Japan’s Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLITT) Takeshi Maeda, during his meeting with the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi here, said the country is keen on executing the project, especially with a Japan-based company being involved in preparing a detailed project report.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Joshi said: “We told them (Japan government) that we have a very transparent system, where you have to enter into the bidding process.

If Japan government is interested in taking up the project on government to government (G-G) basis, then you have to discuss it at the higher level.”  The project could be discussed at the Prime Ministerial level, he added.

However, G-to-G negotiations might deprive Indian entrepreneurs the opportunity to participate in the bidding, as projects are straightaway given to a country and would be executed by companies from there.

In the highways sector, 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed and the Japanese companies can also tie-up with domestic companies to bid for the project, the Minister said. Currently, Egis-Secon, a private company, is preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) expected to be ready by March 2012.

“After getting the DPR, the government will decide how to implement the project -whether to go for competitive bidding or adopt any other method,” the minister said.

The expressway, first of its kind in the country, will be built with public-private participation on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

The 100 per cent access-controlled road would cut down travelling time between Bangalore and Chennai to just three hours from the current five to six hours.

As per the proposal, the expressway will have six lanes and vehicles can travel at a speed of 120 km per hour.

The proposed road will run parallel to the existing National Highway–4 and pass through Kolar, Palamaner, Chittur and Ranipet.

Source: deccanherald.com

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure cleared widening of Kiratpur-Ner Chowk section in Himachal Pradesh at a cost of Rs 2,356.20 crore, six-laning of Vijaywada -Gundugolanu section in Andhra Pradesh worth Rs 2,011 crore and Rs 1,021.16 crore scheme for four-laning of Uttar Pradesh/Haryana border- Panchkula section in Haryana.

“The main objective of the project is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh and also in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Kiratpur and Ner Chowk,” an official statment said about the Himanchal Pradesh project.

The widening of 84.38 km stretch on National Highway (NH) 21 in state will be implemented under NHDP phase III on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis in BOT toll mode of delivery, it said adding of the entire cost, Rs 537.37 crore will be spent on land acquisition, rehabilitation, etc.

The project, on completion, will reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Kiratpur and Ner Chowk. It will also increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project.

NH 21 is not only an important link connecting national capital and tourist destination of Manali in Himachal Pradesh but is a major link to Leh in Ladakh.

About Andhra Pradesh project comprising 103.59 km, the statement said it will be implemented under NHDP Phase V on DBFOT basis in BOT (Toll) mode of delivery.

“The total project cost estimated will be Rs 2,011 crore out of which Rs 327 crore will be for the land acquisition, rehabilitation, resettlement and pre-construction,” it said.

It added, “The main objective of the project is to … increase the capacity of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) corridor and also to reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic between Vijayawada- Gundugalanu.”

NH 5 is an important link connecting Kolkata to Chennai, which is part of the GQ Corridor. This will facilitate road users, particularly traffic on Chennai-Kolkata section of GQ passing through Guntur, Krishna and West Godavari districts and Chennai- Hyderabad and Kolkata – Hyderabad sections.

Out of the total cost of the 104.7-km Haryana project on NH 73 under NHDP Phase-III on DBFOT basis in BOT (Toll) mode, Rs 86.23 crore will be for land acquisition, rehabilitation, resettlement and pre-construction.

The project, on completion, will reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between UP/Haryana border – Yamunanagar – Saha – Bawala – Panchkula. It will also increase the employment potential for the local labourers for the project activities.

Source: articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

In an interview to CNBC-TY18, AK Upadhyay, chairman of NHAI says, this is just one off case. “I don’t think this is a serious concern,” he adds.

He expects land acquisition costs to rise going forward.

Upadhyay expects awards of close to 7,000 km by year-end.

Below is the edited transcript of his interview with CNBC-TV18’s Latha Venkatesh and Sonia Shenoy. Also watch the accompanying videos.

Q: The most disturbing news we heard lately was the cancellation of Goa road project given to IRB Infra because of the inability to acquire land. Can you just confirm this for us? How disturbing it is that you are not able to acquire land?

A: This is just one off case. In some states, we do face problems, but you don’t take it as a repetitive case. The other projects are going on very well. It is just one-two projects, out of 40-50 projects that we are going to bid this year. So, I don’t think this is a serious concern.

Q: What went wrong? Where did the resistance and the inability to acquire land come from?

A: The state government has solutions. Because the alignment was passing through some fishermen’s areas and they wanted to have an elevated highway for a very long stretch, it made it difficult to fund it. We had to restructure the project. So, the project as it was structured that could not go ahead. So, we had to cancel the bid. I would again say this is a one off case.

Q: What kind of interaction have you had with IRB on this and penalty that you may have to pay them?

A: I don’t think so because this is not at the award stage, so no liability has yet occurred. But I don’t think there should be any major penalty.

Q: How much are you expected to raise via the bond issue? hHw much demand do you see for these kind of tax free issuances at this point?

A: Our perception is that the bonds will be highly in demand. We hope to have full subscription. We are going for first tranche of Rs 5,000 crore with option to retain up to Rs 10,000 crore. From whatever feedback we have got, our impression is that this is going to be very successful.

Q: How many projects in 2011 went on a premium?

A: Let me talk of this fiscal starting from April 1, out of 33 projects, we have awarded so far of over 4300 km, 22 have gone on premium.

Q: In that case, would you consider increasing the viability gap funding for those that did not go at a premium?

A: Viability gap funding has 40% cap. If you over 40%, you might as well fund it entirely from public funding. Therefore, it is a rational limit. We don’t think it’s necessary to increase that. But what it means is that the funds we are getting it would help us in case of any increase land acquisitions cost. After the viable projects under BoT toll are exhausted, we will have to go for more and more EPC projects. That would be almost entirely public funded. So, therefore, this premium is good for us, it has cushioned for future years.

Q: From now, up until FY13, what is the order target that you have? How many have been awarded? How many you expect government to approve?

A: To give you a picture of this financial year, the total target we had set was 7,300 km. This was about 40% more than last year’s target. We are on course. We have awarded over 4,300 km.  Another 1,000 km of the bids are in the pipeline either in evaluation or the bids have to come shortly. So that means that very shortly we will be crossing 5,300 km. Another 2,000 km of 14 projects are in various stages of evaluation and approving process.

Source: moneycontrol.com

]]> http://www.indiantollways.com/2011/12/27/irb-infra-project-cancellation-just-a-one-off-case-nhai/feed/ 0 http://www.indiantollways.com/2011/12/26/37-road-infrastructure-projects-to-be-completed-during-current-year-dr-arbab/ http://www.indiantollways.com/2011/12/26/37-road-infrastructure-projects-to-be-completed-during-current-year-dr-arbab/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 08:51:51 +0000 ITW Editor http://www.indiantollways.com/?p=1654 ISLAMABAD(SANA): The National Assembly was informed on Thursday that thirty-seven road infrastructure projects will be completed by National Highway Authority during the current fiscal year.

Minister for Communication Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan told the House during question hour that 2305 million rupees have been spent on repair of Highways and Motorways damaged by the floods.

He said a PC-1 of 23.56 billion rupees has been forwarded to Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for approval to carry out reconstruction of the remaining flood damaged road infrastructure. A loan agreement has also been signed with the Asian Development Bank for the flood emergency reconstruction project.

To a question, the Minister said the Kallar Kahar portion of Motorway will be realigned to avert serious accidents there. He said the National Highway Authority has planned to undertake dualization of Muzaffargarh to Dera Ghazi Khan through public-private partnership from October next.

He said toll connection on motorways is being upgraded and replaced with electronic toll traffic management system. The Minister said that the National Highway and Motorway police has taken a number of measures to ensure safety of passengers road users. Four permanent trauma centres are being constructed on different Motorways.

Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah told the House that five point eight million families living below the poverty line are being given cash grant on regular basis under the Benazir Income Support Programme. He said these beneficiaries are also being given health insurance and a proposal is under consideration to exempt them from the payment of sales and other taxes. He said those living below the poverty line will also be given concessions in electricity bills.

He said a poverty survey has been completed in most parts of the country except FATA and some districts of Southern Punjab. He said the survey in the remaining areas will be completed by March next which will help determine the exact ratio poverty in the country.

Parliamentary Secretary for Information Technology Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan told the House that new technology is being introduced to bolster the agriculture produce and ensure food security. He said nine PSDP projects are being executive to popularize the already developed technologies. He said a number of agreements have been signed with different national and international organization to transfer technologies to the farmers as well as to the public department.

Responding to a supplementary question, Minister for Communication Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan told the House that work on 133 kilometer Karachi-Hyderabad (M-9) will be started next year. He said negotiations for undertaking this project on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis with a Malaysian Company is in final stages and will be signed next month.

Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah informed the House that the government has no plans to privatize Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). He said the present government has always pursued pro-workers’ policies and abolished all black laws introduced by the dictators. He said we have a given a new concept of privatization by giving twelve percent shares to the employees of public sector under the Benazir Stock Option Scheme.

Parliamentary Secretary for Information Technology Nawab Liaquat Ali Khan told the House that sufficient urea is available in the country to meet the requirements of the growers. Responding to a call attention notice moved by Murtaza Javed Abbasi Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah told the House that eighty percent work in the earthquake affected areas of Azad Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been completed. He said twenty-four billion rupees are required to complete the remaining work in the affected areas. Ten billion rupees have been allocated for this purpose during the current financial year while the remaining fourteen billion rupees will be allocated in the next financial year.

He said the government is committed to the complete reconstruction and rehabilitation of quake affected areas and ERRA has been directed to expedite work on the remaining projects.

Responding to another call attention notice Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr. Asim Hussain informed the House that three point five million vehicles are running on CNG in the country.

These are moving bombs and pose threat to the lives of the people. He said during the last few days explosions in the CNG fitted vehicles have claimed the lives of many people. The Minister said the powers of checking the quality of CNG cylinders be delegated to the OGRA and Institute of Hydrocarbon to ensure the quality of the cylinders.

Source: sananews.net

Supreme Infrastructure India has completed EPC for its first marine project, Kasheli Bridge and commenced tolling operations. The company added orders worth Rs212.30 crore along with a bridge project for Rs124 crore where it is declared L1.
Vikas Sharma, whole-time director, Supreme Infrastructure, said “We are proud to report completion of our first Marine project Kasheli bridge at Thane. This project has added significant capabilities to our engineering team, which can now undertake complex and larger marine projects. Also, our efforts of expanding our reach in the northern territory is starting to show positive signs. We have also won orders from our existing customers and it is a mark of the good quality work we continue to deliver for our clients and a testimony to our work ethos.”
It has also added a road BOT project in Maharashtra. Further, the company is in advance dialogue with the strategic investors to explore possible investments in its BOT portfolio. The EPC work in the Marine Segment involves building a six lane flyover on old Thane-Nashik highway for a length of 1.2 Km on the Thane Creek for Rs301 core.
This project was awarded to Supreme in 2009 by the Sangam group and has been completed in 36 months. The project involved complex engineering skills to cast pilling with depths ranging from 15–25 meters. This project is an engineering marvel and a reflection of our in house capabilities.
Supreme holds 10 per cent equity stake in the Kasheli Bridge SPV through Kalyan Sangam Infratech. This SPV was involved in the construction of the Kasheli Bridge on a BOT basis. The construction of Kasheli Bridge is completed and tolling operations have commenced.
Construction of Villas and premium apartments have been awarded by BPTP Group, Gurgaon. This is a state-of-the-art project being developed in Gurgaon. Order size is Rs71 crore and is expected to be executed by March 2014.
The group also has project awarded by Ramprastha Group for construction and development of Multi storied tower ‘SKYZ’, at Gurgaon. The scope of work order involves construction of nine towers of 19 stories each. Order size is Rs141.30 crore, which is expected to be competed by March 2014.
The company has been declared L1 by MMRDA for the design and construction of flyovers at Rajnoli Junction and at Mankoli Junction on NH-3 at Thane Nashik road. Order size is Rs124 crore.

Source: constructionweekonline.in

Northern states comprising Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Delhi have 141 PPP projects in various stages of implementation with an estimated value of Rs 80,544 crore. The report also highlights the intra state variations in terms of PPP projects.Within the region,

Rajasthan leads with 41.2 per cent of the total projects in the region; followed by Punjab, 23.0 per cent; Uttar Pradesh, 12.2 per cent; Haryana, 9.5 per cent and Delhi, 8.1 per cent. In terms of value, the top five states are Uttar Pradesh 33.5 per cent of the total; followed by Rajasthan, 18.4 per cent; Haryana, 17.1 per cent; Delhi, 13.7 per cent and Punjab, 7.9 per cent.

As on June 2011, out of the total 748 PPP projects under implementation across the country, northern region accounts for only 18.8 per cent as against 31.0 per cent for western region and 36.2 per cent for southern region. In terms of value of the projects, the share of northern region is 21.3 per cent, whereas, southern and western regions account 40.2 per cent and 27.2 per cent respectively.

The report also highlights that PPPs in social infrastructure sectors like education and healthcare is quite good with region’s share at 40.8 per cent and 24.1 per cent respectively.

The region has attracted Rs 755 crore in the education sector and Rs 442 crore in healthcare sector respectively. In northern region, the report highlights, that BOT (Built-Operate-Transfer)-Toll model is the most popular PPP model (75 are BOT-Toll type out of 141 projects in the region) adopted by Central and state in 94 road sector projects, followed by BOT-Annuity in 11 and BOT in five projects.

In social sector projects, BOT (3) and DBFOT (Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer) (2) model are preferred. In the urban development sphere, BOOT (Build- Own-Operate-Transfer) and BOT are the preferred models with six projects each. In the state sector, BOT — Toll is the preferred model with 47 projects followed by BOT in 16 projects followed by BOT-Annuity (11.3 per cent).

In terms of state agencies implementing PPP projects, Rajasthan has the largest number of projects at 50, followed by Punjab, 27 projects; Delhi, 9 projects.

Also, 57 projects worth Rs 6,289 crore have moved from construction or implementation phase to operational phase in the region.

Source: business-standard.com

The ride is getting bumpy for many roads developers. But Reliance Infra is making hay out of the current tough environment. Months after it announced that it was looking at distressed road assets in the market, NDTV has learnt that it is in talks with several players including IVRCL, Madhucon Projects and SREI Infrastructure all of who are looking to sell stake in some of their existing projects.

While Reliance Infrastructure hasn’t pinned down on any particular asset as yet, a buyout could happen in the next 1-2 months.

This will be in Tamil Nadu and will have synergies with the company’s existing projects in the state.

It may be eyeing 400 KM of road projects, including IVRCL’s Salem to Kumarapalayam highway and Madhucon’s Madurai to Tuticorin highway.

While the existing developers, many of whom bid for these projects very aggressively aren’t able to keep them viable, R-Infra hopes it can cut interest costs and bring in other efficiencies.

Meanwhile the company is also looking to go global.

It plans to bid for a BOT project in Vietnam and has expressed its interest in a project in Turkey as well but going international could be a challenge as its efforts to make inroads in Sri Lanka & Nepal have still not take taken off.

Source: http://profit.ndtv.com

Madhucon Projects Ltd has announced that the company has bagged an EPC contract of Rs 422.06 crore from Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, Dhanbad, for a mine it is executing in Barora.

The project, which covers surface mining, extraction and transportation of coal located in Phularitand Colliery of Barora area, is to be completed in 84 months from the date of acceptance.

The company’s arm Madhucon Infra Ltd, which is currently executing road projects with a total outlay of Rs 7,000 crore, has secured one more BOT (build, own and transfer) toll road project from NHAI to be executed between Vijayawada and Machilipatnam, with a total outlay of Rs 760 crore.

The Hyderabad-based infrastructure company, which is also executing power projects and taking up mining activity, has an order book of Rs 6,500 crore and has been pre-qualified for orders worth Rs 20,000 crore.

Source: thehindubusinessline.com

On an average, banks lend 39% more than the project cost arrived at by the National Highways Authority of India, the agency that hands out bids across the country. A key reason is the huge gap between the cost arrived at by NHAI and the estimate drawn up by developers who bag the contracts.

With private developers bidding aggressively for highway contracts and willing to fork out a significant premium (an annual amount paid upfront to National Highways Authority of India), the road transport and highways ministry decided to examine 66 projects where funding has been tied up.

Source: indiatimes.com

The $49-million Main Street underpass is designed to reduce vehicle idling times and safety concerns at the point where that street crosses the heavily used four-track CP rail line.

At the same time, its construction will create an S-curve realignment of the street which means it will have a major impact on a long-abandoned industrial property on the south side.

“The project requires a deep slice though the property to allow the street to pass underneath the rail line,” says Derek Stewart, associate partner, Ecoplans Ltd.

As a result, the rail separation is intertwined with the remediation of the three-hectare industrial site, says Stewart, whose firm is the environmental consultant for both the remediation and the underpass.

McCormick Rankin Corp. is the overall detailed designer and contract administrator.

The property was the location of a zinc-oxide manufacturing plant from the early 1950s to the early 1990s and was once occupied by several buildings including the main manufacturing plant, a baghouse, a furnace production and storage building, as well as underground storage tanks.

An investigation of the site by Ecoplans, which included drilling 31 boreholes and a comprehensive sampling and analysis, showed large areas of contaminates such as heavy metals.

“Most (of the contaminants) were in the top metre and a half of soil, although some went deeper.”

A number of remedial options including encapsulation were proposed. “But the town was concerned about liability and rejected that option.”

There was also certain urgency. As the west half of the municipally owned site will be the area most directly impacted, the town decided to sever the land. It has retained ownership of the west parcel, but has sold the east half to a developer who has proposed using it for a mixed-used commercial/residential development.

So, a more traditional remediation method was chosen. Over a two-month period, Hazco Environmental Services Ltd. excavated and hauled away approximately 5,500 tonnes of hazardous soils and 28,000 tonnes of non-hazardous soils. The Hamilton-based firm also trucked in and applied 15,000 tonnes of clean backfill and then lined the property limits with a PVC geothermal membrane to prevent migration of contaminants which had been detected on adjacent properties, says Stewart.

Despite the amount of truck traffic entering the site on a daily basis, every effort was made to minimize the project’s impact.

“The streets were kept clean by the contractor using a sweeper and water truck and dust levels were controlled by the application of water using a water truck.”

Traffic control was also managed by the contractor. Site egress and exit were strictly controlled through a traffic management plan agreement with the town.

The east half of the site — the parcel which will eventually house the condominium — is now being used as a staging area by BOT Construction, the grade separation contractor.

At this point, the rail grade separation is in a very preliminary stage. BOT has moved rails to accommodate a temporary detour and is now in the process of removing the contaminated soil beneath those tracks.

It will take four years to fully complete the underpass, says John Brophy, the town’s senior manager of infrastructure. “However, after two years we will be able to direct two lanes of traffic under the rail bridge.”

The catalyst for the project is the heavy amount of road and rail traffic at the crossing. Its daily “exposure index” is 300,000. The index is the term used by the Canadian Transportation Agency to gauge road and rail traffic.

“The trigger limit when a grade separation is warranted is 200,000, so this location is warranted to be grade-separated.”

Compounding the potential safety hazards of that high traffic are poor sightlines and the fact the tracks are at an extreme angle to the road, says Brophy.

Source: dcnonl.com