Infrastructure News & Discussion

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Prem
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Prem »

Lack of transportation infra straining logistics: Deloitte
http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 234_1.html
Though India is seen as the second-most attractive logistics market after China, issues such as shortage of skilled manpower, poor adoption of technology, with higher costs and lower profitability, have hampered development in this sector, consulting and financial advisory Deloitte said on Thursday.In its report Indian Logistics-Focus on infrastructure creation to sustain and drive growth, Deloitte said, India was a fast-growing economy, with one of the largest consumer markets of automobile, pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods and retail, which will drive the demand for logistics in the country going ahead.An efficient logistics system reduces the cost of trading, providing an edge and propelling economic activity, said the report.Quoting a McKinsey study, Deloitte said, inefficiencies in logistics infrastructure costs the Indian economy an extra $45 billion, 4.3 per cent of the gross domestic product, every year. The study also warns a 2.5 times growth in freight traffic demand by 2020 (compared with 2010 levels) will strain India's infrastructure further. However, such high demand prospects also present an opportunity for logistics companies in India, said Deloitte.
The Planning Commission has budgeted for an initial logistics infrastructure investment of Rs 4.1 trillion over the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-2017), double that proposed under the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012).
But global and domestic slowdown over two years has stymied overall infrastructure creation, said the report.Creation of infrastructure was also delayed on account of issues related to environmental clearances, land acquisitions, as well as sector-specific challenges, that stalled financial closures for awarded projects or impacted investor interest for new ones, said Deloitte.Highlighting the challenges faced by each of the segment of logistics infrastructure: Road, railway, port and air cargo, the Deloitte report concludes there are three key aspects the sector should look into. One, there is scope for capacity creation and efficiency improvement to ensure improvement on a 'logistics performance index'. Second, the opportunity in each segment is enormous and the 12th five year plan has set ambitious targets for expanding these capacities significantly over the plan period. Third, if the gap between current and potential levels has to be closed urgently, huge private sector investment will be required to bring in both funds and best practices.
SaiK
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by SaiK »

to prevent something like this on emergency case, we need emergency lanes, and roads designed for traffic conditions.

infra growth is not proportional to needs..

either we think about re-architecting cities with double layered road system or move people to create new cities.
SaiK
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by SaiK »

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technol ... d-17201135

check out the great video in this link
SaiK
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by SaiK »

Image
@pickover
panduranghari
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by panduranghari »

Yash wrote:Vadodara (erswhile Baroda) gets a *much* needed bus depot makeover. As far as media points go, this may not rank as high as airport terminal makeover these days but this surely services the aam junta much more. In pictures.

Is there a masterplan cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda and others in Gujarat are following? If so, I'd be interested in knowing where the funding comes from - bonds, municipal taxes, or direct state largesse? As far as I know, the buses operating out of here are all public sector but there may yet be a public-pvt partnership (has to be) angle.
From Abenomics.
prahaar
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by prahaar »

GSRTC transport at least in some sections has reached levels. My parents earlier had to take a taxi from Vadodara to Ahmedabad, costing them in excess of 2000 Rs. Nowadays, they take a GSRTC express bus, which goes non-stop on express highway in about an hour and a half. There is not even a conductor, since the tickets are charged in the beginning and no intermediate stops (costing a fraction). I remember earlier days when the bus would stop for a chai/pee stop and take in excess of 3 hours. All this change is possible.

What can be the cost impact on rolling out Internet access on such short haul buses? It can also ease up the housing market to an extent.
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Gyan »

Cross post

I sat down and wrote a long post over one week and lost it. I still don’t know how. So here is the summary:-

1. Keeping fiscal deficit low but still allowing inflation by permitting hot FII money is bad economics
2. Arvind Subramanian the Economic Adviser to Govt of India appointed by Modi also talks about increasing Public Infrastructure investment
3. Some Indian English Business TV Channels are also propagating this view i.e. the talking heads are against keeping fiscal deficit low but still allowing inflation by permitting hot FII money and admit that it is bad economics
4. It is reversal of almost of 25 years of economic policy of inviting foreign investment while killing Indian Pvt/Public Sector by keeping internal interest rate high
5. By my Calculation Our Combined Union and State Budget is around Rs 34 lakh crore per annum while only 2% out of it is infra spend.
SriniY
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by SriniY »

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 719907.ece
Students and academia of the IITH are immersed in developing 5G cellular wireless communication technology, which would be on a par with global standards. The indigenous development of technology could be of immense value to India in view of the low cost of development coupled with high performance possibilities.

A team of about 20 students pursuing their B. Tech, M. Tech courses and Ph.D. from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EE) department are working on this project. However, it would take a few years to become a reality.

The proposed architecture for 5G is Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) under which a central cloud (server) would be established at a convenient location where it is easy to handle. It would be connected with large number of low-power Remote Radio Headends (RRHs) through fibre optics. These RRHs can be fitted at any place without much expenditure as it was expected to cost about Rs. 5,000 each and supposed to cover about 20 km distance. These RRHs are lost cost, low power consuming and offer high capacity.

This system offers convergence of cellular, WiFi, sensors, Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (inter communication and data transfer between embedded systems without human intervention – IoT) on single platform – cloud. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Government of India, has sanctioned Rs. 23 crore for the IIT-H towards this project.

Tejas Networks, a private firm working on communication systems, came forward to join hands with IITH to work on this project and supplied additional engineering resources for 4G/5G base station product. IITH would have the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) on the product while Tejas Networks would be allowed to use the technology under the transfer of technology (ToT) mode.

The engineers from Tejas Networks would be working with the IITH team to synchronise their products properly with new technology when it would be launched. The research activity is being headed by Dr. Kiran Kuchi, Associate Professor.

“This technology will offer lot of advantages like establishing communication networks in remote areas with less cost and accessing data very fast without a fraction of interruption. The wireless sensors that would be established under this system with easy to communicate can be crucial in developing smart cities. This will be much in use once the broadband optical fibre network was established both in rural and urban areas,” Dr. Kiran told The Hindu.
Telecom, especially wireless telecom infrastructure, is an area we are lacking and need to invest heavily in. I hope they plan to have IP that can be licensed out world wide and may got in as part of the 5G wireless standard as well.
chetak
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by chetak »

THE 3G LOOT - THE UNKNOWN STORY (PART 1)


I have a BSNL mobile connection. It's highly temperamental. Sometimes, during a call, the voice fades away and the connection breaks. Most times the call does not go through at all. The signal keeps fluctuating for no rhyme or reason. Very frequently, while on the move, I expect the signal to get cut. But it doesn't....

When I checked out with a BSNL lineman on the reasons for my mobile connection's eccentricity, he spread out his hands, expressively. "We just don't have enough towers", he said. "Both 2G and 3G are operating through the same towers. That's why we have so much problems".

He was only reiterating what I had known all along. I am sure the Indian people would also like to know what is wrong with our national telecom major.



The year : 2008. India was on the threshold of a telecom revolution. Implementation of 2nd generation telephony (2G) was well under way. And the nation was getting ready to usher in 3G technology. The third generation telephony would give access to uninterrupted wireless broadband and internet connectivity, high speed data connections, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services and several other facilities one normally associates with telecommunications in developed countries.

May Day 2008 : Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) unusually issued a tender notification on the national holiday inviting bids for upgrading BSNL's infrastructure to support the proposed 3G network in the country. The mega bid worth Rs 40,000 crore for planning, engineering supply, installations, testing and commissioning of infrastructure for 90 million lines of mobile expansion in six phases was an ambitious project, extremely tempting for all key players in the telecom Industry.

On instructions from the then Telecom Minister, Andimuthu Raja, then CMD of BSNL Kuldeep Goyal, directed all his immediate subordinates to work with the Department of Telecom in rolling out the tender notification process. They issued the tender notification with No /TA/ Cellone/SZ/2008/01 consisting the 145 page document inviting two stages bidding system in four parts. The last date for the bidding was on July 16, 2008. But at 11.30 hours, it announced that the bids would be opened on the same day at 12 noon.

There was nothing abnormal in the tender notification and nobody doubted the genuineness and scope of the business opportunity. BSNL was moving on fast to improve its huge infrastructure and network facilities across the country setting up 60,000 mobile towers for facilitating 3G technology. In south zone comprising five circles Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Chennai Telecom District itself 16,000 mobile towers were required with a total tender value of Rs. 6500 crores.

With the notification of the bid, the stage was set for the new scam.

Meanwhile, an unknown Chennai software company BR Softtech Enterprises Private Limited started its benami operations in the BSNL Infra deal. BR Softtech had been incorporated on December 01, 2007 with its registered office No 6, 30th street Ganapathy Colony, O-Block, East Anna Nagar, Chennai. It was a letter-pad company promoted by two businessmen MK Bhasker (PAN: AKMPB3198C) and V Ramkumar (PAN AMGPK5102 R). The company was registered at their residential address. After incorporation, the company transacted no business at all. It was waiting for its turn in the telecom scam.

The two were petty businessmen who had the right connections with a political family that mattered. Bhasker held 9000 shares in the company, while Ramkumar held 1000 shares of Rs10 each making a paid up capital of Rs One lakh.

According to the minutes of the Board of directors meeting held at the registered office on May 27, 2009 at 10 AM, a decision was taken to rename the company as ICE Televentures Pvt Ltd. The main objects of the Memorandum were altered to “venture into the business of telecommunications, which includes hardware, software and 3G technology and to carry on all types and kinds of services and turnkey infrastructure business in telecom”. This meeting was the first step in the BSNL 3G Infra scam. ICE Televentures then changed its registered office to 11/23 Mannppan Street, Old Washermenpet, Chennai. The Registrar of companies issued a fresh certificate in the of name of the company on June 25, 2009.

Well before BR Softtech or ICE Televentures had come into existence, two other businessmen had registered a real estate company, Desi Holding and Consultants Private limited in 2005 to carry out business in Tamilnadu. They were MRT Ramanujam and MV Damodaran, both known to be close to the same political family. When they formed Desi Holdings, with a paid up capital of Rs One lakh on 2005 November 11, Damodaran did not even have a PAN number. In Desi Holdings, Ramanujam had the major stake with 9900 shares and Damodaran’s stake was only 100 shares worth Rs1000. Like BR Softtech, this letter-pad company in its extra ordinary meeting on April 16, 2008 decided to change its name to Genext Telecom Pvt Ltd and changed the main objects of its memorandum of Association of the company as “to carry on the business of manufacture and trading of telecom equipment, telecom infrastructure and its maintenance, providing telecom services in India and abroad” and also “to build ports, airports and operate on lease from government”.

Genext Telecom later changed its name once again. On June 10, 2008 Genext Telecom Pvt Ltd was renamed as Ice Telecom India Pvt Ltd with its registered office at Ashirwad Apartments, First Floor, # 14/1 First main Road, I Block Anna Nagar East , Chennai.

Interestingly, MV Damodaran, the Director of Ice Telecom India Pvt Ltd, submitted on his company’s letterhead a no objection certificate to the RoC, Chennai stating that Ice Televentures was part of the Ice Telecom group of companies. Such a certificate was necessitated when BR Softtech applied for its change of name. MV Damodaran wrote to Registrar of Companies on 2009 May 25, “We came to know that the name of BR Softtech Enterprises (P) Ltd is going to be changed into Ice Televentures (P) Ltd . As it’s our group of company, we hereby give no objection certificate for the name change of BR Softtech Enterprises (P) Ltd into Ice Televentures (P) Ltd. Even though its name resembles like our name, our business will not be affected”.

This letter, in essence links the two companies.

Since both Ice Telecom and Ice Televentures did not have expertise or required experience to vie for the bid, Minister Raja, who was obviously under instructions to favour them, advised them to enter into partnership with another company which had the required expertise in the telecom sector. The search narrowed down to TVS-Inter-Connect Systems Ltd with registered offices in Bangalore. ICE Telecom India Pvt Ltd, Ice Televentures and TVS–ICS formed a consortium to bid for the BSNL Infra order. In the bid, ICE group’s involvement was never mentioned. Instead, TVS-ICS front-ended.

According to a Business presentation made by TVS–ICS to its global partners, the company won the bid for BSNL Infra tender for the South Zone for Rs 6500 crores and company’s share of 50 per cent of the total tender amounted to Rs 3250 crores. The rest went to its silent partners ICE Group of companies (which together had a paid up capital of a mere Rs 2 lakhs!). The Business plan was silent on its partners and their role in the BSNL Infra deal.

In June, 2009, BSNL shortlisted Spanco Telesystems & Solutions, TVS Interconnect Systems and Acme Tele Power for executing the BSNL 3G infrastructure contract. Spanco was the lowest bidder for the west zone, TVS-ICS for the south zone and Acme for the North and East for the passive cellular infrastructure contract.

From June 2009 onward, the Ice Group started looking for global partnerships as they had neither money nor capacity to execute the mega deal. When the bid was made, TVS–ICS was not keen on providing the infrastructure to BSNL. Their role was of a front ending company, pocketing a 4 to 5 per cent commission from the deal.


Soon after winning the deal, the Ice group of companies started scouting for global partnership. But they miserably failed in their attempts. By mid-July of 2009, global Telecom players started smelling a scam in Indian telecom deals. Many Embassies warned their leading companies that the Indian game was an unsure bet and cautioned them against deals with their Indian partners. So the consortium decided to appoint an investment consultant for identifying investors for the project.

On August 27, 2009, Ice Televentures appointed one Sanjiv Kumar Dwivedi, the CEO of Ubiqui Softech Ltd as its investment consultant. His role was to identify and line up global investors for the BSNL Infra deal and bring money for their project. Dwivedi was offered 1.5 per cent syndication charges for the amount arranged or structured.

What was Dwiwedi's role? Under whose instructions did Raja favour rank outsiders like the Ice Group to execute a mega project? What ultimately happened to the 3G infrastructure? These are questions that will be addressed in the next post in a few days from now.

So keep watching....
Sumeet
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Sumeet »

SaiK wrote:Image
@pickover

Then what will you say about California ? :)
sooraj
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by sooraj »

Budget 2015: Highways sector allocation may double to Rs 45,000 crore
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 257533.cms
The Narendra Modi government has managed to award contracts for about 4,000 km of roads of its target of 8,500 km in the current fiscal. The road transport and highways ministry has a target of another 8,500 km for 2015-16.With private sector investment almost drying up in the highways sector, the government has awarded nearly three-fourths of the roads through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) route. Essentially, the government will have to build roads till the time private sector steps in. "We have asked for a hefty allocation and there is good chance we will get it," said a ministry official. Experts said that the sector can grow rapidly if funds are made available.
Kakkaji
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Kakkaji »

Government to start Ken-Betwa river interlinking by December
NEW DELHI: The government is confident of starting the ambitious project of interlinking of rivers by December with the Ken-Betwa link after getting clearance from both the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments and the locals living in the Panna National Park agreeing to move out after getting adequate compensation.

The 31st project of interlinking of rivers was added during Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal in 2014 where he signed an agreement with the neighbouring country to link Sharda river water with Yamuna. This is aimed at ending the water woes of Delhi.

The Water Resources Ministry is confident of sorting out roadblocks in implementing the Tapi-Narmada link that would benefit Gujarat. Uma Bharti, who heads the ministry, may hold talks with Maharashtra unit of Congress on the issue. Experts have underlined that sentiments being attached by some Maharashtrians to diversion of Tapi river are misplaced as no water from it is used for irrigation and is allowed to flow into the sea.
Kakkaji
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Kakkaji »

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari emphasises on developing waterways
"A bill for launching water transport in 101 rivers, covering 82,000 kms, is pending before the Parliament... It will be started within five years.

Gadkari said the much-awaited 1620-km Haldia-Varanasi waterways would be opened next year and added that water ports would also be constructed in a big way.

"Within six months, India will be witnessing launching of a sea plane while a sea bus would be seen in Mumbai in next three months," he said.

Stating that an investment of Rs 3.8 lakh crore in 281 road projects would increase the road network from present 96,000 kms to 1.5 lakh kms, he said it will help his ministry to add two per cent to the country's GDP.

At present, 14 km of highway is being constructed per day across the country which will go up to 25 km per day by March 2016, he said.
A_Gupta
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by A_Gupta »

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/busi ... 456461.cms
Oct 19, 2015
NEW DELHI: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu is leaving on Monday for Singapore to participate in the Infrastructure Finance Summit.

Prabhu will be a key speaker on Tuesday at the summit, which has been organised by World Bank in association with the Singapore government, said a senior railway ministry official.

The rail minister is participating in the event to facilitate sourcing of funds for infrastructure development in India, a cause he has been championing for long.
Kakkaji
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Kakkaji »

Highway to growth: Government spending on roads likely to go up by 50 per cent to Rs 1.5 lakh crore
NEW DELHI: The government plans to raise its roads construction target for the next fiscal by a steep 50%, taking the total spend to Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to set an aggressive target of awarding around 15,000 km of roads next year, of which 30% will be done through private participation and the rest through the government-funded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model.
a_bharat
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by a_bharat »

In the last couple of months, we are hearing a lot on "awarding" X kms of road projects and Gadkari has become silent on how many KMs are being built per day. He initially boasted of achieving the target of 30 kms/day within a short time. Where do we stand on this metric now? Anybody has this data? Thanks.
Theo_Fidel

Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Can someone in Delhi clear these projects please. It souldn't take over a year to get basic JICA approval... ..peripheral road is vital to begin right now...

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/ ... 063167.ece
Japanese Investment Cooperation Agency is yet to receive a request to fund the 129 km Chennai Peripheral Ring Road project from the Centre.

Senior representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ichiguchi Tomohide, said that the project, which the state government expects to cost Rs 10,000 crore could be funded only after the Department of Economic Affairs gives its nod. State highways department officials said that the socio-economic study has been completed and they have submitted the report to the Centre which will be forwarded to JICA.The project is being implemented by the Tamil Nadu Road Infrastructure Development Company (TNRIDC) and aims to ease congestion besides making freight movement to Ennore port from southern manufacturing parts of the state easier. Around 15 to 20 per cent of the project cost is being funded by the State government.

The Chennai Metro Rail’s Phase I extension project to Tiruvotiyur is also awaiting Union Cabinet’s approval after Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu made the announcement last year that his ministry has cleared the proposal. The proposal to extend the Phase I extension of the project by a further 9 km from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar at Tiruvottiyur will cost around Rs 3,700 crore.

Similarly the funding of 150 MLD desalination at Nemelli, south of Chennai is likely to be finalised with the visit of German funding agency KfW officials on October 5. The desalination project was delayed as the New Urban Renewal Mission scheme and its guidelines were yet to be formulated. It was given clearance by the Centre only last month after the state government wrote to the Centre to expedite clearance.
nandakumar
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by nandakumar »

Theo_Fidel wrote:Can someone in Delhi clear these projects please. It souldn't take over a year to get basic JICA approval... ..peripheral road is vital to begin right now...

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/ ... 063167.ece
Japanese Investment Cooperation Agency is yet to receive a request to fund the 129 km Chennai Peripheral Ring Road project from the Centre.

Senior representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ichiguchi Tomohide, said that the project, which the state government expects to cost Rs 10,000 crore could be funded only after the Department of Economic Affairs gives its nod. State highways department officials said that the socio-economic study has been completed and they have submitted the report to the Centre which will be forwarded to JICA.The project is being implemented by the Tamil Nadu Road Infrastructure Development Company (TNRIDC) and aims to ease congestion besides making freight movement to Ennore port from southern manufacturing parts of the state easier. Around 15 to 20 per cent of the project cost is being funded by the State government.

The Chennai Metro Rail’s Phase I extension project to Tiruvotiyur is also awaiting Union Cabinet’s approval after Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu made the announcement last year that his ministry has cleared the proposal. The proposal to extend the Phase I extension of the project by a further 9 km from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar at Tiruvottiyur will cost around Rs 3,700 crore.

Similarly the funding of 150 MLD desalination at Nemelli, south of Chennai is likely to be finalised with the visit of German funding agency KfW officials on October 5. The desalination project was delayed as the New Urban Renewal Mission scheme and its guidelines were yet to be formulated. It was given clearance by the Centre only last month after the state government wrote to the Centre to expedite clearance.
The notion that Centre is holding up these projects may not be correct. Take the road project. The State Government assumption that they need only fund 15 to 20% of the project cost as the news report indicates may not be true. For instance, the Chennai Metro is funded on 50:50 basis (equity) between the State and the Centre. Then there is land acquisition costs. The principle is that the State bears the land acquisition costs. MRTS extension in Chennai, to St Thomas Mount from Velachery was on the understanding that the State bears the land acquisition costs.
As for Chennai Metro extension to Thiruvottiyur the budget provision for the Urban Development Ministry would have been finalised by October 2014 for 2015-16. It can happen only in 2016-17. As for the desalination plant the story doesn't say that there is anything pending from the Centre.
Theo_Fidel

Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Nanadakumar saar,

Thanx for the clarification though I don't buy it. The article is very clear where the hold up is.

The article is also clear the desalination project is stuck due to the suspension/cancellation of the JNNURM. I have long lamented the damage this single act has done, this is yet another example.
Suraj
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Suraj »

a_bharat wrote:In the last couple of months, we are hearing a lot on "awarding" X kms of road projects and Gadkari has become silent on how many KMs are being built per day. He initially boasted of achieving the target of 30 kms/day within a short time. Where do we stand on this metric now? Anybody has this data? Thanks.
Not true. You simply have not been following the news, and reality is far more nuanced than your claim. It's not upto others to prove you wrong after you walk in and assert something like this. Please be mindful that you're on a collaborative forum. It's rude to barge in and claim XYZ and ask for data to prove otherwise. Do the work yourself for a start, or just keep these polemics out of TEF threads and stick to the politics thread where anyone says anything.
a_bharat
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by a_bharat »

Suraj wrote:
a_bharat wrote:In the last couple of months, we are hearing a lot on "awarding" X kms of road projects and Gadkari has become silent on how many KMs are being built per day. He initially boasted of achieving the target of 30 kms/day within a short time. Where do we stand on this metric now? Anybody has this data? Thanks.
Not true. You simply have not been following the news, and reality is far more nuanced than your claim. It's not upto others to prove you wrong after you walk in and assert something like this. Please be mindful that you're on a collaborative forum. It's rude to barge in and claim XYZ and ask for data to prove otherwise. Do the work yourself for a start, or just keep these polemics out of TEF threads and stick to the politics thread where anyone says anything.
It is quite possible that I might have missed some of Gadkari's statements on the number of kms of road built per day. But, I didn't ask anybody to prove anything. I was asking for the data. If that is not allowed on this forum, fine. Perhaps your issue is with the word "boasted" that I used in my original post, which I realize I should have avoided.
Hitesh
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Hitesh »

Then do your own goddamn research instead of demanding it in your "asking" manner.
Suraj
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Suraj »

a_bharat wrote:It is quite possible that I might have missed some of Gadkari's statements on the number of kms of road built per day. But, I didn't ask anybody to prove anything. I was asking for the data. If that is not allowed on this forum, fine. Perhaps your issue is with the word "boasted" that I used in my original post, which I realize I should have avoided.
Strike 1: bringing politics here. Strike 2: asking others to prove you wrong. Don't do this. That doesn't sit well on these threads. If you can't be bothered to contribute positively, at least just politely encourage others instead of barging in here with that sort of attitude.
hanumadu
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by hanumadu »

Kakkaji wrote:Highway to growth: Government spending on roads likely to go up by 50 per cent to Rs 1.5 lakh crore
NEW DELHI: The government plans to raise its roads construction target for the next fiscal by a steep 50%, taking the total spend to Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to set an aggressive target of awarding around 15,000 km of roads next year, of which 30% will be done through private participation and the rest through the government-funded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model.
At 30 cr for four laning one km, 1.5 lakh crore is enough for four laning 5000 km of road. All this from govt spending alone, without private sector money.
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by nandakumar »

Theo_Fidel wrote:Nanadakumar saar,

Thanx for the clarification though I don't buy it. The article is very clear where the hold up is.

The article is also clear the desalination project is stuck due to the suspension/cancellation of the JNNURM. I have long lamented the damage this single act has done, this is yet another example.
Fair enough Theo. Let me attempt a more detailed explanation. It is a long post. So bear with me.
Delays in administrative decision making is endemic to governmental functioning both at the Centre and the States. That said, I am not revealing any State secrets when I say that TN has one of the most centralised decision making apparatus in the country. Equally, we know that either for reasons of health or inclination, this authority is unable to devote as much time to decision making as such centralisation warrants. Which is why I am a little sceptical about newspaper reports which seem to imply that paperwork at the state level in TN is fast but that things at the Centre is where projects are getting stuck. Truth often tends to be less black and white and more greyish.
I will come to JNNURM. The UPA Government itself had decided in 2013 that fresh proposals under JNNURM will be accepted only till March 2014. There is a sound public policy logic to such decisions. The UPA Government when it assumed office in 2004 decided to give an added thrust to urban infrastructure. The emphasis is on the word 'added'. This is because it was not as if there were no central funds available for urban infrastructure. State transport corporations, for instance, were buying buses under JNNURM type schemes even earlier. But the added thrust (by way of additional allocation of funds) has to yield to some other public policy focus area as development priorities of a popularly elected government varies from time to time. So even if the UPA had returned to power, there is a good chance that priorities would have shifted. This is not to say that there would be no funds available for urban infrastructure. The funding pattern would have been modified somewhat. The new funding pattern that has been decided is that on-going projects on which 75% of the physical work has already been executed would continue to get central assistance in the ratio of 80-20 (Central assistance at 80%) and two, new projects too would be eligible for central assistance but at reduced level of 25%. Now, it is no a no-brainer that the Chennai's burgeoning water needs could be met only from desalination and recycling of waste water. Inter-basin river water transfer type of schemes are politically so problematic that they might as well be ignored as a medium term solution to the problem of drinking water requirement. Of the two solutions mentioned, desalination was from a project implementation perspective the easier option. the existing two desalination plants have surplus land and could easily have been scaled up. The decision on the first plant was as far back as 2005. It would have been so easy for the DMK in the 2006-11 period and AIADMK in the period since then, completed the project proposal for not just 2 but even 4 such plants and completed it before the 2014 deadline to be eligible for liberal central funding. The irony is that the project would have been self financing (for State Government component, that is) if they had acted with speed and purpose. A 100 million litres per day desalination which was commissioned last year cost roughly Rs 1,000 crore. Now if they set aside 10% of the water for supply as premium priced bottled water for the affluent and even priced at Rs 6 per litre, the Government would have generated a profit of Rs 0.50 cr per day net of production cost (desalination cost Rs 0.50 per litre, four rupees per PET bottle, Rs 1.00 as retail distribution margin leaving a profit of Rs 0.50 per litre). In other words, the State Government's investment (Rs 200 cr under the old JNNURM formula) would have been recovered in less than 2 years.
Because the Government couldn't make up its mind or was otherwise preoccupied the deadline of March 2014 had been lost. Under the new scheme the State had to come up with 75% finance and hence have approached KfW (German funding agency). The problem with overseas funding is that the Centre has to factor in its external debt liability on a nation-wide basis and hence projects must necessarily stand in the queue.
To sum up the JNNURM funding pattern has been modified. State has to now bear the bulk of the cost. Such changes are unavoidable when there are number of socially relevant projects needing central assistance. The TN had been very slow to take advantage of the option available.
Theo_Fidel

Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Nandakumar,

Thanx for the write up. This is definitely a subject we as a nation should pay more attention too. Unfortunately things like the latest scandal or some Bollywood rear end or the latest election cycle dominate our society to our endless discredit. There is no discussion, no pressure groups, no organized citizen groups that press for these projects. Instead there is random mouth shooting off about how this silver bullet or that magical thinking will solve our problems dominates our society. Sorry just venting a bit due to the frustrations of Chennai drainage. What a shambles….
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I want to respond in sections.
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The JNNURM has been replaced if I understand correctly by the AMRUT scheme. Its annual funding though has been cut to RS 10,000 crore PA which also includes the smart city funding as I understand with majority going to the smart city, which essentially guarantees existing cities get very little. It is not stand alone like JNNURM. Other than a few fools like me who follow this, it is never mentioned in places like BRF. This is most unfortunate. Not just that, the list of covered cites has been expanded way out of proportions and the per project limit shrunk to Rs 10 crore, though this is a thumb rule and not a hard rule. So no funding for things like desalination or ring roads. The entire team assembled to review and implement JNNURM has been de-funded and disbanded. So AMRUT is essentially back to square one. AFAIK not a single rupee has been allocated for any projects so far. You can imagine if allocation comes next year and projects starts in 2017 you may be lucky to see anything by 2020.

Why these needless interruptions and changing rules unnecessarily that bog down the nation in bureaucracy. For once can we recognize a program is working and stick with it.... ...and increase funding not cut it by 80%+-...
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The idea of SG sloth. I have met the TN govt. officers sir and if they tell a media reporter that the DPR has been created and sent to GOI for clearance, I believe them. They do not take their word lightly. You can see they are trying not to make this a political thing, they just want it cleared and are trying to send a hint. I saw the similar write up in Malar from a few days ago. Trust me if AMMA wants to make this an issue it would be an issue. If anything that is JJ's real problem right now. Her personal scandals have made her take her eye off the ball so the officers are forced to issue these notes.

Bottom line is that the peripheral ring road has not been approved and work has not started. Same with the Metro extension and the desalination plant.
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WRT JNNURM funding it was not always 80% GOI. Most times it was 30% or less esp. for the UIG program. In fact I know of no projects in Chennai that attracted more than a 30% GOI participation rate. Many projects had 10% participation IIRC. You can see the allocations by state and total project cost in link attached.
http://jnnurm.nic.in/wp-content/uploads ... etails.pdf
What even 10% GOI participation allowed is to make projects that were marginal, financially viable. When DPR's are produced, infrastructure projects too often have a ROI of 5% or less. So obviously they go on the back burner. Unfortunately just the way government in India works, as I know from firsthand experience in service. So institutionally there is a deep bias towards ignoring infrastructure, esp. urban infrastructure. JNNURM changed all that by suddenly making these projects rise to 10% ROI, which broke lose a whole slew of local projects. As you can imagine an interruption would not just mean 10% reduction in spending it meant a 100% reduction as just about all projects ended up un-viable with 'REJECTED' stamped on it. BTW I still get nightmares from the red 'REJECTED' stamp on my proposal reports. I once got a 'REJECTED' for a hospital in an area where 30 kids were dying PM. The costs did not justify the expense some how. :cry:

With the miserly allocation for AMRUT, this means the there will never be enough money to support projects like desalination. So SG is now at a loose end and desperately seeking German funding which will then have to be approved by GOI yet again. :( What ever else you may say about PC, it was his allocation that built Minjur and Nemmili, to his eternal credit. The fact that such nationally important projects have to be shoved down the throat of the bureaucracy in Delhi in a marginally nepotistic manner says all you need to know about GOI babucrats....
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BTW couple of details WRT desalination which was not the original topic but still fascinating.

The Minjur plant was technically a technology demonstrator. In March 2014 the State Govt. was pre-occupied with commissioning the Nemmeli plant which was not going well as I recall due the quality of intake water and some damage from a cyclone and rough seas. Also IVRCL was having money issues at Minjur, which was also struggling and the SG had to negotiate a sale and a new promoter. There is no chance that any well run government will risk starting 4 plants of new technology right off the bat, esp. in such a situation. TN has done the correct thing here by steadily adding to the projects one at a time and focusing on making sure the project they do have are running.

The real problem as the article identifies is that the funding pattern for such nationally critical infrastructure, namely desalination, has changed. As you can imagine this prevents the benefits of repetitive efficiency as everyone is back to square one. This is clearly cause of the delay for the third unit which is not finalized to this date, which means, allowing for a 5 year schedule, 2021 at earliest.
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Finally, I think this entire thing of GOI approving every JICA loans has far exceeded its sell by date. TN SG should be allowed to generate a revenue stream to pay JICA loan with money it generates as a state. This is reform that is sorely needed to reduce paralyzing bureaucracy and release the states from the hobbling control of delhi.... ...delhi should do no more than an accounting exercise to plug the numbers into an state escrow account... 1 day exercise, tops...
Supratik
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Supratik »

Theo, there has been a shift in funding for several programs. As the state govts have been given more money they are expected to utilize it more to fund programs in their states instead of depending on the center. AMRUT is in line with this thought process. Smart cities are a different program and will be funded primarily as private programs and PPP mode.
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by vipins »

81 cities to invest over Rs 5700 crore in water, sewerage system
Central assistance will be provided to an extent of Rs 2,440 cr while the rest would be contributed by state governments and urban local bodies, said a senior UD Ministry official.

With about half of the urban households in these 81 cities not having water supply and sewerage connections, Rs 4,290 cr of the total approved outlay would go into providing household water supply connections and enhancing water supply in 53 cities.

While Rs 1,133 cr would be spent on providing sewerage connections in 41 cities, Rs 92 cr would be invested in storm water drainage projects in 14 cities, Rs 80 crore for promoting non-motorised public transport in 22 and Rs 113 cr for providing parks and green spaces in 76 mission cities.
Theo_Fidel

Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Suraj wrote:The Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and NDRF are on the ground right now. Don't believe it ? Check Sitanshu Kar's twitter feed. What exactly does extra money do that extra people with the tools to rescue people does not do ? The state government does not have the tools the already deployed central personnel already have.
I'm replying here as it is more on topic here..

We are thankful for these folks believe me we are but this has been standard response for many years now. And it is only basic life rescue. I think when these disasters happen in future we need to have the ability declare a disaster and dedicate a fund to recovering from that disaster. By the time one applies to the relief fund and some babu approves it it is too late, and government appears to be slow and ineffective. The real damage comes now during the reboot.

A fund commitment would allow the SG to do many things, right now more vegetables could be air lifted to market from elsewhere(the SG shops are running low), (airport is open) trains are iffy and roads are closed. More clean water can be shipped in, already there are reports of disease. And immediately more pumping equipment, more disease control spray, more road repair, more cleaning crews, more crews to help clean/disinfect peoples homes, more traffic police, repaint and repair homes/business/buildings, road repair, remove/replant trees, etc. If necessary more crews should be brought in from outside Chennai, esp. electrical crews to bring power back. CG can definitely help here...

Ultimately a flood control solution will require CG funds, it is beyond SG to pay for that.
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Gus wrote:they did not even desilt the mouth of adyar and cooum which could have increased flow into sea and helped lower levels..
No it was de-silted last year. In fact desilted every year. Try to keep up.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/che ... picId=1408
In response to the complaints, two machines have been engaged to remove sand blocking the Adyar river mouth. Normally, the department cleans the mouths of both the Cooum and Adyar river at frequent intervals. But now, sand is being removed every day in light of the complaints, officials of WRD said.
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Suraj »

Why ask for more from CG right now, when they already provides plenty more earlier this year ? The central goverment no longer emphasizes handling the lions share of finances at all. It went beyond the recommendations of the 14th finance commission (2015-20), which recommended that states get 42% of the central divisible pool, up from 32%. For Tamil Nadu, the incremental additional gains from this are Rs.6000 crore. The overall annual devolution of central revenues to states is now Rs.5.25 lakh crore, up by Rs.1.85 lakh crore over the previous fiscal year:
Budget 2015 | Dynamics of centre-state relations
In other words, there's already been a substantial move to put a significantly larger share of revenues directly in the hands of the state government. This is in addition to their own sources of state tax income.

When disaster hit, the center immediately dispatched armed forces and central disaster relief personnel to the spot, and the news reports indicate that they are doing their job very competently. TN already got an extra Rs.6000 crore from the central budget in March.

It's not very credible to spend decades of AIADMK/DMK duopoly-driven mismanagement of urban development, and then *after* the central government devolved billions more in revenues to states as well as immediately sent forces to help rescue people in a calamity, blame them for 'not sending more money'.

Chennai is not a union territory. It has a municipal corporation that runs a surplus, and is the capital of one of the most industrialized states, with a sizeable state budget. It's own budget management has been lax:
Disappointing budget from the Corporation of Chennai
The Corporation is, therefore, faced with falling revenues and is resorting to borrowings on a large scale to fulfil its promises. The loan component has increased from Rs. 546 crore the previous year to Rs. 1020 crore in 2015-16. The interest burden has jumped from Rs. 14 crore in 2014-15 to a whopping Rs. 105 crore in the coming year. Given this situation, it is but natural that the civic body is cutting down on all capital expenditure – roads, bridges, lighting, parks and stormwater drains. Now what does a city corporation exist for if it is unable to cater to these needs? And how does Chennai hope to be an international city if it does not spend on the upkeep of its infrastructure?
The city needs to be run better. With even greater devolution of central divisible revenues to states, it's no longer sensible for states to beg the center for money when in many cases they're simply not able to manage the additional largesse effectively.
SaiK
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by SaiK »

Some time back (it must be 5 years now) Chennai was aiming to be Singapore of India.
vipins
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by vipins »

Government approves Rs 3,120 crore for infrastructure boost in 102 AMRUT cities
With today's approval, the ministry has so far cleared a total investment of Rs 11,654 cr in 272 Atal Mission cities for improving infrastructure for ensuring water and sewerage connections to all households in such cities, besides, enabling water supply as per the norm of 135 litres per capita per day for urban areas.
RoyG
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by RoyG »

SaiK wrote:Some time back (it must be 5 years now) Chennai was aiming to be Singapore of India.
Urban planning is a joke. Won't happen for another 20 years until new ones start coming up.
SaiK
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by SaiK »

I have a bhurka dhaaga for ideas. Get your problems or define them here, come up with a solution right there as well.
here: http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... =24&t=7140
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by kvraghav »

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/an-8 ... 99409.html

The above mentioned bridge construction has started moving towards completion after a gap of 2 years. The officials are so lazy and in UPA mode, it needs a letter from the PMO for even small things like a over bridge. :evil:
PM sir had promised him to get it completed within the next 6 months.
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Re: Infrastructure News & Discussion

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

A new 500 MW power plant, significant enough to mention!


http://bhel.com/press_release/press_pop ... ess_id=787

15-Dec-2015

BHEL commissions 500 MW Thermal Unit in West Bengal

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has added one more coal-based power plant to the grid by successfully commissioning a 500 MW thermal generating unit in West Bengal. The 500 MW (Unit 3) was commissioned at the upcoming Sagardighi Thermal Power Extension Project of West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL), located at Sagardighi in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. This is the first unit of Phase II (2x500 MW) of the power plant and the second unit is also in advance stage of completion. BHEL has been a major partner of West Bengal in the power development programme of the state. 73% of the coal based generating capacity of West Beng....
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