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NEW DELHI: The Central Government is planning to build eight more world-class express highways in addition to already announced seven expressways.
The new expressways include Nagpur-Mumbai, Jaipur-Ajmer-Ahemadabad, Nagpur-Hyderabad, Pune-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Bangalore.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that all express highways are going to be world class, matching the quality and specifications in advanced nations.
Sources: The New Indian Express
AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu explaining the progress of development works to Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari (2nd right), Union Urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu (right) before laying the foundation stone for Kanaka Durga flyover in Vijayawada on Saturday. Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani is also seen | P Ravindra Babu | EPS
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh will get Rs 50,560 cr worth national highways (a total of 3,092 km in length) in addition to the Rs 15,000 cr worth NH projects already under progress in the state, with an assurance of more in the coming days.
This was announced by Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari after laying the foundation stone for Kanka Durga Flyover to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 447.88 cr, along with upgradation of the Vijayawada-Machilipatnam section of NH 65, upgradation of NH 30 from Ibrahimpatnam Circle to Chandragudem and upgradation of NH 216 between Kathipudi and Kakinada.
Addressing a public gathering, Gadkari said roads are vital for development. He said when he took over the ministry, road construction was just 2 km a day which today is 18 km a day. He said that by March end he wanted it to be 30 km a day.
“In AP, Rs 15,000 cr worth projects are under progress this year and the state has many expectations from my department. I am now announcing new NH projects and it is for the state government which has to do the needed land acquisition and sumbit Detailed Project Reports. I promise to have the project online by end of December next year,” he said.
With regard to the proposed 180-km outer ring road for the new capital Amaravati, at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 cr, the Union minister said that the ORR would be an eight-lane, access-controlled expressway. It would be similar to the under construction expressway between Delhi and Meerut.
Expressing concern over the increasing road accidents (5 lakh a year in the country with 1.5 lakh deaths) Gadkari said the proposed new Motor Vehicle Act would revolutionise the whole system. Stating 30 per cent of the driving licences were fake, he added that the government was planning to set up driver training institutes in every assembly constituency, which would help in issuing driving licences in a foolproof manner. Stressing the importance of using waterways for transportation of goods and people, Gadkari said that AP had a great potential in this regard. He said already a survey works of the waterways was under progress in the state and sought the cooperation of the state government in this regard.
Thanking Gadkari for the announcement of Rs 65,000 cr worth road projects, the CM said they were beyond his expectations and added that he was very happy. Stating that handholding by the Centre was still needed as the state was yet to develop a lot, he added that he would submit a blueprint and an action plan with regard to the Amaravati ORR project to Gadkari for approval within a month and wanted the projects to be completed expeditiously. He said new roads linking Rayalaseema with the new capital would reduce the travel time. He also requested for a new road along the lengthy coast of the state and wanted it to be done in a single stretch and not in a piecemeal manner. He said it would help in port-road connectivity and also give a boost to tourism.
Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas presided over the meeting. Union Minister of State YS Chowdary, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and others were present.
Sources: The New Indian Express
The Centre has launched the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy 2015, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Lok Sabha on Thursday. The policy aims to develop eco-friendly National Highways with the participation of the community, farmers, NGOs, the private sector, government agencies, and the forest department, Gadkari said during Lok Sabha’s Question Hour on Thursday.
Elaborating on the benefits, the minister said that this initiative would help around 10 lakh people get employment opportunities.
According to Gadkari, the key objectives of this policy are to evolve a framework for plantation along national highways, to reduce the impact of air pollution and dust as trees and shrubs are known to be a natural sink for air pollutants, to reduce the impact of the increasing noise pollution, to arrest soil erosion, to prevent glare from the headlights of incoming vehicles, etc.
The transport ministry has already decided that, henceforth, for the work related to making the highways more green, 1 per cent of civil work costs should be added separately while arriving at the total project cost of national highways being built, he added.
Gadkari also appealed to all MPs to come forward to help the Road Transport Ministry to implement the green initiative successfully.
During the Lok Sabha Question Hour session, the minister also highlighted the fact that around 1.5 lakh people die in road accidents every year in India. “Around 1.5 lakh people die in around 5 lakh road accidents every year in the country. This is a huge number,” Gadkari said.
He explained that due to such a large number of accidents, the country loses around 55,000 crore annually, which is 3 per cent of the GDP.
The minister also added that during the 12th Five Year Plan, private investment to the tune of approximately 1,78,000 crore is required for the development of National Highways out of the total requirement of 4,83,000 crore.
Gadkari went on to speak about the hurdles which are generally faced while dealing with the Road Transport and Highways Ministry and said that all problems related to execution of 95 per cent of highway projects were resolved and work on them will start very soon. In case of the remaining 5 per cent projects, efforts are on to resolve the pending issues, he said.
“Considering the importance of completing the projects, various steps have been taken by the government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to remove the hurdles affecting the construction of national highways that includes streamlining of land acquisition and regulatory clearances, close coordination with other ministries, revamped disputes resolution mechanism, etc.,” he said.
He added that the NHAI has also decided not to award projects till all major pre-construction approvals are in place for the projects to avoid post-bid delays and litigations.
Sources: carandbike(NDTV venture)
SONIPAT: Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today stressed upon increasing the number of express highways in the country and said the strength of national highways will be raised to 1.5 lakh km by next month.
He said that his ministry was aiming at raising the daily road building to 30 km by March end.
“We witness 5 lakh accidents on roads every year in which 1.50 lakh people die. We have analyzed the reasons behind these accidents. We found the number of vehicles is on the rise whereas there is less infrastructure to complement the surge in vehicle numbers. There is a need for developing new highways in the country,” Gadkari said.
The Minister was addressing a gathering here where Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of three highway projects (341 km long) worth Rs Rs 13,802 crore at the Rajiv Gandhi Education City at Rai today.
“We have a road strength of 48 lakh km in the country, out of which 96,000 km are national highways. We will increase the strength of national highways from 96,000 km to 1.50 lakh km by coming December,” he said.
He further noted that single lanes will be made to double lanes while two lanes will be turned into four lanes, six lanes and eight lanes.
Gadkari said that Eastern Peripheral expressway would be the first axis controlled project in the country where vehicles would be able to run at a speed of 120 km per hour.
According to the Minister, Delhi will be the biggest gainer with the coming up of both Eastern Peripheral expressway highway and Western Peripheral expressway highways.
“Delhi will be the biggest gainer as traffic problem will ease, level of pollution will come down and number of accidents will drop,” he said, adding that states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana will also be benefited with these highway projects.
Gadkari stated that his ministry would commence work on the 14-lane Delhi to Meerut Expressway project this month.
He said a decision has also been taken to develop a transport, educational and medicinal hub alongside the new expressways.
“Amenities like petrol pumps, helipads, restaurants, fruits and vegetables pavilions, entertainment, dhabas for truck drivers, will come up on the roadside which will generate employment,” he said.
The Union minister said that his ministry’s aim was to contribute 2 per cent to GDP in next five years.
“We are also working on how to give employment to 50 lakh youth in coming five years,” he said.
He noted that water, power, transport and communication were the keys to take the country forward.
The minister said that a study has been initiated to develop express highway from Delhi to Jind, Jind to Ludhiana, Ludhiana to Amritsar and Amritsar to Katra which will facilitate travelling from Delhi to Katra in eight hours.
“I hope with the support of the governments of Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, we will be able to reach Katra for Vaishno Devi from Delhi in a car in eight hours,” he said.
Gadkari said under Jalmarg Vikas Yojana, projects have been approved for Ganga Mahanadi, Brahmaputra and others.
“For Yamuna river, a DPR (Detailed Project Report) has been prepared. We have seen a dream that a waterway will be developed for enabling people to see Taj.
“A company of Netherlands is preparing the DPR. Since Parliament did not function during last three sessions, the projects for converting 111 rivers into inland waterways could not be taken up,” he added.
Source: Economic Times
AKOLA: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari laid foundation stone for the four-laning of the Akola-Murtizaur section on National Highway 6.
Gadkari, who laid the foundation yesterday, assured all round development of west Vidharbha region in Maharashtra comprising of three districts of Akola, Washim and Buldana in next five years.
The Union Surface Transport Minister said developmental works worth Rs 50,000 crores would be completed in west Vidarbha region in next 5 years.
Gadkari also dedicated the Raj Rajeshwari Setu to the public.
Work of road construction covering 194 kms distance from Amravati to Chikhli would be completed in next 2.5 years, he added.
He said funds will made available for health education and transport hubs along NH 06 at Akola in near future.
He asked BJP MP Sanjay Dhote to obtain the 40 acres of land needed for the hub.
Taking a swipe at Congress, he said the party failed to give justice to the people in all respects during its rule of long tenure in the country.
Dhotre and other local leaders were present on the occasion.
Source: Economic Times
123 of the 676 district headquarters to be connected by developing world-class highways at an estimated cost of Rs 96,000 crore.
100 road projects to be awarded on public-private partnership basis in the coming financial year.
Rs 11,500 cr worth 7 road projects awarded on PPP mode so far this year. This is in sharp contrast to 733 km of projects valued at around Rs 6,300 crore awarded on BOT (toll) mode in the whole of last financial year.
18 tenders for roads projects to be developed under PPP that the government wants to float by December this year.
SOURCES: The Indian Express
Workers carry a huge cut-out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ramlila Maidan as part of preparations for the BJP rally on Friday. (PTI)
As the government draws out the blueprint of 100 smart cities across the country, India’s first smart city project at Dholera is expected to get a boost at the seventh edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
The Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) is expected to be one of the main investment draws at Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 that is also seeking investments for another smart city in the state –the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City as well as other infrastructure and manufacturing projects in the state along with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.
The Dholera smart city, being developed along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has already initiated the tendering process. “We have begun issuing the request for qualifications for building trunk infrastructure. By March, RFQs and RFPs for the initial 22.5 square kilometre area will be issued and we are expecting response from investors across the world,” said Talleen Kumar, CEO of DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced plans to build 100 smart cities across the country to take care of growing needs of urbanisation that would also help bridge the rural-urban divide. Seeking investments for these projects, the Vibrant Gujarat Summit that kicks off from Sunday is also hosting a seminar on smart cities on January 12 that will be addressed by Union minister for urban development, housing and urban poverty M Venkaiah Naidu.
“We will be announcing the blueprint for smart cities very soon. But the actual implementation and financing has to be done by the state governments along with the local bodies,” said a senior official of the ministry of urban development.
To be spread on a 920 square kilometre area, the Dholera smart city is located about 110 kilometre from Ahmedabad along the DMIC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat had said the port city of Dholera would be better developed than Delhi and would be six times the size of Shanghai.
“There is obviously a lot of excitement over Dholera SIR this time, which is the Prime Minister’s pet project. There are huge expectations and we expect at least a few memorandum of understandings to be signed with potential investors for the region,” said a state government official who did not wish to be named.
Modi kurtas, jackets on sale as souvenirs
Investors coming to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit will not only get a chance to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi hardsell the state as an investment opportunity, but would also have the chance to partake in his sartorial style.
Amidst the souvenir shops being set up at the Mahatma Mandir complex in Gandhinagar that is hosting the summit, is a stall selling Modi jackets and kurtas in the PM’s trademark style inviting visitors to “take home the original souvenir”.“We have been making these kurtas and jackets for nearly a decade and they are available at all our outlets but this is the first time that we have set up a stall here during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and the Vibrant Gujarat Summit,” said Chirag Diwan, marketing manager at Jade Blue.
Available in vibrant and sober colours the kurtas and jackets are made in cotton, linen blend and jute. Prices start at Rs 1,400 for a kurta and Rs 3,000 for a jacket.
Source:The Financial Express
Aiming to improve urban infrastructure and governance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level meeting with government officials on the ‘Smart City’ initiative. The meeting was part of series of consultations on smart cities.
PM Modi said, “One of the aims of the smart city initiative should be to improve the quality of urban governance, thereby lending greater strength to the overall governance processes of the country.”
Modi asked officials to identify the basics of infrastructure, quality of life, and citizen-centric services that would be essential to cities of the 21st century. Modi said He also said cities should be identified as hubs of economic activity. “Focus on “waste to wealth” – i.e. – solid-waste management, and waste-water treatment would be an important part of the development of smart cities,” Modi said.
He asked officials to visualize “urban-dependent” population, in addition to “urban” population, while planning for smart cities.
Modi asked the Ministry of Urban Development to convene a workshop of all central and state Urban Development Authorities at the earliest. He said the workshop should also focus on reforms in laws related to urban development.
“The Prime Minister called for identifying parameters that could be laid down for smart cities,” the government press release said. “The Prime Minister asked Government officials to visualize “urban-dependent” population, in addition to “urban” population, while planning for Smart Cities,” the release added.
Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Urban Development, and Ministry of Information Technology, were present for the meeting.
Source:Economic Times
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has promised to build a 100 smart cities in the country, met senior government officials today in one of a series of consultations on the project.
He asked officials to identify the basics of infrastructure, quality of life, and citizen-centric services that would be essential to these 21st century cities, which will be built as satellite towns of metropolises and by modernising existing mid-sized cities.
Officials made presentations on urban statistics with one presentation suggesting that “a new Chicago needs to be built every year.”
The Prime Minister said at the meeting that the smart cities should be identified as hubs of economic activity and that the focus would be on turning “waste to wealth” with waste management and waste-water treatment processes, a Press Information Bureau release said.
PM Modi has asked the Ministry of Urban Development to organise a workshop on this at the soonest, where officials would focus on reforms in laws related to urban development. The Prime Minister wants the smart city initiative to aim at improving the quality of urban governance, which would then strengthen the overall governance processes in the country.
The focus of the smart city – envisaged in a government note as one that would offer “decent living options to every resident” and provide a “very high quality of life comparable with any developed European city” – must not only be on the urban population, but also on the “urban-dependent” population, PM Modi has instructed.
India, the second most populated country on the planet, is projected to add another 404 million urban dwellers by 2050, the largest addition in the world, followed by China with 292 million, a UN report had said this year.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had told the parliament that “smart” cities are needed to accommodate the rising numbers, pointing to a burgeoning middle-class with “aspirations of better living standards”.
The urban development ministry’s concept note earlier this year had released preliminary ideas for the cities.
Source:NDTV
Officials of UAE-based SmartCity, Dubai, will take part in the Global Investors’ Summit in Indore and also explore the possibility of developing a smart city in Madhya Pradesh. The state government plans to develop a smart city on 1,000 acres of land at a location between Indore and Bhopal.
“A team of SmartCity, Dubai, will explore the possibilities of developing a smart city like the one in Kochi. A plan and proposed model of the smart city is being prepared,” a state government official said.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during his visit to Dubai in August, had met SmartCity chief executive officer Abdullatif Almulla and discussed the proposed smart city project.
Almulla is also the chief business development officer of Dubai Holding, the company which is the main promoter of the Smart City project in Kochi. SmartCity, Dubai, was recently given permissions to construct the first building of Kochi Smart City with an investment of $29 million.
The Kochi Smart City will be the first in India which would be automated township where knowledge-based companies would operate. However, the Kochi Smart City project has been delayed by several years due to protests by opposition parties over concessions on land and other sops. The global recession that started in 2007 also resulted in delays.
Another smart city in Madhya Pradesh is coming up near Ujjain. The Union government will soon start the process for construction of the smart city, being developed under Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.
The DMICDC will invite international competitive bidding for developing trunk infrastructure including water supply, sewerage treatment and roadways among others. The government will provide funds for the trunk infrastructure through DMIC Trust.
The master plan for the smart city in Ujjain, which will be an integrated industrial township, has already been accepted by the state government and the land acquisition has been completed. The site for the proposed Vikram Udyogpuri is located about 8km from the temple town of Ujjain, which is about 55km from Indore.
Source:Hindustan Times
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