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Floral decorations for Onam at Mumbai railway stations today.

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picture courtesy Rajendra Aklekar.
 
As Elon Musk struggles in acquiring land rights for testing his audacious Hyperloop project in the United States, India has emerged out of nowhere to offer him a helping hand.



SEE ALSO: Hyperloop One passes first big test

India is offering Musk's SpaceX a big chunk of land and permission to do the required testing in Pune, a city 118 kilometers away from Mumbai. The country's Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said he made the proposal to Hyperloop's parent company SpaceX during his recent visit to the United States.

I just offered them ... they want some road for experimental purpose. I offered them the westerly bypass of Pune connected to the Express Highway. The idea is they can take an experiment between Mumbai and Pune as a pilot project," he said. '”It is up to [SpaceX] to decide whether or not to accept my offer,” he added.

If Hyperloop manages to materialize its commercial plans - and bring it to India — it would enable people in Mumbai to go to Nagpur in 35 minutes, Gadkari said. In comparison, the same 800 kilometers trip takes nearly 14 hours by train.

The Chief Minister of western Indian state of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, added that his state government has also asked SpaceX to develop the product and then test it in the state.

With Hyperloop, Musk has a vision to change the way people travel between cities. One of the biggest hurdles for his superfast train, which uses air for propulsion and runs along magnetic tracks, has been convincing local governments and dealing with politicians to acquire land rights.

Earlier this year, Hyperloop Transportaion Technologies announced that it had signed an agreement with the government of Slovak Republic to explore building a Hyperloop system that connects Bratislava with Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary.
 
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण,कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे
हरे राम हरे राम, राम राम हरे हरे
16-09-2016

#Economy:India's merchandise exports marginally declined in August with 16 of the 30 export sectors registering a decline in outward shipments. Exports in the month were $21.51 billion compared with $21.58 billion in the year ago period while imports declined 14% to $29.1 billion from $33.9 billion in the year ago period leading the trade deficit to shrink to $7.67 billion from $12.4 billion in May but remain at similar level as in July.

#Finance:With just a fortnight to go for the NDA Govt's black money disclosure window to close, the i.tax deptt has received disclosures of just over Rs 1,000 crore till the first week of Sept, which is being seen as a disappointment of sorts. The CBDT had pressed all its I-T investigation units across the country to carry out searches and survey operations on suspect tax evaders and those hoarding black money in the hope of others opting for the IDS window.

#Petrol price was today hiked by 58 paise a litre while diesel rate was cut by 31 paise per litre in line with international trends.

#Mera Bharat Mahaan:In a novel initiative revived after decades, the CBDT will soon honour lakhs of "honest and compliant" taxpayers from across the country who have paid their Income Tax dues diligently over the years.

भारत माता की जय
 
Just How Transformational Will India's GST Be?
Three Indian MPs from different parties reflected on the challenges and opportunities inherent in India’s Goods and Services Tax.

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By Akhilesh Pillalamarri
September 16, 2016


Three members of India’s parliament recently visited Washington, D.C. and engaged in a conversation on various domestic and foreign issues in India. The dialogue took place at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) at an event moderated by Milan Vaishnav on Tuesday, “The View from New Delhi: A Conversation With Indian MPs.” It featured Lok Sabha MP from Assam, Sushmita Dev of the Indian National Congress, Lok Sabha MP from Odisha, Baijayanta “Jay” Panda of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and Lok Sabha MP from Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The bulk of the dialogue focused on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill passed by India’s parliament in August. The GST bill was long awaited and seen as key for economic reform in India, as it would bring India’s various states closer today toward a common market. All three speakers praised the bill, though the praise from Dev, from the opposition Congress Party, was lukewarm. Dev argued that while her party agreed with the concept of one market, it had disagreements on the details.

Over the years, India’s byzantine economic structure was put into place mostly by the Congress Party. Thakur and Panda both supported the GST bill more strongly. It should be noted that Panda is from a regional state party not aligned with either the BJP or Congress. His extremely high praise of the GST bill — he said it was the biggest thing to happen since 1947 in India — is indicative of just how highly anticipated the bill was across India’s political spectrum. Panda argued that the GST was a tipping point, in which all the major players in India realized the benefits of economic modernization.


The discussion on the GST bill was tied to a discussion on whether a new model of cooperative federalism is emerging in India. Again, Thakur and Panda strongly agreed. Thakur pointed out that under the Modi government, more money is going back to the states, a process that would accelerate once the GST bill is implemented. Panda agreed, stating that India’s system was overcentralized and that different states have different needs, so a level of flexibility is required; he cited the different need for education budgets in Odisha and a highly literate state like Kerala. Again, I found Dev’s answer somewhat generic and lukewarm; in the spirit of the times, she agreed with the other two speakers without getting too much into the specifics, merely saying that each state in India ought to have a dream of its own.

There seemed to be a gap between Dev and the other two speakers when it came to India’s economic growth. Dev wanted to tie economic growth to job growth specifically while Panda and Thakur, while not disagreeing, argued that after lagging for so many years, even seemingly jobless growth was beneficial for India. For example, building more kilometers of roads a day, which the current government has done relative to previous ones, is an inherently good thing, since India needs to lay down a strong foundation.

The conversation also touched upon a couple of themes, including the issue of tolerance in India and the American presidential election. There has been some concern that some elements of Indian society have become more intolerant, especially since the BJP came to power. Dev did not necessarily agree with this in the quantitative sense, but argued that qualitatively–since politics are about perception–the government has the responsibility to combat this view. Thakur blamed the media for creating a distorted perception, a position that Panda agreed with. While Panda praised the media for doing their job and calling to attention abuses, he also argued that the media often distorted issues, citing a series of attacks on churches in 2014, where it was later revealed that the majority of those attacks were regular burglaries and had no communal aspect.

In terms of larger trends, the conversation highlighted some interesting trends in Indian politics. First, was the continued irrelevance of the Congress Party and its inability to engage with new and timely ideas. It is only because of its infrastructure across India that it remains a viable national force. While the BJP obviously is a vibrant force across India, I believe that regional parties will continue to be an important and often beneficial force in Indian politics, rather than a vehicle of political fragmentation. Regional parties understand local problems and want their states to prosper. And while they are increasingly taking up the populist mantle that was originally a Congress trademark, this is done without being overly obstructionist; almost all supported the GST bill. As Panda pointed out, the states want economic reform because nobody in his state wants it to be cheaper to ship goods to Japan than to neighboring West Bengal.

Centralization’s future was another interesting aspect of the discussion. Most of the political spectrum agrees that decentralization is beneficial and that the idea of government 5-year plans being handed out from New Delhi is simply not a good idea. On the other hand, ironically, centralization can also be beneficial. The GST bill would replace a plethora of state tax laws, and so represents a level of federalization. It seems as though the wrong things are centralized while common-sense ideas for decentralization have long been ignored.

No matter how one looks at it, India is in the middle of major political and economic changes. It will continue to be a place to watch closely.
 
Gadkari talks fast: Amritsar-Delhi in 2 hrs 30 mins, Jalandhar-Ajmer in 4 hrs
  • HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Jalandhar
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  • Updated: Sep 15, 2016 20:32 IST
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Union minister Nitin Gadkari, deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and others at Partapura village on the outskirts of Jalandhar on Wednesday. (Pardeep Pandit/HT Photo)
  • Also read | Flexi fare: Seats available, yet Rs 900 for a Shatabdi Express ticket

    At Rupnagar, he laid the foundation of the four-laning of Rupnagar-Phagwara and Kharar-Kurali sections, and four-to-six-laning of the Chandigarh-Kharar section of national highways. Another significant promise he made is a new bridge across the river Sutlej at Nangal at a cost of Rs 250 crore.


    At Ludhiana, he laid the foundation the 76km, four-laning project from Ludhiana to Kharar worth Rs 1,967 crore, besides a 13km elevated road from Samrala Chowk to Ludhiana municipal limits and a 17km, four-laned Ladhowal bypass road.

    At Jalandhar, he laid the foundation stone of six projects worth Rs 4,600 crore, including the four-laning of the Jalandhar-Barnala road, a 145km stretch.

    He said road projects worth around Rs 30,000 crore are already on in Punjab and that “by next three years, road infrastructure and highway projects worth around Rs 1.5 lakh crore will be carried out in the state”. He also announced NH status to several stretches.

    ‘Bus stands like airports’

    The Union minister also offered to construct a “logistics park” in the state “at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore in order to help the farming community of the state save crops”. Gadkari, who is also the minister for shipping, stressed the need to promote transportation through water and said the Centre would provide all help to Punjab for that. He also proposed to the state government a deal to beautify bus stands “like airports”. He said the Union ministry will build make the infrastructure and, “if run in profit, we will share 50% with the state”.

    Sukhbir, in his speech at Rupnagar, declared that only the SAD-BJP government had developed Punjab and “taken it forward in the real sense”. He lambasted the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. Among those present at different functions were Union minister and state BJP chief Vijay Sampla, MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, and state ministers Madan Mohan Mittal and Daljit Singh Cheema. (With inputs from Rupnagar and Ludhiana)
 
Railway PSU RITES Achieves Highest Ever Total Income of Rs. 1294 Crore, Higher by 11% Over The Previous Year

Highest Ever Profit After Tax (PAT) Also Achieved

The Company Pays Highest Ever Dividend

The Company Announces 1:2 Bonus Shares

Export of Coaches to Bangladesh and Supply of Locomotives to Myanmar are the Key Achievements During the Year 2015-16


RITES Ltd., a schedule ‘A’, Mini Ratna Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways has achieved highest ever total income of Rs. 1294 crore,in financial year 2015-16 higher by 11 percent over the previous financial year. It also recorded the highest ever profit after tax of Rs. 339 crore against Rs. 306 crore in the previous year. RITES achieved these results despite severe competition from domestic and foreign consultancy companies. The company is expected to get ‘Excellent’ rating in its MOU performance based on the financial results for the year. RITES continues to maintain its key position in transport and infrastructure sectors despite stiff competition. The growth in the business and excellent financial results has led to the dividend payout for the year to Rs. 136 crore, which is 136% of the paid up share capital of the company. This is the highest ever dividend paid so far by the Company. The company has also announced issue of bonus shares to the existing shareholders in the ratio of 1 share for every 2 shares held.

This information was given at the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Company, by Shri Rajeev Mehrotra, Chairman and Managing Director (RITES). Member Rolling Stock, Railway Board Shri Hemant Kumar was also specially present on the occasion.




RITES 42nd Annual General Meeting in progress

In his speech, Shri Rajeev Mehrotra, CMD RITES said that one of the key achievements during the year had been the export of broad gauge modern passenger coaches to Bangladesh Railways out of the order of 120 broad gauge coaches secured by the company during last year. RITES also bagged a contract for the supply of 18 MG diesel electric locomotives to Myanma Railways.

In India, RITES has recently secured two major turnkey projects from the Ministry of Railways, for the third line in Pendra Road- Anuppur section of Bilaspur division of South East Central Railway and Gooty- Dharmavaram doubling works for South Central Railway. RITES is also involved in mega transportation projects like dedicated freight corridors, metros, high speed rail studies, logistics parks, rail infrastructure and green energy etc.

With positive scenario for investments in railways and other infrastructure sectors, the company sees high growth in the coming years.

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AKS/MKV/AK




(Release ID :149839)
 
Shri Nitin Gadkari lays foundation stones for twelve National Highways projects at Ropar, Samrala and Jalandhar in Punjab

Punjab witnessed a major step towards world class road connectivity in all major cities as Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari yesterday laid the foundation stones of 12 major National Highways projects worth Rs. 10596.19 crore at Ropar, Samrala and Jalandhar in the state. These road projects mainly include 4 Laning of Jalandhar-Barnala, Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur, Ropar-Phagwara, Kharar-Kurali, Chandigarh-Kharar, Kharar-Ludhiana roads besides elevated road in Ludhiana city.

The projects would provide world class road connectivity to commuters between Doaba and Malwa along with adjoining Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in next 2 years. Chandigarh would also be connected with 4 lane roads with all major cities like Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

Addressing the gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony at Ropar, Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari announced the sanction of (1) 313 KMs long new National Highways in Punjab,(2)Jalandhar to Ajmer for Mumbai 4/6 lane 580 KMs long National Highway worth Rs 8000 crore and (3)Delhi -Amritsar- Katra Expressway worth Rs 60,000 crore reducing117 KMs distance which at present is 732 Km. He said that today 22 km roads are being constructed per day as compared to 2 km per day during the time of previous government. Shri Gadkari assured that funds will be no problem to ensure all round development and progress of Punjab.

The work on these projects would start in full swing as the deadline has been fixed to complete the projects in the coming two years. Punjab has the highest road densities amongst Indian states at 133 km per 100 sq. km with total 64,500 KMs road network in the state. Punjab is also amongst the well served states and has road availability above the national average of 240.10 km per 1 lakh population.

In his address Shri Gadkari also said that waterways will be encouraged to boost up the economy in the state of Punjab and throughout the country to reduce the costs of transportation of goods. He informed that 40 water-ports are being constructed and 111 rivers have been declared as National waterways in India. Ethanol Fuel will be encouraged to strengthen the economy of the country with a focus on welfare of Gaon, Gareeb and Kisan (village, poor and farmer).


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UM/NP/RS/PS/NEGI/MS

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Ministry of Road Transport & Highways14-September, 2016 12:03 IST
Shri Mansukh Lal Mandaviya Inspects National Highways Projects In Arunachal Pradesh : Says Appropriate Technology Should Be Used For Hillside Maintenance.

The Minister of State for Road Transport &Highways, Shipping, Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Lal Mandaviya has stressed upon the Central Government’s commitment to build high class road infrastructure in the North Eastern states of the country. Speaking to mediapersons in Itanagar yesterday he said that of the total 2570 km roads sanctioned for the state, 653 km have been completed and 1917 km are under progress. Out of this total length, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways will build 710km, state PWD will construct 420km, NHIDCL 722 km and Border Roads Organization 718 km. The ongoing projects and their costs are 250km Nechipu-Hoj (Rs 1985 crore); 20 km Dibang-Alubari river bridge system ( Rs 860 crore); 75 Km Pasighat-Pangin (Rs 500 crore) and 12 km Itanagar-Naharlagun 4 laning (Rs 250 crore). The Minister said that building of road infrastructure in the state would herald a new era of socio-economic development.
On a two day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Minister inspected the Pappu-Yupia-Hoj-Potin section of NH 713 A and Potin-Ziro section of NH-13. He also spoke to senior officials from the department .
The 50 km long Pappu-Yupia-Hoj-Potin section of NH 713 A has been damaged at about 30-35 spots as a result of heavy rains and consequent landslides since April. Two laning of the road through the state PWD was completed in March this year, and the Ministry is now required to take it over for maintenance purposes. Shri Mandaviya inspected several of the damaged locations and expressed serious concern at the condition of the highway . He directed concerned officials to take urgent remedial measures at these sites. He also stressed that guidance should be sought from expert agencies for making use of appropriate technology for hillside maintenance and slope stability as a long term measure.
Regarding the 50 km long Potin-Ziro section of NH-13, Shri Mandaviya said that work on repair of bad road patches must be done on a priority basis in a time bound manner. He directed officials to submit the repair estimates to the Ministry within a week. The Minister also discussed land acquisition issues regarding the stretch from Poti to Bopi via Ziro with concerned officials.
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UM/NP/ MS
(Release ID :149757)

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Ministry of Rural Development15-September, 2016 18:28 IST
Phase-III of PMGSY to focus on Maintenance of Roads and Financial Incentives- Narendra Tomar

The Government today said that the Phase-III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, PMGSY is being finalised, wherein Sustainable Maintenance of Roads and Financial Incentives to best Performing States will be the key focus areas. Addressing a workshop on Maintenance of Rural Roads here, the Minister for Rural Development Shri Narendra Singh Tomar informed that Punjab, Haryana, Gujrat and Karnataka are the four States in the country, which have achieved the target of construction of rural roads under PMGSY, well before the target year of 2019, set by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for connecting all un-connected habitations with all-weather roads.
The Minister said that the Ministry of Rural Development is planning to give a financial incentive of 5 percent to the best performing States for maintenance of roads and it is estimated that the government will earmark Rs 1200 crore for this purpose. There are 8 to 9 States in the country which are building standard and durable rural roads well before the scheduled target. The Minister informed that so far 15 State governments have notified the State Rural Road Maintenace Policy and appealed to other states to complete this process in coming one to two months so that third phase of PMGSY can be rolled out.
Shri Tomar Said that between the year 2011-2014, 73 Kilometers of rural roads were built daily under PMGSY, while between 2014 to 2016, it has increased to 100 kilometers per day and this year up to 140 kilometers of roads are being built each day. He said that 15 percent of rural roads built under PMGSY are using Green technologies like cold mix, fly ash, geo-textiles, plastic and other waste materials and urged the States to use this technology on a larger scale. He informed that between the year 2000 to 2014, only 800 kilometers of rural roads were built using green technologies, while from 2014 to 2016 more than 2600 kilometers of roads were built under this alternative mechanism. The Minister also urged the States to complete the road projects in timely fashion to avail the Central funds and incentives as budget is no constraint for PMGSY.
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SNC

(Release ID :149815)

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Ministry of Shipping16-September, 2016 18:12 IST
JNPT Commences Holding Yard Operations

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s No.1 Container Port, has commenced the holding yard operations in a six-hectare land at JNPCT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal) approach roads to further ease out congestion and streamline the traffic to the terminal. This holding yard, which has been developed within the centralized parking plaza, will be utilized for parking Tractor Trailers (TT) awaiting the final documentation.
Commencement of holding yard at JNPCT is already showing results and has reduced the congestion by 90% at the port gate roads. 600 TTs can be accommodated in this holding area at one time. EXIM traders are largely benefitting in saving fuel, logistics cost and improved truck turnaround time as well as number of trips made by a tractor trailer in a day has also increased. The yard operation ensures free movement at the JNPCT approach roads which will help in better planning of TT movements. This area is developed as pay & park facility for trucks. Concessional parking rates have been offered at the yard is Rs. 60 & Rs. 70 for every 8 hours stay for 20’ and 40’ containers respectively.
TTs will be allowed to move to Terminal Gate only after receiving required clearance of all the documents or proper ticket clearing. TTs coming directly from CFSs with all clear documents will be allowed directly to Terminal Gate and TTs, which do not have clear documents including PIN number, will be diverted to Holding Yard. The undocumented factory stuffed containers which generally park on roads approaching to port area causing traffic congestion, will now be confined to holding yard and better traffic ensures that risk of shut out of export containers are eliminated.
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UM/MS

(Release ID :149855)
 
Alstom finishes the first car body shell for the Lucknow Metro

Alstom in India has unveiled the first car body shell of the Lucknow Metro at Sricity, Chennai, where the metro trainsets are produced. Attending the ceremony earlier this month were the Lucknow Metro Managing Director, Kumar Keshav and Secretary Housing Pandhari Yadav from the U.P. Government.

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Manufacturing of the first train commenced at the end of May and tremendous efforts have been put on site to ensure that the first car body shell was ready in record time. Alstom expects to deliver the first trainset of this order before the end of November 2016.

The Lucknow Metro contract was awarded in September 2015. Under this contract, Alstom will supply 20 Metropolis trainsets, each composed of four metro cars. Alstom is also providing Urbalis, its Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) solution which controls the movement of the trains, enabling them to run at higher frequencies and speeds in total safety. The line is expected to carry about 430,000 passengers per day in the first year, increasing to over 1 million by 2030.

Following the Kochi metro, this is the second ‘Made in India’ metro project that is being completely developed and manufactured by Alstom at the Bangalore, Sricity and Coimbatore facilities. The facility has already delivered the first two trainsets of the Kochi Metro and 28 trainsets of the Chennai Metro.

(Earlier this year)

Alstom and LMRC unveil the design of Lucknow’s Metropolis in India
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Alstom and Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) unveiled the design of Alstom’s Metropolis for Lucknow in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Kumar Keshav, Managing Director of LMRC and Bharat Salhotra, Managing Director of Alstom India and South Asia.

The design of Alstom’s Metropolis for Lucknow is a tribute to the city’s cultural richness. The front of the metro has been conceived in the spirit of some of the city’s most important monuments’ gates such as Bara-Imambara, the Asifi Masjid or the Roomi. At the lower section of the front, the V cutline symbolizes the dynamism and rapidity with which the Lucknow metro project has been handled to address the city’s high demand for mobility. The exterior livery is both highly modern and very much inspired by the traditional cashmere craftsmanship of Lucknow. Special attention has been paid to passenger comfort; Metropolis offers 186 seats in longitudinal configuration and two dedicated zones for passengers with reduced mobility. Screens displaying useful travel information have been placed in convenient locations inside the metro, visible to all.

In September 2015, Alstom was awarded a contract by LRMC to supply 20 Metropolis trainsets, each composed of four metro cars. The Metropolis trainsets will circulate on the city’s new metro line, which will be around 23 km long and will include 22 stations, of which 19 elevated and 3 underground. The line is estimated to carry about 430,000 passengers per day at first, increasing to over 1 million by 2030.

The metro cars will be produced at Alstom’s Sri City and Coimbatore manufacturing facilities in India. The signalling system will be jointly supplied by Alstom’s sites in Bangalore, India and Saint-Ouen, France.

Alstom has a strong presence in India where the company has been awarded important metro projects for cities including Chennai, Delhi and Kochi.
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Details Emerging about Alstom Prima 2 platform based HHP 8 axle 12000 HP locomotive for Indian Railways.
These will be used on Eastern DFC

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@Ankit Kumar 002 @PARIKRAMA @Tridibans @Abingdonboy @gslv mk3 @AndrewJin @Vergennes
 
Government plans national highway grids for smooth travel; 27 corridors identified

By Dipak K. Dash, TNN | Jun 13, 2016, 03.13 PM IST

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NEW DELHI: India has over one lakh kilometres of national highways (NHs), but there is no scientific road network pattern and drivers can't take a straight road to reach from one place to the other. To address this, NHAI has prepared a grid of 27 horizontal and vertical national highway corridors at a distance of every 250 km crisscrossing the country.

All these stretches will be of four lanes and will provide more road space for seamless transport. The total length of these corridors, including ones such as Kanyakumari to Srinagar, Porbandar to Kolkata, Surat to Paradip Port, Rameswaram to Dehradun and Mangalore Port to Chennai Port, is about 36,600 km. Out of this, about 30,100 km are already NHs. But only 18,800 km of them are of four lanes. "The rest are either single or two lanes and we have missing NH link of about 6,500 km, which are either state highways or major district roads. These stretches need to be converted into NHs and widened to four lanes for smooth travel," said an official. Sources said going by the standard costing, the government will have to invest about Rs 25,000 crore for completing four laning of the routes.

The preparation of the grids will help the government redesignate the NHs for easy identification. For example, all even number NH grids can be identified for roads connecting east to west and odd number for corridors joining north end to south."The grids will be important as the government is focusing on integrated transportation network. These grids will connect all major ports, which will help in quick evacuation and transport of cargo from one end to the other," another official said

Sources said highway ministry has shared this plan with states and sought their views. "We want to be sure the states have not awarded or planned roads on PPP mode that are parallel to the identified routes," a source said. TOI has learnt that NHAI had made a detailed presentation to highway minister Nitin Gadakri in March. The proposed NH grid shall not only improve connectivity in each region and state capital but will also provide highway link to 12 major ports, 45 out of 53 million plus cities and 26 state capitals besides providing connectivity to major tourist and religious places.

The NHAI said planning for horizontal and vertical grid network was done keeping the concept of parallels to the existing north south and east west corridor alignments. These parallels are spread across the country , uniformly and thereby providing connectivity to every region."The existing NH network depicts unbalanced network and even creates problem in numbering NHs systematically from road users' perspective.The current approach has focused on state level planning," said an official.

During UPA2 , then highway minister Kamal Nath had made an effort to redesignate the existing NHs but it did not bear fruit.

Delhi -Amritsar- Katra Expressway worth Rs 60,000 crore reducing 117 KMs distance which at present is 732 Km.

Well, that's a huge project.
 
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण,कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे
हरे राम हरे राम, राम राम हरे हरे
17-09-2016

#Economy:The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has revised the ceiling price of 18 more drugs. Of the 18, 10 drugs have been part of the National List of Essential Medicines. The drugs that have come under price revision now are for chemotherapy, treating malaria and epilepsy, among others.

#Finance:FM expressed hope that the Reserve Bank will keep in mind the decline in retail inflation while deciding on interest rates at its policy review meeting on October 4.

#CBDT is actively considering amending required legislature and allow the I.tax deptt to defer tax assessment in the coming year — enabling it to crack the whip on all those who refrained from coming clean on their undisclosed income even after the deptt sent them letters.

#Mera Bharat Mahaan:India has slipped by 10 positions to 112th, out of 159 countries and territories, as it "fared badly" across categories including legal system and regulation, according to the Economic Freedom of the World 2016 Annual Report.

भारत माता की जय
 
NATIONAL HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (NHDP)

The National Highways Development Project is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard.

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The project is composed of the following phases:

  • Phase I: The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ; 5,846 km) connecting the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata with 4 lane highways. This project connecting four metro cities, would be 5,846 km (3,633 mi). Total cost of the project is Rs.300 billion (US$6.8 billion), funded largely by the government’s special petroleum product tax revenues and government borrowing. In January 2012, India announced the four lane GQ highway network as complete.
  • Phase II: North-South and East-West corridors comprising national highways connecting four extreme points of the country with 4 lane highways. The North–South and East–West Corridor (NS-EW; 7,300 km) connecting Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, including spur from Salem to Kanyakumari (Via Coimbatore and Kochi) and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west. Total length of the network is 7,300 km (4,500 mi).
  • Phase III: The government recently approved NHDP-III to upgrade 12,109 km (7,524 mi)of national highways to 4 lane highways on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, which takes into account high-density traffic, connectivity of state capitals via NHDP Phase I and II, and connectivity to centres of economic importance.
  • Phase IV: The government is widening 13,203 km of highway that were not part of Phase I, II, or III. Phase IV will convert existing single lane highways into two lanes with paved shoulders.
  • Phase V: As road traffic increases over time, a number of four lane highways will need to be upgraded/expanded to six lanes. The current plan calls for upgrade of about 6,500 km of four-lane roads,(Including entire GQ)
  • Phase VI: The government is planning to construct expressways that would connect major commercial and industrial townships. It has already identified 400 km (250 mi) of Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Mumbai section that would connect to the existing Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Ahmedabad section.The 334 km (208 mi) Expressway between Chennai—Bangalore and 277 km (172 mi) Expressway between Kolkata—Dhanbad has been identified and feasibility study and DPR contract has been awarded.
  • Phase VII: This phase calls for improvements to city road networks by adding ring roads to enable easier connectivity with national highways to important cities. In addition, improvements will be made to stretches of national highways that require additional flyovers and bypasses . The 19 km (12 mi) long Chennai Port—Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway is being executed under this phase
 

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