Automated parking operational in Connaught Place

September 23, 2014

As part of the ‘smart city’ plan of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the automated parking complete with boom barriers and variable signs is ready and functioning at the F Block of Connaught Place.

By the end of the month, the entire area would have automated parking facility. After cracking whip on the parking mafia, the municipal body had handed over the 99 parking lots within its jurisdiction to the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) for consultancy and for deciding on the technical inputs.

The aim was to put in place a structured system and ensure that all revenues are captured at the back end. The private contractors mafia continued to park cars even when the parking area used to be full. It led to congestion in many areas.

With the new system in place, once the parking area is full the automated computerised board will show the next available spot, indicating the driver to take the car to the next stop. In this case, it will be the next block in CP.

“If the space is full then no car will be allowed to enter that particular parking lot,” an NDMC official said. NDMC hopes to have a proper system ensuring high-tech safety for the cars. “The bollard system has been set up that will be updating the space available for parking and bring in order to the current chaos,” the official added.

“True that people will have to walk a little more than usual. But once the system is in place that habit will be induced among them,” he said.

“Our next endeavour will be to have an online system for reserving parking lots to ease congestion in any area. It will allow people to book parking slots by visiting the NDMC website,” said an NDMC official.

“Numerical analysis and billboard system will bring order in Connaught Place, Janpath, Sarojini Market, Khan Market, Shankar Market over a period of time,” said NDMC chairman Jalaj Srivastava.

Source:India today

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Delhi, Parking

France indicates interest to help make Nagpur a smart city

September 23, 2014

France has evinced interest in partnering with Nagpur to make it a ‘smart city’.

This was indicated by French Consul General for Western India Jean Raphael Peytregnet, who is on his two-day visit to Nagpur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to create 100 smart cities across the country and France has offered its expertise, men, and material in urban development to build “new age” cities and plans to send a visiting team of prominent architects to Nagpur to “explore possibilities”.

Accompanied by the French Trade Commissioner of Consulate General Matthieu Lefort, Peytregnet said that the basic objective would be to “explore possibilities” of co-operation in urban development.

Since each city has a different requirement, there is nothing specific in mind, though tailor-made solutions could be offered, he said.

Peytregnet said that New Delhi would host a convention of architects later in November, when a French team would eventually visit Nagpur.

Apart from exploring options in Mumbai and the national capital, they will also be urged to visit other Indian cities, he said.

“There is immense scope for developing modern infrastructure in India. We will be calling on officials of various municipalities and civic bodies across the country to look for tie-ups. Nagpur being in the heart of the country is very much on our mind,” he said.

The Consul General met Nagpur Mayor Pravin Datke, his deputy Munna Pokulwar, Municipal Commissioner Shyam Wardhane and past mayor Anil Sole to discuss issues related to the ‘smart city’ concept.

Lefort said there is also a focus on sectors like consumer goods, agriculture, automobiles, avionics and also tourism.

Current investment by French companies in India stands at 15 billion Euros as against Indian investment in France which is at only 300 million Euros. The French government is keen to increase the figure by promoting Indian business proposals, he said.

Besides developing Nagpur into a ‘smart city’, the diplomats also asserted that they are exploring possibilities of investments in the Multi Modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub (MIHAN) in the city and were satisfied with the availability of space, good connectivity, infrastructure, power, manpower, incentives and industrial environment in MIHAN.

Both the diplomats also met office bearers of two prominent NGOs namely Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) and Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED) during their two-day stay in the city.

While interactions with VED, the top diplomat said that he would like more Indian students to study in France, especially because universities in France would now teach in English.

Source:India Today

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Agra to become smart city with Japanese aid

September 23, 2014

It may not have an influential member of parliament like Narendra Modi in its kitty, but when it comes to reaping the fruits of its decades old relations with Japan, Agra is not willing to fall short of Varanasi in attracting Japanese investments.

The home to the first post-WWII Leprosy research center in Asia established by the Japanese government, Agra also plays a gracious host to over 30 thousand Japanese tourists every year, who come to visit the Taj Mahal and the JALMA institute for Leprosy Research that had been established by a fellow countryman Dr. M Miyazaki.

Now, the Japanese government is preparing a detailed roadmap to invest in Agra, to develop it into a Smart City. A delegation of 100 Japanese experts will be arriving in Agra in December to study the city’s infrastructure and sign the necessary MOUs for the city’s transformation.

Talking to India Today, local industrialist and exporter Puran Dawar, who was a part of the six-member delegation of Agra industrialists who went to Japan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the delegation presented a brief outline of the developments that could be made possible in Agra with minimum investment before the Mayor of Kyoto Daisaku Kadokawa.

Upon viewing the presentation, the Mayor agreed to send a delegation of experts to Agra who will prepare a study report on how to develop Agra into a smart city, while preserving its heritage.

He said that the government of Hiroshima has also agreed to develop joint ventures with the industrialists of India and if things kept going the way they were, Agra could soon be on the focal point of pollution-free industrial development as visualized by the Japanese government. Dawar said that the Japanese were made aware of the fact the manpower in India is a lot cheaper to hire than other countries.

The primary target of the Agra Development Foundation, which will be spearheading the developmental agenda of Agra, is to obtain Japanese aid in developing eco-friendly energy solutions for Agra, which could include solar energy as well as other low-carbon emission techniques. Energy conservation and digitalization of the entire city’s infrastructure is another avenue where the Japanese aid will be invaluable.

Source:India Today

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Narendra Modi’s imprint on smart city project

September 23, 2014

After the curtains came down on the UPA regime’s JNNURM scheme, the urban development ministry has got a clear message from the PMO that reliable, adequate and utility services would be critical to a ‘smart city’ while the design and creation should be “region-specific and not a generalised concept as practiced earlier.”

“The PM wants to take big city living to a new level where 24/7 utilities services becomes an essential in public service delivery. So, would be technology-based governance and monitoring of services provided to citizens. Not to miss, a high quality social infrastructure including Wi-Fi zones and recreational spaces form core of the new plans for these cities on the anvil,” Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.

On Wednesday, the ministry unveiled a ‘Concept Note on Smart Cities’ giving broad contours about smart cities and their related aspects like financing and selection criteria. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, which was launched in 2005, had almost 40 per cent of its work incomplete at the time of its closure on March 31 this year.

“A smart city cannot have only a few hours of water supply a day, or electricity that goes off for several hours, or streets littered with garbage. The general appearance of the city has to be pleasing and clean. In Delhi, it is being proposed that the DDA will develop a new smart city through the land pooling scheme and in that, parts of the NDMC area may also be considered for demonstrating all the components of smart cities,” Naidu added.

Using an average figure of 1 million people in each of the 100 smart cities, the High Power Expert Committee on Investment Estimates in urban infrastructure has assessed investment requirements for the services covered comes to Rs.7 lakh crore over 20 years. This translates into an annual requirement of Rs.35,000 crore. “A large part of the financing for smart cities will have to come from the private sector with the states/cities and central government only supplementing that effort,” the document said.

A senior ministry official said that the ministry is deliberating on new models and various global cities in Korea, Canada, North America and some Nordic countries. The ministry has also started talking to states and asked them for proposals on which city they would nominate for the NDA’s ambitious Smart City project.

“We’re taking states along on this. A lot of state capitals and a few heritage and historic cities with a high spiritual value and tourism appeal have already made to the list,” the official said. Most of these cities would thrive on high quality information accessible to citizens.

“A very important feature of all smart cities is good citizen access to information. Whether it be regarding city specific data or the measures being taken by municipal bodies or information relating to various service providers such as transport and similar information relevant for potential investors has to be conveniently available. This could be through multiple channels – internet, mobile apps, radio, TV, print media, etc,” the official said.

In the Union Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised allocation of a sum ofRs.7,060 crore for the development of the smart cities.

Source:India Today

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Government (Govt), Smart City

Smart Cities: Motivations, Misconceptions & Realities

September 23, 2014

A recent GBI Research report claimed that the smart-cities industry will “more than double between 2012 and 2017.” But what’s really going on, and who’s driving it?

A recent GBI Research report claimedthat the smart-cities industry will “more than double between 2012 and 2017.” But what’s really going on, and who’s driving it? The smart cities debate has become muddled: It’s often accompanied by fears about top-down approaches and tech companies controlling the direction. Overall it’s not entirely clear who the stakeholders are. As someone who has worked on different sides of public and private sector fences, I thought I would try to make sense of who the smart cities players are, their roles, the hurdles, and where all of this is headed: Technology companies:Motivated by profit, given capital markets, tech companies always try to pursue the latest new thing with the hope of gaining an advantage on their opposition. So, of course they are in the smart cities space. They often fund the conferences that the public sector and academia cannot afford (or choose not to), and they are developing services and products that they hope will play well. But, also note that most technology “supports” existing city functions, playing an enabling (not standalone) role. Take smart buildings, for example: Most building technology is there to ensure the existing operations work efficiently. Academics, NGOs, and think tanks:These groups (to me) like to be seen as thought leaders in most spaces, and smart cities are no exception. They play a central role in attracting funding for smart cities research. They also give due consideration to the impact the technology will have on cities and are driven by a desire to improve people’s lives and further the discussion. Public sector/governments/specialist agencies:The public sector is a central figure for obvious reasons.

But, in particular, the public sector is involved because of shrinking budgets and the perception (correct, if done wisely) that smart city initiatives can provide “more with less” by incorporating ICT into existing legacy city functions. Of course, the public sector doesn’t control all of cities’ functions or assets — the opposite is often true. But it’s clear, from a political imperative, that cities need to be seen as active and hence take leading roles in this movement. Indeed, some parts of government are tasked specifically to work across the urban space. Private sector: Ironically, the private sector actually owns most of the real assets in cities, not government. For example, real estate owners own the bulk of city assets, and the utilities that service them are becoming more and more privately owned. However, the private sector and asset owners and operators tend to be far less involved in this debate than they should be. Some groups worry too much about tech companies forcing technology into cities. This won’t happen at scale because the profit-motivated private sector and the cash-strapped public sector will predominantly only adopt those goods and services that make sense or are likely to be embraced by citizens. One of the missing discussion points in this whole debate is the distinction between technology innovation and business innovation. So much tech innovation already exists, but the gap lies in the business innovation as both the private and public sectors grapple to understand how to deploy new ideas that cross over existing silos. Cities are still confused over new products and services being offered to them.

New business innovations will provide the answers. At present, too much time is being spent justifying smart cities and rehashing what’s already been discussed. We need to keep the debate not about “why” smart cities are a good idea or “what” technologies we should use but rather discuss “how” to make things happen. We need to work out how to do more with less and how to promote business innovation in smart cities that match the pace of the technology innovations available and allow the use of smart technologies where they make economic sense, are logical, provide benefit to the users, and ultimately improve quality of life. If we don’t do this, I suspect the industry will not double in size by 2017 — and all the advantages that smart cities genuinely bring will not occur.

Source:Information week

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

10 of the world’s smartest cities

September 23, 2014

Major global metropolitan areas are implementing a vast number of technology, energy, transportation, and Internet projects to make the metropolis a friendlier, greener, safer, and more sustainable place to be

It seems these days that everything is getting smarter, from your phone to your home to your car. Cities are no different, with major global metropolitan areas implementing a vast number of technology, energy, transportation, and Internet projects to make the metropolis a friendlier, greener, safer, and more sustainable place to be. Read on to look at some of the world’s smartest cities, and see what they’re doing to injentelligence into the urban environment

New York

Not to be outdone by its global counterparts, the US cultural capital of New York has been working on smart-city plans for a number of years, particularly with Internet and open-data plans to give residents more online access to city services and information. But perhaps its most ambitious smart-city project to date is the Hudson Yards project (artist’s concept pictured), a 28-acre commercial and residential area on Manhattan’s west side that will be a Utopia of green initiatives and Internet access once it’s finished in 2018. The project will digitally track environmental and lifestyle factors — such as foot traffic, energy consumption, and air quality — to provide an optimal quality of life for Hudson Yards residents and businesses. It will even include a trash-disposal system that will remove waste via underground pneumatic tubes rather than a typical truck-based service.

Amsterdam

One look at Amsterdam’s streets — which nearly all have designated bike paths and more bicycles and pedestrians than car traffic — shows how this city is one of Europe’s leaders in creating smart cities. Aside from its longtime promotion of bicycle commuting, the city also is working with leading technology companies like Cisco and IBM to implement a number of new technologies to create a more sustainable city. One example of this innovation is the Utrechtsestraat Climate street, an effort to make one of the city’s busiest commercial areas greener. The street (pictured) features shops with smart meters to reduce and monitor energy consumption; solar-powered waste bins with garbage compactors to reduce collection by electric-powered trucks; and sustainable street lighting, among other smart technologies.

Barcelona

The Spanish jewel of the Mediterranean, Barcelona also is a leader in smart-city projects, hosting a major annual forum for smart-city technology, the Smart City Expo World Congress. True to form, the city is working on efforts on a number of fronts especially to make Barcelona greener and more energy efficient. To promote the use of hybrid and electric vehicles, the city is deploying electric charging stations as well as using EVs in its own fleet, with more than 500 hybrid taxis and 294 public EVs in use. Smart energy meters, LED lampposts, and remote irrigation control for Barcelona’s numerous green spaces to avoid wasteful use of water are also among the city’s smart-city initiatives, the latter including the use of iPads by city workers to control park sprinkler systems.

Copenhagen

Denmark’s capital aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral city by 2025. To support this goal, the city already is engaged in numerous smart-city endeavors, including an extensive city bike-rental system and efforts to promote cycling to improve residents’ health and reduce car traffic. As part of this system, there are digital counters around the city with tire pumps for bicyclists and displays that show stats about how many people are biking along a particular bike path daily and annually (pictured). Copenhagen also boasts one of the cleanest harbors in the world and has reduced its landfill waste to 1.8% of total waste from the city.

Hong Kong

It’s little surprise that China’s most sophisticated city is also one of the world’s smartest. Hong Kong has a tech-savvy population that takes advantage of some of the best Internet accessibility and highest Internet bandwidth in the world. Ninety-seven percent of households in the city can access broadband, and Hong Kong boasts 10,000 WiFi hotspots, one of the highest concentrations in the world. Other smart-city efforts include mass transit and healthcare, but the city hasn’t yet achieved intelligence in a number of key areas. To solve this problem, officials are working with a number of partners on the Wisecity Hong Kong Project to improve the city’s air quality, waste management, energy, and other issues that still need work to make the city smarter.

Tokyo

One of the world’s technology capitals, Tokyo is rapidly becoming a proving ground for a number of innovative companies to test out new smart-city strategies. Some of these efforts are due to necessity — the Fukushima nuclear disaster sent Japan into an energy crisis, with residents of Tokyo and other cities enduring rolling blackouts due to lack of nuclear power. To deploy smarter energy solutions, Japanese company Mitsui Fudosan is working on a program to control energy consumption through smart-grid solutions. The plan includes installing 2,500 Tokyo households with smart meters that will show electricity, gas, and water consumption in the home. Tokyo also soon will have a zero-carbon-status eco-village developed by Panasonic, the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (artist’s concept pictured). The concept aims to provide a model for how home automation, renewable energy, and other green technologies can provide a more sustainable and eco-friendly living environment of the future.

San Francisco

With its proximity to Silicon Valley and its concentration of Internet-oriented companies, it seems natural that San Francisco would be a global leader in smart-city projects. But providing residents with Internet connectivity with a number of free WiFi hotspots (including three miles of free WiFi along Market Street, its main downtown artery) is not the only area in which the Bay Area excels. The city is a global recycling leader, with a mandate that all residents separate their garbage into recycling, compostable, and landfill waste. San Francisco also is promoting the use of hybrid and electric vehicles by providing more than 100 charging stations (pictured) throughout the city. Sustainable construction and renewable energy are other areas of investment for the city.

Seattle

Like San Francisco, Seattle is another extremely wired city — on both the Internet and its fabled coffee. The Emerald City is especially friendly to businesses that want to go green, offering substantial tax breaks to businesses and residents that purchase and implement environmentally friendly technologies. Other key areas of smart-city focus include e-government and green construction initiatives. The city was the first to develop an e-gov strategy in 2004 and is using the Internet in a number of creative ways to help residents, such as using Twitter to help spread the word and locate stolen vehicles. Seattle also helps qualified residents make their houses meet more energy-efficient standards, offering services to better weatherize properties against the elements with the installation of insulation.

Singapore

Well known for its cleanliness and efficiency, the city-state of Singapore also aims to be a smart-city leader, with its Infocomm Development Authority unveiling a recent plan to become the world’s first “Smart Nation.” The ambitious project unveiled by officials will begin rolling out its first technology trial in the Jurong Lake District (pictured), where boxes connected to fiber-optic lines will be deployed at street lights or bus stops and connect to sensors detecting pollution, heavy rainfall, or traffic jams. The sensors even can report back how full garbage bins are so they can be emptied, and keep a close eye on littering to keep trash off the streets. Singapore also aims to launch low-power super WiFi networks with unprecedented range to support the Smart Nation project.
Vienna

If Vienna has its way, it will beat Copenhagen to zero-carbon status by 2020. The Austrian capital is another one of Europe’s smart-city leaders, its strategy featuring a unique heating system that uses garbage incinerators to generate 32% of the city’s heat. The project is so renowned that one of the city’s largest incinerators, Spittelau (pictured), is a colorfully painted city landmark. Vienna also is a leader in providing easy and affordable mass transit to reduce traffic congestion; in a city of 1.7 million residents, its transit system handles about 1.3 million passengers per day.

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Gujarat’s GIFT City wins award for ‘Smart City of the Future’ from Cisco

September 23, 2014

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), country’s first integrated smart city being developed as a Global Financial Hub, has won the Cisco Technology Award for building India’s first Smart City with best-in-class sustainability features and technologies

GIFT City is the recipient of “Smart City of the Future Award’, an accolade that recognizes stand-out organizational contributions in driving change through technology. The award was conferred to GIFT City’s MD & Group CEO Ramakant Jha at a glittering ceremony organized in Mumbai on July 30, 2014 in which Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India was the Chief Guest. “We are pleased to receive this award from the company which has brought revolution in IoT. This award recognizes our efforts in achieving the vision of GIFT City laid down by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India i.e. “to tie up with technology, to create a hub complete with infrastructure, to meet the needs of modern India and to create a space in the global financial world”, said Ramakant Jha, MD & Group CEO, GIFT City.

Since the Internet revolution, technology has played decisive role in the financial services industry worldwide and changed global trade mechanism. GIFT City is being developed as an integrated smart city, which is helping India in creating technology based Global Hub for financial services by keeping in mind ‘Walk to Work’ concept and improving the lifestyle of those involved through technology. “With Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India laying a great emphasis on setting up 100 smart cities in India, GIFT City can lead in realising this vision”, added Jha. Internet of Everything (IoE) is the next wave of internet revolution. The concept talks about integration of Information Technology with Process, Data & People; connecting them using various networking methods and creating value by turning information into actions that create new capabilities, easy to manage infrastructure, richer experiences and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals, and countries.

Unique infrastructure facilities of entire GIFT City like District Cooling System (DCS), Automated Waste Management System (AWMS), Water Management System, Power Infrastructure, City’s safety, security and surveillance, and Traffic management are all managed and monitored through a single platform called “City Command and Control centre (C-4)”. Phase 1-A of City Command and Control Centre (C-4) has already been completed and implementation of next phase is in progress. There are two parts of GIFT City’s Command and Control Centre (C-4). The first part, platform, hosts all the Utilities and provides a complete view of the City Infrastructure. The second part is hosting CCTV Surveillance, Integration of Intelligent Building Management System (IBMS) of various buildings and tracking critical parameters like fire and safety, intelligent traffic management system and Public Addressing (PA) system for handling law and order in the City. By integrating various infrastructure and Utilities through optical fibre based IT network spread across the city and by building Intelligence in every Building and Utility, GIFT City is able to see the status of various services in a holistic manner and manage them on real time basis. GIFT City is India’s first Global Financial Hub creating operations for domestic and international businesses.

The international financial services will be carried out in a multi-service SEZ with International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) status that would cater to India’s large financial services potential by offering global firms, world-class infrastructure and facilities. It will attract the top talent in the country by providing the finest quality of life. It is estimated that GIFT would provide 5,00,000 direct and an equal number of indirect jobs which would require 62 million square feet of real estate office and residential space. With the completion of Phase – I infrastructure and the allotment of around 11 mn. sq. ft. of BUA for various commercial, residential and social facilities; GIFT City is rapidly emerging as a favored destination amongst Financial Services and IT/ITeS companies for setting up their operations and is setting an example for developing smart cities in India.

Source:Information week

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Government (Govt), Smart City

Mangalore bets on 2 villages for Smart City

September 22, 2014

A population of 513. That’s what Mangalore desperately requires to qualify for the Prime Minister’s ambitious Smart City project under which 100 Indian towns are likely to leapfrog into the next league with modern amenities.

Guidelines say cities with a population of 5 lakh to 10 lakh, as per Census 2011, will be chosen for the Smart City plan. Now, Mangalore is looking at bringing in two villages with a combined population of 80,000 under its fold to swell the numbers beyond the magical 5-lakh mark.

Moodushedde and Bala are the villages expected to give Mangalore a big push. Moodushedde, about 22km from the city, is located on the way to Moodbidri; Bala is a 25-minute drive towards Surathkal.

The city in general and the district as a whole have been witnessing regressive positive growth in its decadal population figures.

The district population marginally rose from 18,97,730 in 2001 to 20,89,649 in 2011. In fact, its share in Karnataka’s population has declined from 3.59% in 2001 to 3.42% in 2011.

The district saw its population grow 10.11% from 2001 to 2011, and it’s a steep climb from 14.59% seen from 1991 to 2001. To make the cut for the Smart City project, Mangalore civic authorities are dusting up a resolution passed three years ago to push up its population figure.

Source:Times of India

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Esri sees big business in India’s smart city plan

September 22, 2014

Esri, a market leader in geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology, sees a big opportunity in India as Narendra Modi-led government embarks on its plan to develop 100 smart cities on the lines of developed countries.

While the US giant hopes to expand its operations in both public and private sectors, it believes that GIS technology and applications can help at every stage of development — planning, designing, decision making, network analysis and monitoring to create better infrastructure, modern residential colonies, 24*7 power and water distribution, organised law enforcement, eco-friendly industrial development, intelligent traffic management, effective water conservation and disaster management and quality health facilities.

Esri global president Jack Dangermond said, “In India, many customers are building their geographic knowledge base. There is a larger realization with the people talking about GIS as a platform across government agencies. Our job is to support these agencies and government by providing them best technology and help them in their vision of building a better India”.

GIS contains a spatial database, representing aspects of cultural and physical environment of a particular geographic region together with procedures for analyzing combinations of attributes and generating graphical products.
Esri India already works with government, private companies and educational institutions, covering various areas including telecommunications, disaster management, transportation, municipal management, natural resources and building/designing.

Esri India president Agendra Kumar said that they already control 70% market share in the country and use of GIS is rising radically.

While it boasts of several apps that are being used by global as well as Indian companies, its ArcGIS platform is being used for all the aspects of developing a smart city — planning, design and management.

(The writer was in San Diego at the invitation of Esri)

Source:Times of India

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Toll collection on Mumbai-Pune e-way extended for over 4 years

September 22, 2014

Toll collection on the 95-km Mumbai-Pune Expressway will continue for 4 years, 3 months and 22 days beyond the original concession period, which ends in August 2019, with the state agency in charge having given a new contract to IRB Infrastructure for additional construction and toll collection.

IRB Infrastructure is the incumbent toll collection agency for the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The company had purchased toll collection rights with an upfront payment of Rs 918 crore in 2004 and has a 15-year concession period valid till August 8, 2019.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has now given a new contract to the company for additional works to expand capacity on the old Mumbai-Pune highway, and in return collect toll on the expressway on paying Rs 1,000 crore in installments to the corporation.

Six companies had bid for this contract. However, the MSRDC decided to pick IRB Infrastructure as the most preferred bidder as the company had quoted the lowest concession period of 8 years 8 months and 2 days, including the construction period. The concession period will commence on March 31, 2015.

“The construction works and payment of upfront premium installments to MSRDC have to be completed as prescribed in the bid till August 10, 2019. The toll collection for the project will commence from August 10, 2019, resulting into an effective tolling period of 4 years 3 months and 22 days,” IRB Infrastructure said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company stated that the estimated project cost is approximately Rs 1,687 crore, including Rs 1,000 crore as upfront premium payable to MSRDC in four annual installments starting from March 31, 2015.

The capacity addition works on the old Mumbai-Pune highway consist of road widening from two to four lanes near Dehu Road, maintaining 12 km of service roads, constructing three three-lane flyovers, a rail over-bridge, and the widening of existing 8-lane toll booths to 12 lanes.

– Source:indianexpress

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Government (Govt), Toll Plaza

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