support Agreement was signed, the state government had to assure that no alternative expressway — Upper Ganga Canal Expressway — would be developed parallel to Highway Authority’s highway, leading to a competition.

“Since the agreement has not been signed, the state government is free to develop its own expressway,” said Jain.

The eight-lane Upper Ganga Canal expressway, popularly known as Hindon Expressway, will stretch from Noida to Hardwar through Muzaffarnagar and Roorkee. Mumbai-based firm called Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) is conducting the feasibility study of the project and are likely to submit the report by next month.

Source: expressindia.com

Reliance Infra bags Rs 590crore Jaipur project

New Delhi: Reliance Infrastructure, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company, has won the Rs 590 crore Jaipur-Reengus highway project in Rajasthan from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The project is expected to be completed by 2011.

The company is currently implementing road projects worth Rs 4,500 crore and aims to increase its road portfolio more than four-fold to over Rs 20,000 crore by 2012.

Reliance Infra bagged the Rajasthan project on the basis of the lowest quote for grant at Rs 103 crore. The upgrade work of the 53 kilometre stretch will be implemented on a build operate and transfer (BOT) basis for a concession period of 18 years, including the construction period. After completion of the project, the company will earn toll through the remaining period before handing over the project to NHAI.

“Jaipur-Reengus contract is the seventh road project won by Reliance Infrastructure. With this, the company would be committing more than Rs 4,500 crore for the road sector. We are planning to increase the total road project portfolio over Rs 20,000 crore by 2012-13,” Lalit Jalan, CEO, Reliance Infrastructure, said in a statement.

The deal is likely to be signed in a month and the construction will begin soon thereafter. The group has a market capitalisation of around Rs 1,50,000 crore, and net worth of over Rs 64,000 crore. Also, the operating cash with the group is to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore.

The company’s two Tamil Nadu projects became operational last week. The projects, Namakkal-Karur and Dindigul-Samynalore, are worth Rs 763 crore and span 96 kilometres.All the remaining road projects are expected to be operational by March 2011.

Also, Reliance Infra is bullish on the infrastructure growth in the country.”Infrastructure will be a major source of revenue for us and we will bid for most of the projects being planned in the country,” Jalan said.

It is undergoing the tendering process in projects worth around Rs 50,000 crore. The company has achieved financial closure for the Rs 2,356 crore first phase of Mumbai Metro project and has also bagged the Rs 11,000 crore second phase of the project to develop a 32 kilometre stretch for a concession period of 35 years.

Source: dnaindia.com

UPA-2 road plans hit a bump

NEW DELHI: This could be an indicator of how the ambitious highway development programme has been a non-starter in UPA-2. National Highways

Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded only 17 projects for 1,574 km since January against the plan of awarding 135 projects (14,384 km) in the current financial.

A presentation made by the highway regulator at a CII conference on consulting services on Tuesday pointed to the huge gap between the projection and actual pace of award of projects in the past 10 months. As per the presentation, only 17 projects costing Rs 17,757 crore were awarded including one project on BOT (annuity). It further showed that nine more projects on BOT (toll) and two on annuity modes were under the process of award. However, information was not available on how many highway projects were awarded since the change of guard in the ministry.

NHAI officials blamed the slow pace on certain “controversial clauses” and provisions in the request for quotation (RFQ) and request for proposal (RFP) and the model concession agreement. “We had prepared a plan to award 60 projects last year but the economic downturn hit us hard and only 12-13 projects could be awarded. Many projects could not achieve financial closure even after awarding. This time it’s equally worse due to certain contractual provisions and clauses of the bid documents including the conflict of interest clause,” said a senior official.

Road, transport and highways minister Kamal Nath has already identified the interpretation of ‘conflict of interest’ as the biggest roadblock in the fast tracking of highway projects.

Transport secretary Brahm Dutt admitted on Tuesday that the award of projects was taking time while the ministry had set a target of achieving construction of 20 km highway per day.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Hazaribagh road clears Cabinet bump

Ranchi, July 31: The Union Cabinet has finally cleared the project to widen the Ranchi-Hazaribagh stretch of NH-33, considered the lifeline of the state, making it the first project in the region — including Bihar — to be executed under build, operate and transfer (BOT).

The Cabinet sanctioned Rs 688 crore yesterday for four-laning 71km of the highway which means that a consortium of IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL) and Punj Lloyd would now be awarded a contract by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

According to the terms of the BOT-annuity plan, the project will have to be completed in two and-a-half-years. The consortium would be paid Rs 64.08 crore every six months for the next 15-and-a- half years.

In all, the government would be paying the consortium approximately Rs 1,900 crore, the funds for which would be sanctioned in future. The consortium will, however, be responsible for maintaining the road for 18 years from the date of awarding of the contract.

“Now NHAI will issue a letter of intent following which a contract agreement will be signed with the consortium. This will be the first project in Jharkhand and Bihar to be executed under BOT-annuity basis,” Lt Col Chandan Vatsa, the NHAI general manager (BOT), told The Telegraph from Delhi, sounding relieved that the project had crossed its final hurdle.

Four-laning of the Ranchi-Hazaribagh stretch was in phase III of National Highway Development Programme’s (NHDP) which was cleared by the Centre in 2005. But it was held up as the past three attempts to invite bids did not yield results.

Vatsa, however, warned that the state, now under president’s rule, had a lot more to do so that land acquisition, forest clearances and other permissions were speeded up.

“Only about 48 per cent land required for widening the road is under NHAI’s possession. As per the Model Concession Agreement approved by government of India, at least 80 per cent possession of land is mandatory before a contract cab be awarded. So now the state administration must pull up its socks,” the NHAI official said.

NHAI has also provided for a 4.2km bypass in the Kujju area of the highway to avoid the fire zone that has already made commuting in the stretch dangerous. The by-pass, that would run on a new alignment, has been included in the proposed four-laning project.

The total length of the Ranchi-Hazaribagh stretch of NH33, including the bypass, would work out to be 71.16km.

“The new proposed alignment will avoid the existing fire zone in and around Kujju. It could well be the safest zone. But once the project starts we will need to conduct soil, bore hole and other geological tests to assess the exact magnitude of the underground fire,” Vatsa added.

M.K. Pandey, the manager (technical) of NHAI, said they have apprised Delhi about the situation at Kujju. “After conducting the geological tests, the authorities may even decide to alter the alignment of the Kujju bypass once work starts, ” he said.

Source:www.telegraphindia.com

Toll on two-lane roads to drive costs down

More than 10,000 kms of roads may get tolled across the country. In what may be called a first, the ministry of road transport and highways is considering a proposal to toll two-lane roads. This is being done to not only recover the cost of construction but also ensure funds for their maintenance and upkeep. According to a senior government official, the move has come as a part of the government’s attempt to attract more road developers and also reduce the burden on annuity and build operate transfer (BOT) projects.

So far two-lane roads are not tolled across the country. But the idea is being considered especially because the government may award the construction of two-lane national highways on certain lean traffic areas across the country. This is being done to reduce the cost at a time when developers have been shortage of funds, as the official said.

The move will require making changes to the toll policy of the government, which provides for tolling of four and six lane highways currently. The ministry had introduced a new toll policy in December 2008 by the way of which toll rates had been doubled or trebled on certain stretches.

The current toll policy stipulates a fee of Rs 0.65 per kilometre for cars jeeps etc, Rs 1.05 per km for light commercial vehicles, Rs 2.20 for buses and trucks, Rs 3.45 for heavy construction machinery and Rs 4.20 for vehicles with over seven axles. However, these are the recommended rates for four and six lane highways and a similar schema would have to be prepared for two lane highways, if the proposal gets implemented.

The fee for two-lane highways is expected to be much lower but the location will also matter in determining it. For instance, it may be higher for hilly terrain roads.

The government has been working on a plan to re-engineer roads and thereby reduce their cost. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is considering the removal of a number of additional structures on highways that escalate the cost. Taking this further, the minister for roads recently suggested that even in areas where two lane roads are being considered tolling should be implemented.

However, there is a flip side two lanes as well. They are less safe than four or six lane highways as there is no divider to prevent head on collisions. Even though we support the idea, the viability of tolling two lane highways would have to be considered in the light of the administrative cost of collection, a road expert from the National Highways Builders Federation (NHBF) said.

Currently there is a network of over 70,000 kms of national highways in the country, the maintenance of which comes under the central government. Even though national highways are only 2 per cent of the total road network, they carry bulk of the country’s traffic at over 65 per cent.

Source:indianexpress.com

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