Govt goes high on highway

April 30, 2008

At last, the confusion whether the tiny State of Goa will have a six or the four lanes on National Highway 17, looks to have been solved by the announcement of Public Works Department minister Churchill Alemao, after an all party meeting yesterday, that the State would prefer a 4-lane due to the land constraints. But will the project see the light of the day considering that Goa government is biding for it?
There seems to be more than one technical snag in the decision reached by all parties to go in for a four lane highway on BOOT basis (built, own, operate and transfer basis).
First, the National Highways Authority has almost completed the formalities on the project and according to the NHAI website the works on the project — four laning of NH17 from Patradevi to Polem – a 139 km stretch, is due for tendering soon after the consultant submits the report.
Another issue that meets the eye is when the Centre is all set to tender the work why the hurry in taking up the project on its own by Goa government?
Secondly, the NHAI says that the estimated cost of the entire stretch including the five bridges at Colvale, Mandovi, Zuari, Talpona and Galgibaba will cost around 906.28 crores approximately.
Moreover, our PWD minister thinks otherwise and says the projects will cross a cost of Rs 2000 crore “as the cement and the steel prices have gone up.” Even then should the estimated cost become double?
The NHAI is a competent authority and has taken up number of such projects but PWD minister wants to prove them wrong. Is it just a mistake or there is something more to the tale?
Herald understands that the estimated cost drawn a few days ago by the PWD ministry here is also around Rs 1300 crores, taking into consideration the cost escalation.
Govt goes high on highway
The consultant appointed by NHAI for Goa National Highways has already submitted the report on four laning of NH 4(A) from Panjim to Anmod and is expected to complete the report on the NH-17 in near future.
The other announcement that the toll will not be charged to State registered vehicles may please the Goans, but the question is whether toll collection of non-Goa registration vehicles would suffice to recover the huge cost that would be incurred by the contractor?
The answer of non-Goa registration vehicles will be only 1,000 to 2000 at the most, sources say. How then the government expects the contractor to maintain the road at its best? Will any contractor come up to take up work with such conditions? is a big question.
The toll rates charged presently by the NHAI is – car or jeep or van Rs 0.40 per km; light commercial vehicles – Rs. 0.70 per km; truck or bus Rs 1.40 per km and heavy construction machinery and earthmoving equipment – Rs 3 per km.
source: www.oheraldo.in

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GVK group targets expansion plan of NH-8

April 29, 2008

The GVK group is planning to expand its highway footprint in north India. The group, which built and is operating the 91-km Jaipur-Kishangarh stretch, is now eying to bag National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) project for widening the Kishangarh-Ajmer-Bewar section of NH 8. Since the existing stretch is among the biggest money spinner road projects in India a toll collection of nearly Rs 128 lakh per km per year, the extension is going to attract other big names also for the bidding process.

The NHAI’s decision to six-lane the 94-km stretch of Kishangarh-Ajmer-Beawar road comes three months after the move to similarly expand the Gurgaon-Jaipur stretch of NH 8. “We are definitely interested in the onward stretch from Kishangarh,” said GVK spokesperson Manish Kalghatgi. This 94-km stretch has to be six-laned at a cost of Rs 722 crore. The 91-km Jaipur-Kishangarh expressway was developed for Rs 650 crore.

A wide road right upto Beawar is going to make Rajasthan’s exotic tourist spots easily accessible. At present, the wide road from Gurgaon ends just after exiting the toll plaza at Kishangarh and then motorists have to negotiate heavy traffic on existing two-lane roads. This work will be done under the National Highway Development Project Phase (NHDP) phase-III in which 4,035-km of national highways had to be widened to four lanes.

“The Jaipur-Kishangarh stretch gets nearly 6 lakh vehicles and about Rs 12 crore as toll on an average every month. Such traffic and revenue figures are bound to generate interest among all major players in developing the Kishangarh-Beawar stretch,” said an official.

The improved highways will have service roads, pedestrian subways so that there is no jaywalking on roads in front of high speed vehicles.
Source: www.business-standard.com

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Ministry unlikely to pay highway companies for higher input costs

April 28, 2008

The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways is unlikely to accept a demand of private contractors engaged in the construction of national highways for reimbursement of increased costs, incurred due to the unprecedented hike in cement and steel prices.

A senior official in the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways said: “We have received the demands of the highway contractors. However, it is very difficult to rework the cost escalation norms and reimburse the escalated price in a running contract. The government has taken several measures to address the price issue and in the coming days the prices of steel and cement are expected to come down”.

He added the projects undertaken on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis always have a risk element involved.

The risk is addressed to a certain extent as the contract is based on the star rate (the base rate at which the contract is signed for any given commodity used) and in which there is a provision to reimburse the escalated price.

Brahmdutt, president, National Highway Builders Federation, said: “The unanticipated sharp rise in the price of cement, steel, bitumen and other raw materials over the last year have hit hard the contractors undertaking National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) projects. The escalation clause of most contract documents are insufficient to accommodate the large variations in prices of construction materials. As a result such variations transfer themselves to the contractor in the form of increased costs”.

Over the last year, prices of steel, cement and bitumen have increased at an average of 76.96 per cent. This has led to increase in cost of building a 1 km four lane project from Rs 6 crore to Rs 7.84 crore

Ankideedu Maganti, director, Soma Enterprises Ltd, which is undertaking a couple of National Highways Authority of India, projects said: “At the time of bidding we assume a inflation of 7-8 per cent on materials.

But right now, our assumptions are not able to accommodate the 40-50 per cent rise in the price of raw materials”.

Source: www.business-standard.com

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SIX Laning of delhi-Dehradun National Highway

April 24, 2008

Delhi-Dehradun stretch of NH-58 & 72 has been identified for 4/6-laning under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase III on Build, Operate & Transfer (BOT) mode based on the criteria of high density of traffic and connectivity of State capitals with corridors of NHDP Phase I & II . The present status of this stretch is as under:

Delhi-Meerut section of NH-58 is already 4-laned and preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for 6-laning is in progress.
The work of 4-laning of Meerut-Muzaffarnagar section of NH-58 on BOT basis is in progress and targeted for completion by March, 2009.
The work of 4-laning of Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar section could not be awarded as only single bid was received and the same was cancelled. For re-bidding of this section, updation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as per new Model Concession Agreement (MCA) as decided by Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) is in progress. The Haridwar-Dehradun section is passing through Rajaji National Park and clearance is to be obtained from the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. After clearance from Central Empowered Committee and PPPAC, bidding process is to be taken up for award of 4-laning work. It is too early to indicate the completion time of 4-laning work of Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar-Dehradun section at this stage. However, the same may not be completed by 2010 keeping in view the time taken in obtaining the clearance from Central Empowered Committee & PPPAC as well as response of bidders.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Source: pib.nic.in

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STATUS OF WORK ON SELECTED HIGHWAY STRETCHES IN PUNJAB

April 23, 2008

The status of Chandigarh-Kiratpur, Amritsar-Pathankot and Jalandhar –Amritsar stretches are as under:

(i) Chandigarh-Kiratpur stretch: The Chandigarh-Kurali section is of 28.6 km length. Out of this, the stretch from km 0.0 to km 11.4 is four/six laned. Four laning from km 11.4 to 15.4 has been sanctioned for Rs.13.51 crore on 31.03.2008 by Ministry. Four laning of the remaining section from km 15.4 to 28.6 is to be taken up under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase – III. The 4 – laning of Kurali-Kiratpur section has been awarded in June 2007 on BOT basis and the work is likely to be completed by June 2010.

(ii) Jalandhar-Amritsar stretch : The Detailed Project Report (DPR) to take up the work of four- laning on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) toll basis for Jalandhar-Dhilwan section has been updated by the consultant. The bidding process shall be started after Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) clearance. The four – laning of Dhilwan to Verka Chowk, Amritsar section has been started in May 2006 and the work is targeted to be completed by November 2008.

(iii) Amritsar-Pathankot Stretch : The Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparation for four laning of this stretch is in advance stage of completion. The bidding process shall be started after Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) clearance.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Source: pib.nic.in

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DEVELOPMENT OF EXPRESSWAYS UNDER NHDP-VI

April 23, 2008

The following stretches under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-VI have been identified for implementation.

S. No.	Name of Expressway	Length (Km)	Status of work
1.	Vadodara-Mumbai	400	The consultant for fixing of alignment has been appointed.
2.	Delhi-Meerut	66	The proposal from the consultants for fixing of alignment has been invited.
3.	Kolkata-Dhanbad	277
4.	Bangalore-Chennai	334

The Delhi-Jaipur stretch was one of the stretches announced by the Finance Minister in his budget speech for the FY 2008-09 for construction of Expressway. The project was to be finally selected for implementation on the basis of traffic volume. However, in view of the upgradation of existing alignment to six lane under NHDP Phase-V, which will be sufficient to cater to the traffic volume for another 10-12 years, the new Expressway is not envisaged, at present.

NHDP Phase VI is targeted for completion by December 2015.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Source: pib.nic.in

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NHAI terminates road contract awarded to MP-owned company

April 21, 2008

Parliament member Samba Siva Rao’s Progressive Constructions was unable to build 55km road

New Delhi: Under pressure for poor results and with the government seeking an overhaul of its management team, the National Highways Authority of India, or NHAI, the country’s road regulator, has begun axing contracts for non-performance, including those awarded to companies with powerful political connections.

These troubled contracts are partially to blame for holding up completion of the so-called Golden Quadrilateral that would connect four regions of India through 5,846km of four-laned highways. Within the last month, NHAI has cancelled two contracts and encashed their bank guarantees.

The more high profile of the two was the termination of a contract awarded to a company run by the family of a Congress party member of Parliament, Kavuru Samba Siva Rao.

“These contracts had to be terminated because they had defaulted,” said NHAI chairman N. Gokulram, refusing to discuss the matter further.

As many as eight contracts under the Golden Quadrilateral have already been terminated between 2006 and 2007. Of the 5,846km of highways that were to be four-laned under the project, NHAI is yet to complete 206km.

Hyderabad-based Progressive Constructions Ltd, which was set up by Rao, a four-term MP, and is managed by his son Bhaskar Rao, was not able to complete the 55km stretch even four years after the initial deadline expired. Consequently, NHAI terminated the contract and encashed a bank guarantee of around Rs50 crore submitted by the company when it was awarded the Sunakhala–Ganjam highway project.

NHAI officials, who did not wish to be identified, insist that this is just the beginning and it “would spare no one regardless of their political connections”.

A dozen contracts, whose performance is holding up completion of the Golden Quadrilateral project which was started by the National Democratic Alliance government in 1998, but is yet to be completed, are being scrutinized by NHAI.

According to officials in the ministry, Progressive was awarded the contract in 2001. The highway work was to be completed by 2004. When the contract was terminated last month, the company was only half-way done, with the project valued at Rs163 crore.

“I am not looking after these things (management). My son Bhaskar Rao runs the company,” said Rao, adding that there was also a feeling among contractors that “all was not well with NHAI.”

While the MP declined to elaborate the reasons for not being able to proceed with the project, he maintained that problems faced by the contractors, such as land acquisition, threat from Naxalites and law and order issues, have not been addressed.

“NHAI could not hand over the land within the time frame and in the sequence as was stipulated in the contract. This has affected the project,” insisted a senior executive with Progressive.

NHAI has also terminated the contract of Prakash-Atlanta, a joint venture between Prakash Building Associates Ltd and Atlanta Infrastructure Ltd, for failing to complete the Lucknow bypass on time. An NHAI officer said the regulator had also encashed the bank guarantee of Rs28 crore from the company.

However, the company says that it was its contractor who had initiated the termination proceedings. In a 14 March letter addressed to the NHAI chairman and the consulting engineer for the project, a copy of which was viewed by Mint, the contractor requested that the contract be terminated and NHAI provide compensation.

The letter said the contract was supposed to be completed in 30 months by August 2004. The contractor, however, alleged that a number of problems, including land acquisition and variance in scope of work, dogged the project.

“Another problem is the quality of the detailed project reports,” said an official with the company, who did not wish to be quoted. The project went to an arbitration tribunal following disputes over variation in costs of the project.

“Now it has become crystal clear to us that the policy of NHAI is to use the contractor as a resource and exhaust him completely before termination of the contract wrongfully and illegally, and further crippling the contractor by making demands on securities and bank guarantees,” the letter stated.

The letter also said the contractor filed two separate termination notices to NHAI. Each time, the contractor was persuaded to continue work on the project.

“On the one side, the government is insisting on completion. On the other side, bankers and shareholders are asking for results. So, any delay in finalizing the bills or making payments from government side may have lot of impact on the promoters credibility with the bankers and also with the government and of course the investors,” said Murali M., director general of the National Highways Builders Federation.

Source: livemint.com

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Australia’s longest tunnel with Kapsch technology: Another contract from Australia for Kapsch TrafficCom AG

April 17, 2008

Kapsch Kapsch TrafficCom will equip Australia’s longest tunnel. In March 2008, the company was able to secure contracts with a project sum of more than 11 million Australian dollars (more than EUR 6.4 million). More specifically, Kapsch will supply the road side equipment as well as the central telematics system for the tolling in the North-South Bypass Tunnel in Brisbane. With this contract, Kapsch TrafficCom is consolidating its strong market leadership in Australia.

“We are pleased about being awarded the contracts for equipping the North-South Bypass Tunnel. This traffic project emphasises Australia’s leading position in traffic systems and fully electronic toll systems. With this contract, Kapsch TrafficCom can also continue its success story in Australia – since 2000, several major projects have been realised in Australia – e.g. in Melbourne and Sydney”, explains Erwin Toplak, Management Board Member of Kapsch TrafficCom AG.

Upon its completion in 2010, the North-South Bypass Tunnel in Brisbane will be the longest in Australia. The tunnel, with a project length of 6.8 kilometres, includes two 4.8 km double-lane tunnel tubes. Kapsch TrafficCom is equipping this with a central traffic telematics system, including two signal bridges and a complete back-office solution. When complete the tunnel will create a new link for north-south traffic underneath Brisbane and will significantly reduce the volume of traffic in the city.

Further information also available at: www.rivercitymotorway.com.au

Kapsch TrafficCom AG is an international provider of innovative traffic telematics systems, products and services. Kapsch TrafficCom mainly develops and supplies electronic toll collection (ETC) systems, especially multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) ETC systems as well as offering technical and commercial operating services for these systems. In addition, Kapsch TrafficCom offers traffic management solutions focusing on traffic safety and traffic control, electronic access control systems and parking space management. With more than 140 installed toll systems worldwide in 30 countries in Europe, Australia, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region and South Africa, and with a total of more than eleven million transponders and 11,000 equipped traffic lanes, Kapsch TrafficCom has positioned itself as a worldwide market leader for ETC systems. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in Vienna, Austria and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 18 countries.

Vienna, 31st March 2008

For further information:
Brigitte Herdlicka
Public Relations & Sponsoring
Kapsch Group
Phone: +43 (0) 50 811 2705
A-1120 Vienna, Wagenseilgasse 1
E-mail: [email protected]
www.kapschtraffic.com
www.kapsch.net

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National highway projects underway in the north eastern region

April 17, 2008

The Border Roads Organisation, National Highways Authority of India and state public works departments (PWDs) will execute national highway (NH) project works in the north-eastern states as per the lump sum amount allocated by the ministry.

Responding to a query in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for shipping, road transport and highways K H Muniyappa said, the national highway (NH) project works are underway in the north eastern region (NER) of India against lump sum amount allocated by the ministry. The Border Roads Organisation, National Highways Authority of India and state public works departments (PWDs) will execute the special projects in Sikkim and Tripura fully and in other states partly as per government allocations

The annual plan for the special programmes has not been finalised.

The state public works departments of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland are also engaged to execute NH works in these states on the basis of sanctions accorded by the ministry in successive annual plans.

The plan for the development of the national highways in the 11th Five-year Plan has yet to be finalised by the government. The amount of works for development of national highways approved by the ministry during 2007-08 (1st year of 11th plan) and the amount of works included in the list of works prepared by the ministry for sanctions during 2008-09 for the six states to be executed by the state PWDs is:

(Rs in crore)

State	Amount of sanctions accorded during 2007-08	Amount of works listed for sanctions during 2008-09
Arunachal Pradesh	0.00	30.00
Assam	112.12	292.00
Manipu	37.97	99.00
Meghalaya	43.87	264.00
Mizoram	21.95	119.50
Nagaland	47.08	50.50

The expenditure incurred on the development of national highways in north-east region during 10th Plan was Rs2,383.93 crore. In addition, the expenditure on development of national highways has also been incurred on special accelerated road development programme in north east (SARDP-NE). The expenditure under SARDP-NE during 2006-07 is Rs91.65 crore. The budget of 2008-09 is yet to be passed by the Parliament.

Four-lane Guwahati bypass was completed during the10th Plan. Karimganj, Nagaon, Daboka, Lanka, Lumding, Maibang, Udharband, Mahour, Baihata and Agartala bypasses are under construction and bypasses of Dibrugarh, Tinsukhiya, Makum, Dum Duma, Rupai, Digboi, Margreita, Ledo and North-Lakhimpur in Assam and Shillong, Jowai and Tura bypasses in Meghalaya and Dimapur and Kohima bypasses in Nagaland and Gangtok bypass in Sikkim are in Planning and Survey & Investigation stage.

Time frame for works of double laning, 4-laning and construction of bypasses approved during 2007-08 is given below:

The list of works for double laning, four laning and bypasses approved under Annual Plan 2007-08

Assam: Widening of 8 km of existing intermediate lane of NH-37 from 563/0 to 571/0 to double lane by March 2010

Manipur: Widening to 4-lane from km 323.330 to 326.660 of NH-39 by March 2010

Meghalaya: Widening of single lane to two lane from km 21/870 – 43/00 0f NH-51 by March 2010

Nagaland: Widening to 2-lane with geometric improvement from km 17.00 to 23.00 of NH-61 by March 2010 and widening to 2-lane with geometric improvement from km 33.00 to 40.00 of NH-61 also by March 2010.

Source: domain-b.com

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Road expansion along Singjamei side on NH-39

April 17, 2008

Road expansion along Singjamei side on NH-39

Non-utilisation of funds curse continues to haunt

Imphal, April 17: The work on upgrading the National Highway-39 stretch from Moirangkhom to Singjamei Bazar to a four-lane has been stalled as the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Government of India is hesitant on releasing the required fund in view of the failure to utilise the fund sanctioned earlier for various works.

The Ministry also seems to see no point or urgency in converting the road stretch to a four-lane in view of the existing traffic volume along the said National Highway.

Speaking to The Sangai Express an official source in the Works Department of the State Government, said that the Government of Manipur has spent Rs 11.45 crores till date in giving compensation to the owners of the land and buildings that were demolished for the purpose of expansion and upgradation of the road from Moirangkhom to Singjamei Bazar to a four-lane.

The source disclosed that for implementing the task of upgrading the road stretch to four-lane, the Works Department had submitted a DPR of Rs 6 crores to the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways for carrying out the task from Singjamei Parking to MU Main Gate during 2006-07 besides another DPR of Rs 18.5 crores for the task from Ist MR Gate to Singjamei Parking.

The DPRs of the Works Department have been included in the work programme of the annual plan of the Ministry.

But inspite of several reminders, the Ministry has not sanctioned the required fund, thus putting the proposal of upgrading the road stretch to four-lane to a grinding halt, the source said.

Nonetheless, in the month of January this year, the Ministry gave its approval for sanctioning Rs 8 crores for taking up the work from Singjamei Parking to MU Main Gate.

Accordingly, the process for inviting tender is already underway, the source informed.

As for the road upgradation work from Ist MR Gate to Singjamei Parking, the required fund is yet to be sanctioned by the Ministry, the source said, adding that the State Public Works Department would be exerting pressure on the Ministry for sanctioning the fund.

In connection with the refusal of the Ministry to sanction the required fund for upgrading the road from Moirangkhom to MU Main Gate to four-lane, the source disclosed that the Ministry has conveyed verbally to the officials of the Works Dept that conversion of the NH stretch into four-lane is not necessary in consideration for the current traffic volume along the said route.

On top of this, the Ministry has also made it clear that the fund sanctioned earlier for development of the National Highway stretch from Maram to Moreh should be utilised properly first, the source disclosed.

Conceding that the fund sanctioned by the Ministry during 1996-1997 for construction/repairing of the bridges at Pallel and Lokchao has not been able to utilise till date, the source, however, claimed that most of the works that have been sanctioned by the Ministry during 2003-04 are nearing completion.

Source: e-pao.net

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