Nuvem meet discusses construction of bypass
December 23, 2013
TNN |
MARGAO: A special meeting at Nuvem was held to discuss the construction of the Nuvem bypass road which was attended by Nuvem MLA Francisco ‘Mickky’ Pacheco who assured the residents that he would take up the matter and work towards finding a solution to the issues raised.
Around 450 residents were signatories to a representation drafted by local resident Jose Roque Andrade and the same was discussed at the Sunday meeting and resolution was passed in its favour. The villagers have demanded that a flyover be built along the Nuvem Majorda road.Andrade explained that the residents feared that after the completion of the Nuvem bypass (part of NH-17) and when it becomes operational, the villagers residing on the eastern and western side of this road will have difficulties to cross the said road due to heavy vehicular traffic.
“Therefore, a flyover is required along Nuvem-Majorda road. Moreover, we have the school and Church closeby, and we will be putting little children into a lot of inconvenience,” said Andrade.
The representation further observed that there are no proper ways for water to flow from higher level eastern side of the road to River Sal.
Another bone of contention with the villagers is the use of industrial waste ie steel slag as construction material, which has been objected to by the villagers and Pacheco in the past.
“The industrial waste/slag should be tested if it is suitable for road filling. Even if it is found suitable, the proper procedures have to be followed, now it will affect the surrounding environment,” said Andrade.
The villagers further demanded an environment impact assessment report as the road is made in wet land and agriculture land where both paddy crops, kharif and rabi are cultivated and that biodiversity in that area had to be protected. Villagers further demanded that preventive actions are taken to avoid man made disasters. The villagers further plan to submit the representation to all government departments concerned including the chief minister and district collector while Pacheco promised to follow up on the matter.
Govt moves to ease highway developers’ financial stress
December 23, 2013
MAMUNI DAS
Policy on staggering premium obligations of developers soon
The focus of its attention is on 53 projects for developing 6,415 km of highways, awarded during the UPA’s second term. Most of them are stuck or financially stressed.
Developers secured these projects based on the premium they offered to pay the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the right to design, build, operate and collect tolls.
They have not yet started any work on many of the projects, especially on the 31 projects awarded in 2011-12. Some developers – GMR, GVK, Ashoka Buildcon and KMC Constructions – have backed out from the projects by serving termination notices to the NHAI.
The next few days could, however, see a breakthrough as the Centre is set to finalise a policy for rescheduling the premium obligations of developers.
The Government has more or less firmed up a formula. It involves giving the developers the option to pay 25 per cent of their original premium outgo for the first three years and 50 per cent in the following years, subject to discharge of the entire postponed obligations three years before the concession period of 20-30 years ends, Highway Ministry sources told Business Line.
The developers will, however, have to pay interest on the premium payments postponed.
“Just as the premium obligation is fixed, this rate will also be fixed. We have tentatively decided a rate of 10.75 per cent,” a source said. The Government, to protect its financial interests, is also planning to prevent developers from paying any dividends before meeting their postponed premium obligations in full.
Any takers?The logic here is that developers should not use the project cash flows from the staggered premium commitments for rewarding promoters/shareholders, they added.
However, it is not clear whether this formula will help developers get started on their projects.
Developers most likely to make use of this option are the ones who are six-laning their existing four-lane projects, where construction and toll collection are already under way.
“Right now, we are borrowing at 11-11.25 per cent. If the discount (interest) rate is set lower, we will certainly use the option,” said Virendra D. Mhaiskar, CMD, IRB Infrastructure Developers.
IRB is executing the 114-km Chitradurg-Tumkur bypass and the 102-km Ahmedabad-Vadodara stretches, involving a combined premium outgo of Rs 450 crore in the first year with a 5 per cent annual escalation factor.
Another developer who could benefit is Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, which also has three projects already under construction with a total premium outgo of Rs 200 crore: Pune-Satara (140 km), Kandla-Mundra Port (71 km) and Hosur-Krishnagiri (60 km).
But the real problem would be in kick-starting projects where developers had quoted high premiums and are yet to begin work.
“At 10.75 per cent discount rate, I don’t see more than six projects making use of the proposed policy. The developers have already commenced work in these and are stuck. So, any deal reducing cash outgo in the initial years and keeping their debts from ballooning is probably welcome,” said M. Murali, Director-General, National Highways Builders Federation.
‘Rs 345 cr needed to acquire land’
December 23, 2013
TNN
KOZHIKODE: Minister for social justice and panchayats, M K Muneer, has said that the state government has urged the finance department to allot Rs 100 crore to begin preliminary works for the land acquisition process for developing the Mananchira -Vellimadakunnu road.
Addressing the gathering at a meeting at the collectorate conference hall here on Saturday, to assess various road works under the City Roads Improvement Scheme, he said that a fund of Rs 345 crore is needed for the completion of land acquisition along the 8.4 km stretch between Mananchira and Vellimadakunnu.
The Mananchira-Vellimadakunnu stretch is a major road connecting the NH 17 (Kannur road) at Malapparamba bypass and NH 212 ( Wayanad road) at Eranhipalam Junction. Once the road comes up here, it will help solve the existing traffic snarls in the city to a great extent.
The minister said that the land acquisition process for the development of Stadium – Puthiyara road (600 metres), Kovoor-Vellimadakunnu stretch (2.7 km), Karapparamba – Kalluthankadavu road (4.7 km), Panattuthazham – CWRDM road (8.44 km) and Gandhi Road -Mini bypass road (3.38 km) has already been completed. He also informed that the land acquisition process for the development of the 2.34 km-long Francis Road – Pushpa Junction – Mankkave Road has been progressing on a war footing. The minister said the state government is wwaiting the approval of the finance department to float tenders to begin the works on the five roads for which land acquisition process has already been completed.
Land acquisition deputy collector P V Gangadharan, Road Fund Board assistant executive engineer Lekha, convener Somasundaran and tahsildhar Ramla attended the function.
‘Highway projects worth over Rs1 lakh cr to move soon’
December 23, 2013
Press Trust Of India : New Delhi,
The highways ministry expects projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, which have been stuck for long, to start moving from next month as a concrete decision on the rescheduling of premium paid by developers is expected by the end of this month.
“I am hopeful that highway projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore would be on stream next month onwards. The report of C Rangarajan Committee on premium rescheduling is likely to be accepted by month-end,” road transport and highways minister Oscar Fernandes told PTI.
The government has constituted a panel, headed by Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council C Rangarajan, to look into the issues pertaining to bailout of highway developers. The government had approved a proposal in October for the postponement of premium payments by highway developers and has referred the matter to the Rangarajan panel.
The move is likely to provide relief to a large number of players such as GMR, GVK and Ashoka Buildcon.
Their projects have been facing delays on account of high premium — the payment made by developers to the National Highways Authority of India under the BOT mode.
The premium, which is offered by companies during the bidding stage, is based on projected returns from tolls.
India exploring Azerbaijan-Iran road route for trade with CIS
December 23, 2013
Commerce ministry asks Freight Forwarders’ Association to conduct dry run to study feasibility of plan
The commerce ministry has asked Freight Forwarders’ Association of India (FFAI) to conduct a dry run to study the feasibility of using the road route between the two places.
“We are trying to completely explore the route through a cost benefit analysis. The idea is to use the infrastructure as it is present today. The plan to build the rail is going on separately,” a commerce ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We are trying to find out why businesses do not use the existing road link. What are the problems and concerns of businesses.
The Freight Forwarders’ Association of India will submit the report by end February or March.”-
An FFAI official confirmed it is undertaking a dry run in the route. He, too, declined to be named.
India is trying to persuade Iran to build a 165km rail link between Rasht and Astara, a connection that will help Asia’s third biggest economy access the markets of the CIS and Russia. India currently uses the Suez Canal to reach the landlocked CIS countries. If the rail link is built, goods from India can be ferried through Iran into the CIS countries using the Bandar Abbas port, which will reduce the distance drastically.
Exploring the road link to boost trade with the region is a good move since the main problem is the lack of infrastructure and information gap, according to Ram Upendra Das, a senior fellow at Research and Information System for Developing Countries.
“It is very important to keep India economically engaged in the region because there is a lot of untapped potential. Irrespective of our economic relationship with other countries, this would be a new region to expand our trade,” Das said. “The study could be useful for business communities of both sides.”
In a recent study on enhancing India’s trade with Russia, the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) said that while India’s ranking in Russia’s export market improved from the 24th position in 2001 to the 21st position in 2012, its ranking as an import partner for Russia declined from 19 in 2001 to 22 in 2012.
Russia maintains a trade surplus with India, which rose from $575 million in 2001 to $2.2 billion in 2012 as a result of a sharp fivefold rise in Russia’s exports to India from $1.1 billion to $5.1 billion in that period.
Fertilizers are the largest items in Russia’s exports basket to India, accounting for around 21% of the total exports from India in 2012, up from 9% in 2001. Pharmaceutical products dominate Russia’s imports from India, accounting for as much as one-fourth of its imports from India in 2012. India is the third largest source of pharmaceuticals for Russia, after Germany and France, with a share of 6% of Russia’s total imports in 2012.
For India, Russia ranks as the second largest market for pharmaceuticals after the US, accounting for around 7.8% of India’s total exports in 2012.
Other major items in Russia’s import basket from India include electrical and electronic equipment, iron and steel, coffee and tea, machinery, apparel and accessories, and miscellaneous edible preparations.
Although India’s exports to Russia has been increasing, India needs to export more to bridge the widening trade deficit, said David Sinate, chief general manager of Exim Bank of India.
“In Russia’s import basket, India’s share of pharmaceuticals is coming down, which means other countries are exporting larger amount of pharmaceuticals to Russia,” Sinate said. “Similarly, in textiles also, while our exports to Russia are rising, our share in the Russian textile import basket is coming down.”
JICA may fund Chennai, Bangalore ring roads
December 23, 2013
By KR Sudhaman
JICA’s chief representative in India, Shinya Ejima, told Financial Chronicle that it might take up these two projects even before the master plan for Chennai-Bangalore-Chitradurga industrial corridor is ready. The plan is expected to be completed by March next year.
“We have not finalised the funding amount as yet, but it could be up to $300 million each,” he said.
JICA, which has funded up to Rs 30,000 crore for the Delhi Metro project, has also funded Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata metro projects. It has also pumped in Rs 4,700 crore to fund the underground portion of the 60 km Colaba-Virar metro project to be jointly taken up by union and Maharashtra governments.
“The Rs 4,700 crore commitment for 33.5 km underground stretch of the metro project in Mumbai is perhaps the first instalment. There could be one or two more instalments as it’s a big project,” he said.
According to Ejima, there are demands from Indian government for funding more metro projects in the country, including that of Kochi and Lucknow. But so far no decision has been taken as the financial viability of these two metros is yet to be ascertained, he said.
JICA, which provides nearly 50 per cent of its overseas development assistance to India, also give long-term financial assistance at a low interest of 1.4 per cent with a repayment period of 30 years, including a 10-year grace period.
Ejima claimed that JICA’s loans are the cheapest and is lower than that of World Bank and ADB loans. JICA loans provided to environmental projects carries an interest rate of a mere 0.2-0.3 per cent.
China was the largest recipient of JICA loans until 2000 with an annual commitment of $2 billion. JICA has stopped lending to China since 2008. Now India is the largest recipient and its annual commitment would be $3-3.5 billion in the next couple of years. India is keen that Japan step up its annual commitment, which is likely after a couple of years, Ejima said.
The potential for Japanese investments in India is huge. About 30,000 Japanese private companies have invested in China, whereas in India it is surging towards 1,000 mark. Comparing the two, Ejima said in China decisions are taken quickly where as in India there are a lot of procedural delays. But the scenario is improving, added Ejima.
India can also be a major manufacturing hub for Japanese companies for exports to countries in Africa and West Asia and there are a lot of medium and small Japanese companies want to set up in India, but they want faster and easier clearances.
Ejima said JICA, which has lent $1.5 billion for the Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor did not expect Chennai-Bangalore freight corridor happening in the immediate future. JICA would basically set up two to three industrial townships along Chennai-Bangalore corridor, as the region already has good roads and good rail connectivity.
There will be Japanese investments in Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridors, but by private players. Lately, a private Japanese company is interested in building airport at the new industrial town Dholera coming up near Ahmedabad on DMIC and JICA is partly funding the feasibility of the project.
Ejima said water and energy are two major areas of JICA funding in India apart from transport sector. JICA will also be funding forestry projects every year in India. JICA annual funding has grown from $1.2 billion in 2001 to $3.5 billion in 2012. Only in 2010, the funding had dropped to 0.48 billion due to the devastating Tsunami disaster in Japan.
Though JICA has funded metros and dedicated freight corridors, “We are not helping Indian railways directly and the immediate reason is there is no official request from Indian government to support Indian railways,” he said adding for all the projects JICA has funded until now, the request came from the Indian government.
Ejima said Japan could look at funding high-speed rail corridor. One is Mumbai-Ahmedabad and other one could be Chennai-Bangalore. “Recently, we have appointed consultants for joint feasibility study with Indian Railways for Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor,” said Ejima.
According to Ejima, the huge investment of Rs 63,000 crore on Mumbai-Ahmedabad is worthwhile. He points out that when the high-speed train between Tokyo-Osaka was launched in 1964, the per-capita income of Japan was only $900. Given that India’s per-capita income is pegged at $1200-$1300, it should be a viable project, he said adding that the joint feasibility report would reflect on these aspects.
PWD probe grants clean chit to Kumarhatti-Nahan road project
December 18, 2013
Shalender Kalra, Hindustan Times | Nahan,
After a probe into the alleged irregularities in the widening of the Kumar Hatti-Nahan road project, the quality and design wing of the Public Works Department (PWD) has reportedly given it a clean cheat.
During his visit to Sarhan on September 17, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh had ordered PWD superintendent of engineer (SE) to conduct a probe into the 75-kilometre-long World Bank-aided project, which is expected to come up at the cost of Rs. 142 crore.
Sources placed with the PWD said following the CM’s order a team headed by the SE (quality and design) inspected the road and collected samples of the materials used.
The probe report further stated that the work was carried out as per the parameters set by the detailed project report (DPR).
When asked, PWD SE (quality and design) BB Bhardwaj confirmed that the quality of the construction was found satisfactory, adding that the collected samples also passed the lab test.
He further said the construction of the road was in progress according to the DPR.
However, RIDC official Naresh Sharma said it was just rumour that the work was not being done properly and the norms were violated.
Arguably, the project entails an environmental cost – as many as 11,606 trees were laid down for the widening of the road.
In all, 33 months have been granted to Delhi-based Som Dutt Builders to finish the project, which was over in July 2012. The Road Infrastructure Development Corporation (RIDC), the executive agency of the project, has fixed a fresh deadline of March31st, 2014 for the completion of the project.
The issue of the shortcomings in the widening of the road was also raised in the Himachal Assembly a few months back. Now the road has been declared fit for plying the traffic within the speed limit of 40-45 km per hour.
The villagers had also raised their objection to narrow turns of the road.
Kumbalam-Aroor bridge to open to traffic this week
December 18, 2013
KOCHI,
JOHN L. PAUL
Damaged bridges on Container Road still out of bounds
The Kumbalam-Aroor bridge will be thrown open to vehicles this week after repairing the potholes.
On Monday, a milling machine brought from Andhra Pradesh scooped out the tarred portion, exposing the concrete surface. “There are a few uneven surfaces over concrete and patch work will be done using bitumen. Vehicles will be able to use the bridge soon after,” said NHAI’s Kochi project director C.T. Abraham.
The bridge was built in late 1980’s by the Kerala State Construction Corporation using pre-stressed concrete. Five months after traffic was banned through the bridge, NHAI recently entrusted a contractor to scoop out the bridge’s tarred, potholed surface.
The repair work is being done on the basis of a report from a team of experts from IIT, Chennai. They spoke of how tarring has to be done afresh, since pothole-filling will not last long, Mr Abraham said.
Potholes developed all over the old bridge within a few months of NHAI resurfacing it in July 2011. Motorists, traffic police, NGOs and youth wings of political parties had blamed NHAI for inordinate delay in fixing the damage, despite the agency collecting hefty toll from highway users. The potholes thus became bigger, exposing the bridge’s concrete surface. After a slew of protests and accidents, NHAI curbed traffic through the bridge in June.
Container road bridges
Though Aroor-Kumbalam bridge is slated to be opened to vehicles next week, NHAI is yet to reopen two brand new bridges which were closed down in 2012 following structural damage. Both were built by Soma Constructions.
The bridge built parallel to the second Goshree bridge was closed to traffic after its gap slab began to sink at an alarming rate.
The NHAI entrusted the probe to civil engineering experts from NIT, Kozhikode, who are yet to finalise their report. To a question on how the problem could be rectified, Mr Abraham said the spans will have to be extended or their number increased, thereby extending the bridge’s viaduct.
Similarly, the Moolampilly-Kothad bridge on the Vallarpadam-Kalamassery Container Road was declared out of bounds for vehicles within a year of it being opened to traffic. This was after a huge chunk of concrete fell off the bridge’s surface, leaving a gaping hole in the bridge.
“Repair works are under way, following which the bridge will be opened to traffic,” Mr Abraham said.
Source-http://www.thehindu.com
Japanese offer to revive sagging ring road project
December 18, 2013
BANGALORE |
BDA waiting for GoI approval to borrow Rs. 3,800 cr. from Japanese aid agency
The peripheral ring road (PRR) project of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which has witnessed endless delays on account of litigations and fund crunch, is all set to take off now with the help of foreign funding.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, BDA Commissioner T. Sham Bhat said that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a multinational aid agency, had come forward to assist the PRR project with a soft loan of Rs. 3,800 crore.
The proposed 65-kilometre, 75-metre-wide road will connect Tumkur Road with Hosur Road via Doddaballapur Road, Bellary Road, Old Madras Road and Sarjapur Road.
Mr. Bhat said that the cabinet had approved the proposal and that it was being scrutinised by the Union government. “The Chief Secretary [Karnataka] has informed us that the Union government is satisfied with the proposal and will grant permission within 10 days,” he said, expressing hope that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JICA would be signed in a month.
When asked why the BDA, which is already saddled with massive debts, is borrowing further, Mr. Bhat said that JICA had offered them an extremely attractive low interest loan. “They approached us and no other Indian bank or aid agency came forward,” he said.
The acquisition of 1,900 acres for the PRR project is complete, Mr. Bhat said, as a result of a High Court order that set aside objections to the notifications. The cost of the PRR project is Rs. 5,800 crore of which the BDA has already incurred an expense of Rs. 2,000 crore towards compensation to land losers.
Source-http://www.thehindu.com
Overloaded trucks will now be fined 10 times the toll
December 18, 2013
Overloading is one of the major causes of road accidents and fatalities.
NEW DELHI: Truckers carrying goods beyond the permitted load will end up paying 10 times higher toll charges, as per the new norms notified by the government as part of amendment in toll rules for national highways in the country.
This meant in case a three-axle vehicle was found overloaded, it could pass the toll plaza after paying the charge for a four-axle vehicle. “This penalty was too little. Though the rule also included offloading of extra load, there was hardly any impact. Now, private road developers will have an interest checking overloading as they will get substantial extra revenue,” said an official.
Overloading is one of the major causes of road accidents and fatalities. In 2012, overloading and overcrowding caused almost one lakh accidents and claimed 30,500 lives on Indian roads.
Moreover, a Central Road Research Institute study had shown that with 10% overloading above the permissible limit, the life of roads got reduced by 35% and with 30% overloading, it got reduced by about 65%.
International experts have been pushing for reforms in rules and regulations to make travel safer on Indian roads. Pushing for such reforms, India head of World Health Organization Nata Menabde said last week, “If India can save its children from polio, we are sure that we can save those children than dying on roads later.”
She had said that across the world, road accident was the biggest killer of young population in the age group of 15-29 years.
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