Bharat Rakshak

The great son of the soil HD Devegowda personally battled hard against the Nandi Infrastructure team which was to build the Bangalore Mysore infrastructure corridor on the ground of land acquisition and compensation, and this project just remained and remained.

India as a whole needs to figure out land acquisition because that is going to be the number one issue for any greenfield project.

the state highway to mysore is very tough to negotiate these days as its not even at the std of the NHDP 4 laned roads though 4 laned in name. narrow lanes, unscientific speed humps at every corner, over crowding of vehicles, no bypasses for a few major towns enroute.

you'd need to take some major risks to maintain a avg of around 60 over a few hrs on this road.

that project is a mega scam. for example for a project as big as that there are no detailed plans with the govt. notes and amendments have been made to the original agreement willy nilly by buying off bureaucrats. for a company that was supposed to build roads, they are selling land around bangalore to other developers for things like theme parks and museums. kheni guy is producing movies.

i have no special love for gowda, and know about his love for land, but if gowda has succeeded in stonewalling it, it is for a reason. a loot of such gigantic proportions should not come easy. 16 years is fine. if the project-walas keep obfuscating, another 16 years i hope.

shaardula wrote:kheni guy is producing movies.

Kheni dude, I feel have made sure that the documentary evidences are in place. Because I remember a court ordering Karnataka Govt. to pay a huge sum as court costs to Kheni. The NICE road between Hosur Road and Kanakapura Road, have a series of posters showing Kheni in various avatars. In some he is attired as a Maharajah, and in another as an IPS officer. Then there are also lots of posters put up by some youth club or other, with a few local folks and Kheni. I had first thought that Kheni liked dramas, but now I see it is movies.

Sachin wrote:

shaardula wrote:kheni guy is producing movies.

Kheni dude, I feel have made sure that the documentary evidences are in place. Because I remember a court ordering Karnataka Govt. to pay a huge sum as court costs to Kheni. The NICE road between Hosur Road and Kanakapura Road, have a series of posters showing Kheni in various avatars. In some he is attired as a Maharajah, and in another as an IPS officer. Then there are also lots of posters put up by some youth club or other, with a few local folks and Kheni. I had first thought that Kheni liked dramas, but now I see it is movies.

There are posters and huge cutouts of him all the way upto Tumkur road. But i'm thankful for NICE road, my commute would be hellish otherwise.

http://sports.ndtv.com/formula-1/news/i ... topstories

the Indian F1 track a $400 mil bet by Jaypee group.

Another scam in the making??


NTPC coal reserve norms behind power crisis?

New Delhi: Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has said that the coal crisis that threatened a power blackout in the country has been averted and things will get to normal in the next four to five days. It was blamed on blockade in Telangana, rains and a two-day strike in Coal India for the crisis.

But documents with CNN-IBN show that Telangana and flooding were not the real reasons for the recent power crisis. The Electricity Authority data shows that the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and other power utilities did not maintain adequate coal reserves.

Data shows NTPC kept coal reserves dangerously low at some plants. In October alone, as many as 22 power stations were declared 'super critical', that means coal just to last four days, while 36 power stations were 'critical' - that is coal for less than 15 days.

Last week, angry consumers ransacked offices of power distribution offices in several locations in Maharashtra.

The Coal Ministry and NTPC have blamed it on the weather, on the people (due to Telangana agitation) or even on the Indian Railways.

"It rained like never before. Ten-year-old record of rainfall has been broken," said Sriprakash Jaiswal.

He even blamed the Telangana crisis for the fall in power production.

"There was shortfall since the (Telangana) strike began," said Jaiswal.

But the data from the Central Electricity Authority tell a different story. Coal reserves were kept dangerously low by power utilities like NTPC in the previous year too, when there was no Telangana or Coal India strike.

Consider the figures for just October 3, 2011 and 2010:

In 2011 Badarpur Thermal Power Station had four days of stock instead of 30 days. In 2010 Badarpur was the only power plant that was overstocked - 44 days - against the requirement of 30 days. Possibly this was because of the Commonwealth Games.

Dadri had three days instead of the 30 it's supposed to maintain in October this year. Last year, Dadri had just 11 days against the reserve of 30 days, while Vindhyachal had no stock instead of 15 days. Last year also they had no stock in plant.

The NTPC has not responded to an email query… but power ministry sources told CNN IBN that - NTPC is following CEA norms because they are not allowed to keep coal stock of more than 15 days as CAG questions them for keeping government money blocked. That's a new twist in the tale of the power crisis.

So, did Telangana hit coal supply that badly? The Singareni Collieries even in the agitation month of September met it overall target at 101 per cent, though dispatches to power plants was only 61 per cent.

The other reason put for poor supply of coal is shortage of railways. But a Planning Commission note deflates this theory. The railways has been suggesting that road movement be stopped and railway rakes lying idle should be put to some use.

The Coal Ministry wants NTPC to import coal, but the company said it's not feasible.

In the name of keeping costs under control, the nation has been pushed to the brink of a crippling power crisis, and surprisingly the company in the eye of the story is public sector Navratna NTPC.

The E Sreedharan led panel has opined against PPP in urban transport infra projects. Having worked on two such projects myself, I can't find myself disagreeing with them.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... -transport

Kashmir waits for hope tunnel.

Mild blasts beneath the Patnitop hill and the Peer Panjal range of mountains in Kashmir do not cause panic among the locals anymore. The first few times it did. Now, though, they know that these blasts aren't terror attacks. They are just part of the work needed to build tunnels that will change their lives forever.

Over 1,500 engineers, geologists and labourers have been working round the clock since June 2011, burrowing out two sets of twin tunnels which, when completed in 2016, will reduce the distance between the two most important cities of Kashmir - Jammu and Srinagar -- by at least 50 km. Travel time, too, will go down by about two-and-ahalf hours. At present, it takes about 10-11 hours to go from one city to the other under normal weather conditions . More importantly for the people of J&K , the tunnels will ensure roundthe-year connectivity between the two major hubs.

The tunnels, two each on the Quazigund-Banihal stretch (8.45 km) and the Chenani-Nashri stretch (9 km), are being dug out on the NH1 road that routinely sees traffic being disrupted days on end due to heavy snowfall during winters and landslides in monsoons. That might just be a thing of the past.

"Once we have improved connectivity , we will see greater economic activity in the region," says Abdul Hamid Punjabi, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "We need to transport most of the fruits produced here to Jammu and beyond. And for most of our daily needs, we depend heavily on products coming in from Delhi, Maharshtra and other states. It's important for us to have all-weather connectivity on this road, the Valley's only link to the outside world."

Between October and January, Kashmir supplies at least 200 truckloads of apple every day to the rest of the country. The supply of pomegranates and other fruits is also significant from this region. It is widely believed that poor connectivity of Kashmir with the rest of the country has been a major impediment in the growth of the food processing industry in the state.

"The tunnels will boost the setting up of food processing industry. We will see growth of floriculture activities and related industries in a big way as the tunnels will ensure faster movement of perishable products from the valley. All of this will also have indirect financial benefit on other aspects of life in Kashmir," says Veerender Singh, project director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at Srinagar.

Tourism, without doubt, will benefit . "The more time tourists spend at different spots, they will spend more. This has a direct link to people's income both directly and indirectly ," says Rias Khan, a travel agent based at Patnitop, hopefully.

The massive infrastructure work, being undertaken at the cost of Rs 4,500 crore, has already begun to have an impact on the employment opportunities for locals in the vicinity . Besides, it has employed people from other parts of the state, too.

ILF&S , which is constructing the Chenani-Nashri tunnel, has already employed over 600 unskilled, semiskilled and skilled youth of the state. This constitutes 94% of the total work force involved in the project. "About 52% of the total workforce from J&K is unskilled. Their employment for the next four years at the site will have positive impact on their earning. The skill that they learn will make them employable," says J S Rathore, head of the Chenani-Nashri project.

So talked about is the tunnel in J&K these days that ask anyone at the dhabas dotting the highway about it and they say, "Accha kaam chal raha hai. Hum sab ke liye accha hai (Good work is going on. It'll do all of us a great deal of good)." If there is light at the end of the tunnel anywhere, it is here at NH1.

^^Good.

PM Singh OKs Plan to Monitor Infrastructure Projects

Friday, the government said it will periodically review the progress of projects under the Investment Tracking System to ensure that issues are quickly identified and resolved.

All public-sector projects with an investment of 10 billion rupees ($178 million) or more will be monitored by the National Manufacturing Competitive Council, a statement said. The Department of Financial Services will monitor similar-sized projects of private companies, and the two bodies will report the progress of projects to the prime minister every quarter.

A system to monitor a system?

chippandas working to glory in desh

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/che ... epage=true

^^^
They are working for an inflated paycheck as has been reported before. I suspect those 15 workers probably make on the order of $100,000 - $150,000 annually. 6 months on 6 months off. The probably make the equivalent of the the other 1000 casual laborer on site.

This is Panda SOP. As has been reported before all manuals are deliberately printed only in Chinese. Even the testing and licensing procedures are all only in Chinese. The fault is with India as we don't make TBM's domestically.

Theo, I've always wondered why is it that such machines are not manufactured in India? is it a technology issue? investment issue? volume issue?
In case of fire engines as well, I saw that the fire engines are imported from abroad. Surely it will be cheaper to manufacture here in the long run? Surely we will need many TBM in the near future?

These are relatively high technology items and must be brought to market by technology companies. Same WRT fire engines. I know first hand just how hi-tech fire engines are. Just to give you an idea the water impeller for USA fire engines is made by the same company that manufactured turbo pumps for the space shuttle engine. Out of similar materials too. Power to weight ratio and all.

Need to get a $ Billion Indian company or 2 to see an opportunity and bring the technology to India. For instance JSW has tied up with Mitsubishi to manufacture 800 MW super critical turbines in Chennai. We don't have enough $ Billion companies so tempting niches such as these go unexploited. For instance there is $ 2 Billion company in the USA that makes vibration base isolators. Just that one item. In India we sadly have to import it as I have done for my projects. $2,800 a pop.

perils of the SME model I guess ..germany too has many small sized companies ,some making remarkable engineering stuff ...Indian industries succeeded in places which needed less labour/less initial investment ..chemicals for instance.. but it is doing okish in engineering goods .i wonder why...

may be because of labour problems I guess...one of the reason why Guj has done well in engineering goods..(elecon for instance) ...its one of the places where land and lobour is not a problem...

The Chinese have experience producing Herrenknecht TBMs through a joint venture. They probably have a license production deal that enables them to extract technology and produce knockoffs that they're now sending over to India.

from web sitr of herrenknecht ag


http://www.herrenknecht.com/products.html



from wiki

Roughly two-thirds of the 3,300[1] employees work at the company headquarters and roughly 300 work at three different locations in China.

The Chennai metro ones came from the Shanghai Urban const group, which I beleive acquired its technology from the Robbins group. We need a similarly large company to bring the TBM technology in-state.

Thanks Theo, Gakakkad and Suraj appreciate your response. It’s more about critical mass, just like Indian companies can execute huge IT projects need many such companies but in a scale way bigger than IT I guess.


Regds....Kamalraj

i think we should enlist technologies which are lacking in India and which companies are world leaders in these ..I had opened a thread "dream acquisitions for India inc." in the general discussion forums which could also be used for this IMHO...

Road to nowhere: the longest expressway India never had

Upwala Digging their own economic grave

BALLIA, India (Reuters) - In a wheat field near the mighty Ganges river stands a cracked foundation stone surrounded by nibbling goats and farmers driving their cattle in the baking sun.Unveiled more than four years ago, it's all that remains of an ambition to build India's longest expressway, an eight-lane, 1,050-km (650-mile) road that would have run through Uttar Pradesh and connected one of the country's most backward regions to the doorstep of the nation's capital.upporters of the Ganga Expressway project say it would have helped transform Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and one of its poorest, and the lives of its 200 million people by slashing travel times and letting industry and townships sprout.But having been in and out of the headlines for years, the project has all but crumbled under the weight of political wrangling, opposition from farmers whose fields would have suffered, and a court order in 2009 stalling construction on environmental grounds.Officially, the Ganga Expressway still exists on paper, but with SP in power in Uttar Pradesh, it is unlikely to be built, at least for years.Across India, poor infrastructure has helped put the brakes on the once-stellar growth of Asia's third-largest economy, which has dropped to its slowest pace in nine years, and businesses are clamouring for more policy action.Lacking the financial muscle that China has to bring its infrastructure up to speed, New Delhi has turned to the private sector to fund half of the $1 trillion target.But time after time, big investments fall prey to red tape and battles over land, stalling projects for years. Firms complain bureaucracy and corruption delay the awarding of contracts, while debt to fund new ventures is scarce and the market in which to bid for them too aggressive.As a result, New Delhi has consistently missed construction and funding targets for many sectors in recent years. Out of 583 projects worth more than 1.5 billion rupees each, 235 are delayed, according to the government's 2011-12 economic survey.

Roads are the worst hit, although the $8 billion Golden Quadrilateral project, that links big cities New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai with modern highways, has been mostly completed

GMR’s Big Steal: Rs 24,000 cr land for Rs 31 lakh

Shocking if true.

Republic of Lootistan: CAG, and the face of ‘crony capitalism’

Amazing Gulf of Khambat Kalpasar Project

The Gulf of Khambhat Development Project
(KALPASAR)

Infrastructure news and discussion should carry basic infrastructure too.. hence it is important to bump this dhaaga.


Couple of guys came near home, maasan neighborhood and drew a huge pipe out of a semi large truck to expunge drainage. Then he pumped/vacuumed with high pressure air to clean the internals. I feel that is a valuable investment to make even if it means to obtain such vehicles via FMS route. [/sorry for the pun - I know it requires installations on the ground with receptacles etc, and expensive, but it is mandatory to advance as society.. how long shall we keep not copying these advanced setup for basic living, while in the defence front we are spear heading better than china? no way, our citizens should be left behind.. we need to be an advanced country, and that can only happen with advanced civilian setup]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Del ... epage=true





With the delayed Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, expected to see the light of day in the near future, there maybe some hope for the millions employed in the inhuman profession. While the Bill widens the scope of the definition of ‘manual scavenging’, it does not provide any concrete rehabilitation plan for erstwhile scavengers, especially the rehabilitation of already liberated manual scavengers

^ Saik garu,

I have seen many such m/c in India and I also have seen people physically getting into sewage systems in massa.

I think Chindu is doing here what it does daily.

PSU project execution capability at its best.

Another example.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/che ... epage=true

before we plan for better roads, we need to plan for better hygiene and sewege systems. why not jump start here, with a super-imposed plan? what is stopping us? it can't be money anymore.. there would be funds from all over the world.

Hyderabad

About Jan-maarg, Ahmadabas bus transport System
link

Urban mobility in Ahmedabad link

A presentation on Jan-Maarga link

Hyderabad looks quite green what is the big highway thing out there ?

Austin wrote:Hyderabad looks quite green what is the big highway thing out there ?

That is the Outer Ring Road and NH7(HYD-BLR) interchange near the new Airport. This picture was probably taken from an aircraft approaching the airport.

A larger image...

Had been to Bangaluru from Mumbai and Back in a Chhota Car before monsoon set. 2000 kms only to n fro.

Total Toll paid was Rs 2,190/- only (both way)

'Nice' to experience left hand drive wala bullock cart, rikshaws and motorcycle walas, they always smiled at us buddhus driving on a right lane.

Overall a good exp, had been to Chitradurga while coming back. Awesome place.

After leaving Belgam, Decent or a reasonable dhaba/hotel were very scarce. Had to remain patient to find a small chai wala dukan for one/two hour drive. Or just dont drive over the crossover bridges, still could not get decent food till bangaluru.

Foodie guys, visit Belgam for awesome food.

Could no fine suitable dhaga hence posted here, admins feel free to move to appropriate place : DC power grid innovations

http://performance.ey.com/2013/08/15/fi ... ce_Wardour

Xpost/Digital Infrastructure

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/24/ ... treetview/
India’s Rival to Google’s StreetView

A little known Indian company called Virtual World, a unit of Genesys International has launched a mapping service that allows users to virtually browse through Indian cities, a service that competes with Google Inc.
Genesys International chairman Sajid Malik.—Genesys InternationalThe service, WoNoBo.com, was built using the geographical information system and geospatial technology of Genesys International, which has about 2,000 employees working on complex mapping projects.Genesys International’s chairman Sajid Malik spoke to The Wall Street Journal about the new mapping service.
WSJ: What is the rationale behind building WoNoBo.com when global players like Google already provide such a service?
Mr. Malik: We feel that the ability to navigate your physical environment virtually is a very important part of the Internet. Right now if you go on the Internet, you search for textual things largely, and even images are a part of it, but searching for a city in a manner that you navigate the city in a physical form was something we wanted to build. And we wanted to make it intuitive because we as Indians have not grown with maps as a society.
WSJ: What’s different about WoNoBo.com compared with Google’s Street View, which allows users to pin places of interest?
Mr. Malik: Our software will help users search and find places better. We have images of 10 million places that we have added to our service, where individuals and businesses can post information about places and share it with other WoNoBo users as well as through social networks.It also offers guides, created by users as well as experts, showing locals where to eat, what to shop for, where to take your children while visiting and a lot more.
This is the first modern urban chronicle of India.
WSJ: What’s the target audience for WoNoBo.com?
Mr. Malik: Every Indian with an Internet connection is a potential audience for us. There are about 150 million people who access the Internet in India and this number is expected to grow exponentially in three-four years. The mapping service can also be used on mobile phones.WSJ: Tell us about your expansion plans.Mr. Malik: We have launched in 12 Indian cities and plan to launch in 54 cities by December. We do plan to take the service to other emerging markets in the neighboring Asia-Pacific region.
WSJ: Google has faced legal issues while collecting data in India. How do you source your data?Mr. Malik: We have collected images of places using vans that go around cities collecting images through a mounted camera. We also use images from satellites. We use a combination of our own and satellite images.

^^^
A few months down the line, Google can buy this company and they can get what Indian government was preventing it from collecting. How stupid will Indian government look after that?

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131126/main3.htm

Talwandi Sabo power plant gets cracking
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Banawala (Mansa), November 25
The first unit of the 1,980-MW Talwandi Sabo Thermal Plant became operational at Banawala village today. The plant, which happens to be the first in the private sector in Punjab, was commissioned by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal by pressing a remote button.

The inaugural ceremony of the 660-MW unit saw the Badal clan, including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal, drubbing the Congress-led UPA government.

The CM accused the Congress of ruining the agrarian economy of the state. He said the party denied Punjab its legitimate territorial rights and share in river water.

From December 1, the state government would double the number of beneficiaries under the Atta-Dal scheme from existing 16 to 32 lakh, besides slashing the rate of atta from Rs 4 to Re 1 per kg, the CM said.

Seeking votes for his daughter-in-law Harsimrat Badal and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, he said smooth relations among states and the Centre were a must for overall development, which could only be feasible if the BJP-led NDA government was voted to power at the Centre. “The Badal government had to take permission from 11 departments over a period of two years to get the Talwandi Sabo thermal project passed,” said MP Harsimrat Badal.

Sukhbir Badal said the SAD-BJP government in the state had revived projects left defunct by the Congress. “The Amarinder Singh government termed the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery a white elephant and abandoned it. We revived and completed the project, giving Punjab the country’s biggest refinery,” he said. With the coming up of super critical power plant in the private sector, the state’s power scenario was set to undergo a major change. With the 1,400-MW Rajpura Thermal Plant set to commission its first unit from December 8, there would be more power available in Punjab, he claimed.

With all power plants in the private sector set to be commissioned over a year, Punjab would be in a position to sell power to other states. “This would directly affect tariffs. The more we have, the lesser our people will have to pay for it,” he said.

He said around 1.5 lakh priority tube connections would be soon released to farmers having small and marginal holdings in the state.

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.

PP model