The highways authority, or NHAI, which is responsible for all the national highways in the country, has already notified top merchant bankers and roped in rating agencies Crisil BSE -1.14 %, Care and Brickwork Ratings India for the proposed issue. Delhi-based M V Kini & Co will be its legal advisor.The proposed issue will be subject to statutory approvals.An NHAI official said the money raised will be used for future investment needs as the agency currently has some Rs 4,000 crore of cash in its books. “We do not need funds immediately for two reasons: we still have some cash in hand and execution work on several projects — some 11-12 of them — is yet to take off due to economic slowdown,” the official said.

A person familiar with the development, however, said the highways ministry is not yet convinced about the proposed issue and has sought an explanation from NHAI. Last year, the agency had failed to issue Rs 10,000 crore of bonds, though the same was sanctioned.

Incidentally, ongoing tax-free bonds of state owned entities India Infrastructure Finance Company and Power Finance Company are yet to catch retail fancy. Both the issues are yet to achieve the retail subscription target of 40% of the overall issue size. The issues are offering a few basis points lower rate of interest in select maturities compared with the earlier ones.

Also, with a gush of issues, including those of Rural Electrification Corporation BSE -0.68 %and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, having already hit the market, investor appetite appears to have waned.

A market analyst said that only higher rate of interest can now get retail investors back into tax-saving bonds this fiscal year.

A new parallel bridge being built across the Nethravati on the National Highway 66 here will be ready by the end of March next year, said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The new three-lane bridge would ease the traffic congestion on the existing two-lane bridge.

Speaking at the Karnataka Development Programme Review Committee meeting here on Wednesday, K.M. Hegde, Executive Engineer, NHAI, Mangalore Project Office, said that 80 per cent of the work of the bridge was over.

Mr. Hegde said the existing two-lane bridge had been built for the movement of 12,500 passenger car units (vehicles) a day. But as traffic density on the highway had gone up now it resulted in traffic jam sometimes. During festivities, traffic movement went up to 40,000 passenger car units (vehicles) per day.

The parallel three-lane bridge would facilitate the movement of 35,000 passenger car units (vehicles) a day. One-way traffic from Mangalore to Kasaragod would be allowed on the new bridge, which is 800m long and 12m wide. Embankment work on the one side of the bridge was pending.

He said that once the new bridge was ready, the old bridge would be closed for about a month for repairs, and on reopening would allow one-way traffic from Kasaragod to Mangalore.

B. Ramanath Rai, Minister in-charge of Dakshina Kannada and Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, presided over the meeting for reviewing progress of development projects in the district.

An official from the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) told the meeting that widening and upgrading the 800-metre-long exit road from Mangalore International Airport had not been completed due to land acquisition issues. The district administration was yet to acquire land to a length of 350m and handed over to KRDCL.

The official said that the widening work of Mani-Sampaje stretch on Mani-Mysore Road would stick to the deadline and be over by May next year.

B.A. Mohiuddin Bava, MLA, said that companies were not setting up shops at the Export Promotion Industrial Park at Ganjimath (on Mangalore-Moodbidri Road) because of issues relating to power supply. An official of Karnataka Power Supply Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) blamed the delay in setting up a 220 kV sub-station at the park for the problem. Whether Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, which developed the park, should set up the sub-station or KPTCL should do it, has not been sorted out, he said. Mr. Rai directed the officials to settle the issue mutually at the earliest.

Source-http://www.thehindu.com

The World Bank has approved a $500 million loan for the National Highways Inter connectivity Improvement Project in India to improve the national highway network’s connectivity with economically lagging and remote areas.

The project will focus on three low-income states – Rajasthan, Bihar and Orissa – and on less developed regions in Karnataka and West Bengal, a press release from the Bank said.

The release said that, In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of improving transport connectivity in remote and economically lagging areas which do not fall under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

“Some 43% of the primary highway network, also known as the non-NHDP network, has been identified for development. Considerable stretches of the non-NHDP network requires strengthening and upgradation, and suffer from connectivity gaps. Substantial portions of these roads are intermediate or single-lane highways and have poor traveling conditions,” it said.

“Over the years India’s core highway network has seen significant improvement. However, over 40% of thenetwork suffers from major connectivity gaps and requires better maintenance and upgradation. These roads often serve as the primary or the sole transport link to several remote and economically lagging regions. By providing better connectivity and strong institutions, the project will help states achieve fastersocial and economic benefits,” said Mr Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director for India.

The National Highways Interconnectivity Improvement Project, approved on October 29, will upgrade and widen about 1,120 km of existing single/intermediate lane National Highways to two-lane in Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan and in less developed regions of Karnataka and West Bengal.

Other key components of the project include enhancing the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to better manage the highway network.

Recognizing that road safety is a critical issue in the country today, the project will strengthen road safety management systems with the objective of reducing fatalities and serious injuries from road accidents in the country.

“Road safety in India continues to be a major concern. Road accident death rate in India is ten times the levels seen in the European Union and is costing the economy an estimated 3% of the GDP on an annual basis. This project will focus on road safety by strengthening capacity, improving data collection and training,” Mr Ruhl added.

The project will focus on improving road accident data collection and analysis at central and state levels through implementation of the Road Accident Database Management System (RADMS) in project states; strengthen road safety capacity at the central level; and focus on training.

“The project will contribute to economic growth both locally in the project area and at the regional level by removing barriers to connectivity. It will develop priority highways within the non-NHDP network; implement a range of contracting and institutional reform measures; and will have specific interventions for process improvements, network monitoring and management, and updating of standards and specifications, with particular emphasis on road safety,” said Mr Pratap Tvgssshrk, senior transport specialist and the project’s task team leader.

Overall the project will help road users have improved access to highways and transport services and benefit from the savings in travel time and transportation costs. Other expected positive outcomes of the project include improved access to a larger number of economic opportunities, better health services, better access to higher levels of education, and improved road safety.

The loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 18 years, the release added.

NNN

Source-http://netindian.in

NAGPUR: Peeved by the inaction of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) despite the ever worsening condition of the Mansar-Khawasa road, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to it to complete all repair works by February 2014.

TOI’s September 20 issue had reported in detail about the 40km stretch from Mansar to Khawasa on NH-7, where only potholes are left instead of road. Despite being a national highway, the potholes have turned into almost two-feet-deep ditches throughout the stretch. Of late, it had gained notoriety for accidents, long traffic snarls and damaged vehicles.