NHAI nod to L&T’s Singapore plans, co to list six toll road projects

October 25, 2013

By YASHODHARA DASGUPTA, ET Bureau |

*(NHAI nod to L&T’s Singapore plans, co plans to list six toll road projects)*

NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India board has approved engineering and construction firm L&T’s plans to set up a business trust in Singapore and list six toll road projects on theSingapore stock exchange that could raise up to $1 billion.The business trust will be set by the firm’s subsidiary L&T Infra Development Projects Ltd (IDPL) and the parent company can offload its equity in these six road projects to the trust, persons familiar with the matter told ET.The trust will have to form a special purpose vehicle, which will float or issue units to investors on these assets through an initial public offer. The trust will then issue debt instruments in the form of debentures to the SPVs undertaking these highway projects, said the persons, who did not wish to be named.

This will be implemented as a policy measure so that other developers looking at a similar route can follow suit, they said.

“Infrastructure stocks on the Indian stock market are not doing too well whereas the Singapore stock market is and they have mature investors who can handle long-term investments. While this will be subject to many factors including the Singapore stock exchange allowing it, if it is successful it will be a positive development since other developers can use it as an additional source of funding for their projects,” said Abhaya Agarwal, partner-infrastructure and PPP at consulting firm EY.

The six road projects include the Rs 1370 crore Krishnagiri-Walajahpet project in Tamil Nadu which is under implementation and five other completed projects including the Vadodara-Bharuch, Palanpur-Swaroopganj, Krishnagiri-Thopur projects and the Panipat elevated corridor.

The business trust model is similar to REIT or real estate investment trust model which offers revenue-generating real estate to investors.

A spokesperson of L&T told ET, “The company does not comment on market speculation.” L&T IDPL did not respond to the questionnaire sent by ET.

The NHAI board’s approval is subject to certain checks and balances which it has said the company must follow including that the company must get a legal opinion on the matter and the interest rate at which the trust lends to the SPVs must not be more than the interest rate it pays to its current lenders. In addition, the foreign exchange risk must be borne by the trust, it has specified.

“Road projects are public assets and in any case of equity transfer of more than 15%, it has to be approved by NHAI. Also, refinancing or changes in debt structure have also to be approved by us,” said an official familiar with the matter.

Source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

Rs. 1,000 cr. to repair rain-damaged roads in Karnataka

October 24, 2013

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Hindu : Shimoga – Mandagadde road was blocked due to Tunga flood. File Photo: Vaidya

Public Works Department to take up work next month

The Public Works Department (PWD) will spend Rs. 1,000 crore to repair rain-damaged State highways and major district roads in the State.

Road repairs will be taken up from next month, Public Works Minister H.C. Mahadevappa told presspersons in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Action plan

He said that officials are preparing an action plan and they will submit it to the Finance Department for release of funds. About 1,000 km of main district roads and 177 km of State highways have suffered damage, he said.

The Minister said that road repair work would be completed by the end of February next year. The department had taken up repair work on 3,000 km of State highways in the first phase and work was nearing completion. Roads were damaged on account of heavy rain during the monsoon.

To a question, the Minister said that the government had cleared arrears of Rs. 250 crore owing to road and building contractors and another Rs. 850 crore would be paid soon.

Workshop

The Indian Road Congress and the Public Works Department have decided to hold a two-day regional workshop on promoting usage of new technologies, material, techniques and equipment in road construction, here from Wednesday.

The workshop will be held at Palace Grounds (Gayatri Vihar) and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes will release a souvenir. Mr. Mahadevappa will preside over the event. President of Indian Roads Congress Kandasamy and Secretary-General Vishu Shankar Prasad will participate.

Experts will shed light on evolving technologies in the construction of roads and bridges. Engineers and experts will deliver lectures on ‘Retro-reflective material for road safety signage’ and ‘Processed steel slag as alternate aggregate for flexible pavements’ and other related issues.

Daniel Berger, Director, Quality, Research and Development, Orafol Europe GmbH, Ireland, and other experts had been invited to the workshop, Mr. Mahadevappa said.

There would be an exhibition on the usage of manufacturing and slag sand in civil construction, application of new technologies, material, techniques and equipment and application of nanotechnology in civil constructions, he added.

Source-http://www.thehindu.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

Toll turmoil: Ministers likely to meet Prithviraj Chavan today

October 24, 2013

TNN |

KOLHAPUR: Home minister R R Patil, along with two of his cabinet colleagues from Kolhapur, is likely to meet chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday and discuss with him the controversy and people’s unrest related to the collection of toll from vehicles on inter-city roads.The meeting in all likelihood is possible to be held before the scheduled meeting ofthe cabinet.”We were planning to meet the chief minister today (Tuesday) after his meeting with Youth Congress workers. However, due to his busy schedule, he could not give us time. Now, we are planning to meet him tomorrow (Wednesday) before the cabinet ministers’ meeting. We will also meet deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. We will discuss with them the situation in Kolhapur and would urge the chief minister to conduct a meeting with those opposing the toll,” labour minister Hasan Mushrif said.

Patil, Mushrif and minister of home Satej Patilhad earlier said they would talk to the chief minister and try to resolve the row, The Kolhapur Anti-Toll Committee (KATC) has been opposing the government’s decision to collect toll on the inter-city roads.

“It’s inconsequential whether the meeting with the CM is held or not. We will continue opposing collection of toll in the city. Our activists have been appealing to the commuters not to pay toll at Shiroli, Puikhadi and Phulewadi toll plazas. People from Kolhapur, having vehicles with MH 09 numbers, are refusing to pay the toll and responding to our call,” said Niwas Salokhe, the convener of KATC.

In the meantime, Karvir Kamgar Sangh, a workers’ union affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress, presented a memorandum to assistant labor commissioner office, demanding an inquiry into the IRB Company’s registration or licence under Bombay Shops and Establishment acts. Besides, the union asked the office to investigate if the company was following the set of 11 laws for the workers. “The memorandum was submitted to Suhas Kadam, the assistant labour commissioner. Our office has assured an inquiry,” said Mangesh Sawant, a senior labour department officer.

IRB Company started collecting toll from October 17 after the high court directed the state government and district police administration to provide protection to the toll plazas in the city.

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

Build highways to China, South-East Asia

October 24, 2013

By ET Bureau |

*The proposed highway, starting from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand, will pass through Myanmar.*

Commerce minister Anand Sharma has said that work on a highway to link India with Myanmar and Thailand should start soon. This is welcome. But the government has to be more ambitious.The proposed highway, starting from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand, will pass through Myanmar. It should also turn northwards and connect with Kunming, the biggest city of the province of Yunnan in China.

China is already working on ambitious highway-building projects linking coastal Myanmar to Yunnan and it makes great sense to link the highway from India with this. That way, trade would open up between eastern India all the way to landlocked southern China, Myanmar and Thailand. India should also negotiate with Bangladesh for this highway to pass through its territory.

That way, instead of terminating traffic and commerce in the northeast, the highway could run all the way to Kolkata. Once there, it would be easy to link the East-West Corridor with the India-Myanmar-China-Thailand highway.

Immense trade potential could open up if, say, Pune is connected to Kunming via one long, continuous highway. Along the way, goods can also be dropped off in markets in Bangladesh, the north-east, Myanmar and on to Thailand.

Southern Asia is among the world’s least-integrated regions. It was not always thus. Before Partition, south and south-east Asia was a closely networked hub of commerce and services. In the 1930s, the British built a road between Burma and southern China.

During WWII, American general Joe Stilwell built another one from Ledo in Assam to Kunming, to supply Chinese fighting the Japanese. The Stilwell road, too, should be revived, repaired and used extensively to boost trade and commerce between India, China and south-east Asia.

Source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Road Transport and Highways (Ministry)

NMMC nod to flyover connecting Nerul east, west

October 24, 2013

B B Nayak, TNN |

NAVI MUMBAI: The new flyover project to connect Nerul east to west near the railway station recently got the civic body’s nod.A budget of Rs28.24 crore has been allocated for the civic project and tenders for the construction will be floated soon.

The flyover will connect sectors 21 and 28 between Nerul police station and Terna Institute on the Seawood end of railway station.

Residents have been demanding this flyover for a long time. This link will reduce the travelling time of the people from both sides in the node. Currently, the residents risk their lives by crossing the railway tracks to cut down on time.

“It’s good news for the locals. If we want to cross from east to west, we have to take longer route via the Rajiv Gandhi flyover at the Juinagar end or use the Seawoods flyover at the CBD end. The distance between these two flyovers is 4km,” said Rajesh Poojary, a local resident.

The general body of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) recently gave its nod to float tenders and issue work order.

“The whole process of floating tenders and issuing the work order will be around three months and the project has a deadline of 18 months after commencement. The technical details and blueprint are yet to be chalked out. This will solve the travelling woes of the people residing in this node,” said an official.

The flyover will be used for light vehicles and have footpaths on both sides. Cars, auto-rickshaws, three-wheeler tempos and motorcycles will be allowed to ply on this flyover.

The Rajiv Gandhi and Seawoods flyovers will continue to be used by the heavy vehicles. “This will be the third flyover in Nerul ,” said an officer.

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Municipal Corporation, NMMC

MOU signed between India and China on cooperation in roads and road transportation

October 24, 2013

MOU signed between India and China on cooperation in roads and road transportation

Bejing: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China, herein after referred to as the ‘Participants’,

Recognizing the significant mutual benefit that can be derived by the Participants from cooperation on roads and road transportation matters;

Recognizing the common objective of developing and promoting safe, efficient, cost effective and sustainable road transportation systems;

Recognizing the importance of roads and road transportation in the economic development process of each Participant country, within their respective national policy framework;

Have reached the following understanding:

Article 1

Principles and Objectives of Cooperation

1. Under the framework of this Memorandum of Understanding (‘Memorandum’), the Participants will undertake cooperation on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.

2. The purpose of this Memorandum is to establish a long-term and effective relationship of communication and cooperation in Roads and Road Transportation.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Memorandum,

a. ‘Road ‘ means the National Highways of the respective countries.

b. ‘Road Transportation’ means transportation of both passengers and goods by road but excludes urban transport.

Article 3

Areas of Cooperation

The Participants will cooperate in the fields of roads and road transportation in the following areas:

a. Exchange and sharing of knowledge and cooperation in the areas of transportation technology, transport policy, for passenger and freight movement by roads;

b. Planning, administration and management of road infrastructure, technology and standards for roads/highways construction and maintenance;

c. Sharing of information and best practices for developing road safety plans and road safety intervention strategies, and outreach activities aimed at reducing deaths and injuries resulting from road accidents, through:

(i) Exchange and sharing of knowledge in Intelligent Transport System;

(ii) Sharing of information and best practices on increasing vehicle safety oversight, and safety fitness framework for the vehicle testing and certification system;

d. Sharing of knowledge and best practices in user fee (toll) related issues; including the modern system, technologies and methods of levying of user fee and collection including Electronic Toll Collection System;

e. Sharing of information in areas of improved technologies and materials in road and bridge construction, including joint research;

f. Sharing the experience on contractual frameworks, financing and procurement issues, particularly related to Public Private Partnerships (PPP) mode;

g. Any other area of bi-lateral cooperation, mutually agreed by the Participants.

Article 4

Ways of cooperation

1. The cooperation under this Memorandum will be carried out through the following ways:

a. Consultations at expert level about specific cooperation issues upon the requests of the Participants;

b. Organizing exchange visits for technical experts;

c. Organizing technical exchanges by way of joint organization of workshops/ seminars/conferences, etc;

d. Exchange of relevant technical materials in accordance with the provisions of the respective laws and regulations and information of policies, laws and regulations;

e. Mutual provision of information relating to transport infrastructure construction projects in their own country;

f. To undertake relevant scientific and technical research in the institutes from both countries including joint research in the identified areas of cooperation.

g. Any other method of cooperation as mutually agreed upon.

2. Whenever necessary, the Participants will discuss and jointly determine the detailed arrangement of the cooperation activities specified in Paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 5

Implementation

1. Coordination Organizations:

International Cooperation Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Republic of India and Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China will carry out the coordination of activities under this Memorandum;

2. Implementation Mechanism:

a. The Participants agree to constitute a Joint Working Group (JWG) to oversee the implementation of this Memorandum and to identify specific cooperation activities and services under this Memorandum.

b. The JWG will deal with all questions related to the implementation of this Memorandum and resolve the difficulties that might arise in the course of implementation of this Memorandum.

c. The members of this JWG will be nominated by the Participants. The JWG will meet, as per mutual agreement, alternately in China and in India.

d. Where possible and appropriate, the Participants will facilitate the involvement of other institutions and organizations in the cooperation activities under this Memorandum, both in the government and private sectors.

Article 6

Costs

The Participants agreed that each government shall bear its own administrative costs for the implementation of this Memorandum. Specific financial procedures will be negotiated for certain cooperation activities as needed. Any contract or separate detailed arrangements for such activities will be jointly determined by the Participants.

Article 7

Publicity

1. The Participants agreed that prior approval shall be sought of the other participant before the use of any publicity or presentational material by any of the Participants and executive agencies as are allowed to participate under Article 4 of this Memorandum.

2. Scientific and Technical information of a non-proprietary nature derived from the cooperative activities conducted under this Memorandum may be made available to the public through customary channels and, in accordance with, the normal procedures of the Participants, and other governmental entities involved in the cooperative activities.

Article 8

Confidentiality

Information and documentation received by either of the Participants as a result of cooperation under this Memorandum within their respective regulatory and legislative framework will not be given to a third party without the prior written consent of the originator. The Participants accept that either Participant may be subject to legal obligations concerning the disclosure of information relating to this Memorandum within their respective regulatory and legislative framework but will nonetheless ensure the other Participant is informed prior to any disclosure subject to the provisions for ‘Confidentiality’ under this Memorandum, wherever applicable.

Article 9

Disputes

Any dispute about the interpretation or application of this Memorandum will be resolved by consultations between the Participants, and will not be referred to any national or international tribunal or third party for settlement. If the Participants are unable to resolve the dispute, either Participant may terminate this Memorandum in accordance with Article 11 or such shorter period as may be decided between the Participants.

Article 10

Nature of the Memorandum

1. This Memorandum is not legally binding on either of the Participants.

2. This Memorandum will not generate any public/international law obligations for the Participants.

3. All activities developed under this Memorandum are subject to existing laws and regulations of the respective country of the Participants, and to the availability of necessary funds and resources.

Article 11

Entry into Force, Validity, Termination, Interpretation and Amendment

The Participants agree to the following provisions:

1. Entry into Force :

This Memorandum shall enter into force on the date of its signature and will remain valid for a period of five years and shall be extended by another five years, upon their mutual written consent, at least six(6) months before expiry of the validity of this Memorandum.

2. Amendment to the Memorandum:

This Memorandum may be amended by mutual written consent of the Participants. Any amendments thereto shall enter into force on the date of signing of such consent.

3. Termination Provision:

a. The Memorandum may be terminated by either of the Participants at any time by giving sixty (60) days advance written notice to the other Participant.

b. Unless otherwise agreed in written form, the termination of this MOU shall not affect the validity of any ongoing project or activity implemented in accordance with this Memorandum.

c. The Participants will determine how the outstanding matters should be dealt with on the basis of mutual consultation.

Source-http://www.orissadiary.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Default, India & Neighbours, Indian Govt, MoU, News

Post Event Coverage- 20th -ITS WORLD CONGRESS, TOKYO,15th -17th October-Venue @Tokyo International Forum and Tokyo Big Sight venues in Tokyo

October 24, 2013

20th -ITS WORLD CONGRESS, TOKYO

15th -17th October,2013

Venue -Tokyo International Forum and Tokyo Big Sight venues in Tokyo

Day One- 15thOctober,2013

Two decades back the the first ITS World Congress was staged in Paris…The Wheel of time /clock taken a full circle and has hit the right venue Tokyo ! There can be no better stage to hold the ITS Wold Congress after 20 years.

For long Tokyo, Japan has been spearheading the ITS industry.

Kazumasa Fujie the board member of the Japan Organizing committee bade a warm farewell to the delegates as the curtain came down .

The gauging scale of the Tokyo world congress has called for a strong walking shoes about exhibition area itself is self explanatory that a s many as 229 exhibitors have taken space and visitors from more than 60 Countries attended the exhibition.

The large exhibition an conference complimented the showcasing of wide range of vehicle and technology demonstration both within the main big sight exhibition arena as well outside area.

The exhibitors included automated and driving and advance systems which aims to eliminate traffic accidents , congestion and cruise control/ automatic emergency braking a pedestrian collision avoidance support system specially low speed areas.

The Japanese took this occasion and made full use of the opportunity offered in this 20th Edition keeping an eye on the past achievements to showcase the extraordinary progress made by this industry of the future.

Thee first day saw the official opening ceremony for the ITS World Congress and the next day began in a earnest fashion the exhibition arena and conferences took place with full enthusiasm. With major Traffic Management and Next gen mobility and sustainability , intermodal and Multi-modal systems for the public and goods took place in a grand manner. As many as 1000 papers were delivered over 250 sessions.

Day Two -16Th October,2013

Ha:mo Toyotas Harmonious mobility network already popular in Tokyo .. came alive in the 2nd Day..This technology is a find of sorts…a boon to the public and community making transportation people – and community

Friendly… There are two services rendered by Ha;mo : Ha:mo Navi which gives route guidance and Ha:mo Ride a ride sharing system featuring ultra compact vehicle (EV). Compactness factor- Ha:mo Ride EV Prototype ,called the i-Road, was on display at the Toyota Pavilion along with the current model Toyota COMS. Toyota COMS is designed for short distance .COMS –Personal Mobility EV’s are on the road in Tokyo as part of Ha:mo Ride Programme..The Ha:mos provides its own charging stations to the users.Ha:mo has increased its charging stations from 4 to 21 in 2013. It has ride sharing network which is designed to integrate very well with public Transportation thus enabling users to smoothly transform from one transport to the other as well as improving traffic flow and minimizing the emission ..

i-Road is the next Gen vehicle . For Hamo ride is a 3 Wheel single passenger prototype-a hybrid between a motorcycle and car- which offers shorter battery charging time , great comfort and to make parking easier its desingned as narrow as 850mm design which makes parking the vehicle a wonderful experience. i-Road is expected to hit the Tokyo roads as a part of Ha:mo RIDE as early as 2014.

Day Three -17 th October,2013

The latest Group of Outstanding members of the ITS Family have been inducted into the hall of Fame. He world congress was the venue for the announcement of the new members to Hall of fame, recognizing outstanding services in helping to develop systems and solutions for the ITS industry together with benefits for Consumers. Nine individual and organizations were names . The three regions –ITS Asia –Pacific, ITS America and Ertico- each nominated one individual, ne private sectors company and one local government organization to cover the public sector. Delegates to the World Congress applauded as the identities were made public.

Hall of Fame inductees –

INDIVIDUALS AWARD

1.ITS America- Harry Voccola, Navteq,

2.ITS Asia-Pacific- Dr.C.K.Macko, Executive Yuan, Taiwan

Ertico-Risto Kulmala, Finnish Transport Agency

INDUSTRY AWARD

1.ITS America: Econolite,Centracs ATMS (Advanced Transport Management Systems)

ITS- Asia Pacific: Transport Certification Australia,

Ertico: Vitronic,Romania

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AWARD

ITS America:Oregon Department of Transportation , US

ITS Asia –Pacific- Seoul Metropolitan Government-TOPIS,South Korea

Ertic: Grand Lyon, France.

Editorial Contributions- Editor , www.indiantollways.com

Main Source-www.itsinternational.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Expo & Events

BMC spent Rs 8cr on road repairs that were ‘free’

October 23, 2013

By Pandurang Mhaske, Mumbai Mirror |

BMC spent Rs 8cr on road repairs that were ‘free’

The city administration squandered Rs 8.44 crore of taxpayers’ money by hiring a contractor to repair a stretch of SV Road even though the work could have been done for free, a recent audit has revealed.The company that originally constructed the 2.5-km stretch in Borivali in 2007 was bound by the contract to fix road defects for no extra cost till December 2012.

But the BMC did not bother to study the agreement and hired another contractor to repair the stretch in April 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India found after scrutinising roadwork orders of the past few years.

The BMC has been facing public anger over its failure to improve the condition of the city’s thoroughfares despite spending crores on road contracts every year. Activists have repeatedly found faults in its process of awarding contracts, and have pointed to a nexus between officials and contractors.

The latest embarrassment is the result of the BMC’s poor coordination with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The state government had in 2005 tasked the MMRDA with widening and improving SV Road, from Bandra to Borivali. MMRDA officials awarded the contract, with a defect liability clause extending to December 2012, to Valecha Engineering.

The company completed the work in December 2007, and the MMDRA handed over the responsibility of the 25-km SV Road to the municipal corporation. Last year, the BMC found that the condition of the stretch between Forest Road intersection and Chandavarkar junction in Borivali (W) had worsened drastically with paver blocks coming off at many places along the divider and on the pavements. This was causing severe traffic snarls.

Instead of consulting the MMRDA and finding out if the original contractor was legally liable to repair the stretch, the BMC invited tenders for the work. On April 26 last year, it awarded the Rs 8.44-crore contract to ME Infrastructure. Public auditor CAG has questioned the logic behind paying for repairs when they could have been done for free.

An official in the BMC’s road department said that Valecha Engineering’s guarantee period had become invalid because of subsequent work by the civic body to fix damaged utilities under the road.

However, the original contract clearly said that the company would have to carry out repairs till December 2012 for additional cost.

Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Shrinivasan, who is in charge of the road department, said that he would look into the issue.

Source-http://www.mumbaimirror.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Municipal Corporation

NHAI to SC: No stretch of Panipat-Jalandhar highway complete

October 23, 2013

R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi,

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) today told the Supreme Court that the company which was given the contract for constructing the 291-km Panipat-Jalandhar highway had not done complete work even on one square inch of the road.

Arguing before a Bench comprising Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Pinaki Chandra Ghose, senior counsel Indu Malhotra said though the company, Soma Isolux, was claiming that 70 per cent of the work was over on the Rs 4,500 crore project, no stretch of the highway was ready with all the layers laid as specified in the contract.

Malhotra made the statement while responding to a query by the Bench on the distance between the toll plazas at Karnal and Ambala and the completed stretch of the six-lane highway.

Strongly opposing the company’s plea for shifting the toll plazas to different locations, NHAI disputed the contractor’s logic behind the move. The company was claiming that shifting was necessary to plug leakage of toll revenue arising from vehicles bypassing the plazas, but the real reason was to bring vehicles from additional areas under the purview of toll collection and earn as much as Rs 1,000 crore more every year, the authority said.

The additional areas sought to be covered by the company had not been taken into account while finalising the terms of the bid for awarding the contract for the project, the NHAI argued. Had it been taken into account, the terms would have been quite different.

However, the Bench wanted to know as to why the authority had inserted a clause in the contract with a provision for shifting of the toll plazas and subsequently granted in principle consent as well.

The NHAI said the approval was subject to endorsements by an independent engineer and the Centre, which decided the toll. The independent engineer and a safety expert had rejected the plea for shifting the plazas three times, citing financial implications and safety.

The NHAI also maintained that while accepting the contract the company had agreed to run the three toll plazas at the pre-existing places. Further, the company has been collecting toll from May 2009 even before beginning work on the project and earning about Rs 304 crore a year since then. The arguments remain inconclusive.

The company has come to the SC challenging the HC verdict cancelling the contract. The SC stayed the HC verdict on June 12 and allowed the company to go ahead with the work. But NHAI today contended that the construction work was at a standstill with the company insisting on shifting the plazas before resuming the project.

Source-http://www.tribuneindia.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Legal

PWD to spend Rs 1,000 crore to repair roads

October 23, 2013

By Express News Service – BANGALORE

The Public Works Department will spend `1,000 crore to repair highway networks, including district roads, damaged due to heavy rains.

Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa told reporters here on Tuesday that the department officials are preparing an action plan in this regard. Later, it will be submitted to the Finance Department for release of funds, he added.

About 1,000 km of main district roads and 177 km of State Highway (SH) were damaged badly, the minister said adding the work of repair would be taken up on war footing and would be completed by the end of February.

He said the department has already taken up repair of over 3,000 km stretch of SH in phase I, which is in final stage of completion.

“The phase II will be taken up based on the availability of funds,” he added.

To a question, the minister said the government has cleared an arrears of `250 crore to contractors and another `850 crore yet to be paid.

“The government will take steps to see that all the arrears due to the contractors will be paid soon,” he said.

The Indian Road Congress and PWD are jointly organising a two-day workshop on promoting usage of new technologies, materials, techniques and equipments in road construction here from Wednesday.

Renowned engineers and experts will deliver lectures on the occasion.

Director, Quality, Research and Development, M/s Orafol Europe GmbH, Ireland, Daniel Berger, director Param Preet Singh and DGM Avantech Engineering Consortium, New Delhi, Vikant Raina will also take part in the event, he said.

An exhibition will also be organised on the occasion, he said.

Source-http://newindianexpress.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Municipal Corporation

« Previous Page — Next Page »