Cos may shy away from Delhi-Jaipur Eway if land not acquired

August 7, 2013

Press Trust of India |

Unless a major portion of the land is handed over, financial institutions could shy away from funding the project

Unless a major portion of the land is handed over in the construction of the proposed Delhi- Jaipur expressway, financial institutions could shy away from funding the project, Road Minister Oscar Fernandes has said.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) plan to build an expressway, at an estimated cost of Rs 14,000 crore, to the Pink City with the aim of decongesting the journey.

“Delhi-Jaipur Expressway — the work on this project is on, but unless 60% of the land is not handed over, the work cannot start because the financial institution will not lend money,” Fernandes told PTI.

However, the Minister did not elaborate on the matter any further.

He said, “The work is in progress on some stretches but at some places land acquisition is required and on those stretches it cannot be undertaken unless land is acquired.”

The starting point in Delhi for the expressway, in all probability, would be the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in 2006-07, planned to construct 10 expressways but progress could be made only in two, namely Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Chandigarh.

However, the Delhi to Chandigarh expressway may now be re-aligned from Delhi to Ludhiana with a link to Chandigarh.

This has been proposed mainly to cater to the heavy traffic on the Delhi-Ludhiana National Highway.

The government had accorded approval for building 1,000 km of expressways in the country in October, 2011.

The government will build seven expressways under the flagship highways building programme NHDP (National Highway Development Programme) VI.

The remaining five projects are – 400 km Vadodara-Mumbai, 66 km Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Agra, 277 km Bangalore-Chennai and 334 km Kolkata-Dhanbad.

http://www.business-standard.com

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

“BOT + EPC” mode to help Chongqing high-speed road traveling light

August 3, 2013

Analysis Daily by Trainee reporter Li Li

Chongqing Daily News By enabling BOT (build – operate – transfer) + EPC (Design – Procurement – Construction general contracting) the new model will be completed by the end of the Chengdu-Chongqing section of double track the actual investment ratio estimates savings of nearly 100 million yuan. Days ago Chongqing Expressway Group held a news conference that the city one thousand kilometers of new highway 20 projects 17 projects using ‘BOT + EPC’ construction management. Currently, Chongqing Expressway Group is to participate in building a new one thousand kilometers of highway projects 15, of which 12 projects nearly 700 kilometers enabled ‘BOT + EPC’ the new model, the introduction of capital of about 71 million, reducing the Group’s direct debt of about 51 billion yuan (including interest on bank loans and produce.

Currently, the city has started a new 1,000 km highway construction, 20 projects involving 1,036 km, estimated investment of 104.3 billion yuan(http://www.best-news.us/). To raise funds for construction, to avoid the drawbacks of the traditional model, Chongqing Expressway Group vigorously BOT + EPC model, including the Chengdu-Chongqing Pipeline , Manley, Wanda, Feng Zhong, Zhong Wan, copper Wing, South Road, Jiang Qi, Yu Guangzhou, Liang Zhong, unitary along the other 12 projects, nearly 700 kilometers, have adopted such a model.

Chongqing Expressway Group Vice President Du Guoping said, BOT + EPC mode has the advantage lies in the integration of resources, in order to reduce the links and reduce costs, thereby improving efficiency. Du Guoping said: ‘The traditional model, the final estimate of the actual investment is often exceeded 10% 15%, while the new model to take BOT + EPC will reduce investment, such as Chongqing, Chengdu-Chongqing Pipeline segment, the investment budget for the more than 8.5 billion yuan, the actual investment will save about 100 million yuan. ‘

BOT model to the traditional sub-project bidding and contract segment, change management, and other aspects and more, and through BOT + EPC mode, reducing the tender and change link. But also in the new model, the material scale of centralized procurement, the cost is greatly reduced. Chengdu-Chongqing section of double track as the general contractor in charge, China Railway Construction Corporation Limited Chengyu double-track project construction headquarters chief engineer Zheng Gang have the final say, he said, ‘In the past a small number of retail price to buy is now in large quantities, is taking the wholesale price. ‘

Chongqing Jiaotong University, Associate Professor Huangxian Gui said, BOT + EPC mode is the current international and domestic construction projects are being implemented organization and implementation of the new model(Finance News http://www.best-news.us/). This model reflects the ‘saving design is the biggest savings,’ the idea of the model for promoting highway engineering Survey design and construction of the strategic restructuring of enterprises, foster internationally competitive large construction companies, the implementation of ‘going out’ strategy is important.

Source-http://www.best-news.us/

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Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway likely to miss May 31 deadline

June 19, 2013

Aditya Dev, TNN | May 27, 2013, 02.18 AM IST

GURGAON: The Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway is likely to miss the deadline of May 31, 2013 set for completing the entire 135-km project. So far the overall physical progress for the project is about 70%, even as the priority stretch between Manesar and Palwal is 85% complete. While HSIIDC says there is no such legitimate impediments exists as on today, the concessionaire, DSC Ltd, claims unavailability of land as well as delay in approvals to implement change of scope for not completing the project on time.
Surprisingly, there has been no change in the stance of the concessionaire since last year as far as the physical progress of the project, whether it is the entire stretch or the priority stretch, is concerned. The concessionaire has been quoting the same figures of 70% and 85% for the entire project and the priority stretch respectively for the last one year.

The information received under an RTI application revealed that between January and March 2013, the project made a meager 0.17% progress. In fact, collating this information with another RTI reply reveals the apathy of the concessionaire in completing the project. The KMP project has made a dismal 1.2% physical progress between June, 2012 and March 2013. Likewise, it had made just 4.46% during the year between July 2011 and July 2012.

This information has been revealed in the RTI replies to a Gurgaon resident, Aseem Takyar, an RTI activist. Takyar has asked HSIIDC to provide monthly completion report of the project.

Another important query was the estimated time for the completion of the entire project. HSIIDC replied that as per the assurance given by the concessionaire, the project will be completed by May 31 2013.

However, when contacted, a spokesperson for KMP Expressways Ltd, gave various reasons for the slow progress of the project. The KMP expressway Ltd is the concessionaire of which DSC Ltd is the main partner.

The concessionaire had made the commitment at a meeting in Delhi on June 8, 2012 between chief ministers of Haryana and Delhi, to open the Manesar-Palwal section for tolling within the next 90 to 120 days and complete the expressway by May 31, 2013.

The overall physical progress for the entire project is about 70%. The approvals for the change of scope claims are still awaited and funds are yet to be released to the concessionaire which is causing some delay in the project. Regarding this issue, the arbitration clause has been invoked so that there can be a speedy agreement on the amount of funds payable to the concessionaire due to the change of scope of the project. A fast track Arbitration Settlement could actually help in the progress of the project, informed the spokesperson.

There have been a lot of design changes in major and minor structures directed by the client which has led to the change of scope of work. We have provided the full detailed break-up of the change of scope work along with the costs to the client for approval, added the spokesperson.

For the delay in completion of the Manesar-Palwal stretch, the spokesperson said the work had been held up because there is a section of around a km in the Nuh area where the road is still to be built as the land around that area has not yet been handed over to us free of encumbrances. Once this land is made available to us, we would need about three months to build the road on this section and lay the top layer for the entire priority stretch and complete it.

The HSIIDC has been made executing agency for developing the Kundli-Manesar Palwal Expressway (Western Peripheral Expressway around Delhi) by the Haryana government. The expressway is being developed on build-operate-transfer (BOT) and zero-grant basis, with a concession period of 23 years and nine months, including three years of construction period. The date of start of the project was July 31, 2006. The scheduled date of completion of construction was July 29, 2009.

The project involves construction of 47 underpasses, 31 cattle crossings, 61 pedestrian crossings, 33 agriculture vehicles overpasses, 26 bridges, 4 railway overbridges and 3 grade separators at NH 1, NH 10 and NH 8. The project would allow heavy and commercial vehicles to completely bypass the Delhi NCR region thereby decongesting traffic within the capital.

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

Transport Infrastructure Projects Attract Big Investors

July 4, 2011

VietNamNet Bridge – A series of transport infrastructure projects managed by the Ministry of Transport have received rapid-fire investment registrations from both domestic and foreign investors.

The unusually high number of investors, who have registered to become the investors of the Ninh Binh-Thanh Hoa road, and Nghi Son-Bai Vot road, the parts of the North-South Expressway, has made the expressway project become the “hottest project” nowadays.

With the total investment capital of 59 trillion dong, the Ninh Binh-Thanh Hoa will have the length of 126.7 kilometers and six lanes, while Nghi Son-Bai Vot stretch of roads, will have the length of 92.7 kilometers and 4-6 lanes

In the period from March 2011 to June 2011 alone, the Ministry of Transport received the registrations from five investors and joint venture investors, including the foreign well known corporations in infrastructure like South Korean Keangnam Vina and Posco, Chinese Asian Investment Fund, and the Thai Bangkok Transport Public Company.

Meanwhile, to date, three Vietnamese independent investors have also registered the investments in the two projects, namely Xuan Truong Construction Company and Xuan Thanh Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of Mai Linh Group.

There is a surprise that the La Son-Tuy Loan highway, the project which has been considered as less attractive, has also received the investment registrations from the joint venture of seven Vietnamese and South Korean investors, headed by Shinhan E&C, who plan to invest under the mode of BOT (build-operation-transfer).

Click here to read full story

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TEXT-Fitch affirms SNBTPL ‘s bank loans at BBB-(ind)

April 19, 2010

April 16 – Fitch Ratings has today affirmed SEW-Navayuga Barwani Tollways Pvt Ltd.’s (SNBTPL) senior long-term project bank loans aggregating INR5,474m at ‘BBB-(ind)’, and subordinated bank loans of INR300m at ‘BB+(ind)’. The Outlook is Stable.

SNBTPL enjoys an 18-year concession from National Highways Authority of India [NHAI.UL] (NHAI, ‘AAA(ind)’/Stable) to design, engineer, build, finance, construct, operate and maintain on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis an 82.8km road stretch on the National Highway 3 (NH-3) in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The estimated cost of the project is INR7.9bn, with the scheduled commercial operations date (COD) in May 2011.

The affirmations follow SNBTPL’s reasonable progress over the last year in achieving different project milestones during the critical construction phase. Fitch does note however that the company is slightly behind plans. The entire right of way (ROW) required for the project is reportedly in the company’s possession, with the exception of a three-km stretch of forest land; however, first-stage approvals have been received from the forest department.

As of March 2010, the project has received equity infusions (61.3%), and has been drawing down on term loans – 58% of senior debt and 57% of sub-debt – as per schedule.

The ratings are constrained by the residual completion risk, although a fixed-price construction contract with SEW, whose terms mirror those in the concession, offer protection. Base-case debt service coverage metrics are extremely modest and vulnerable to various deep stress tests Fitch performed. A three-year tail in the concession allows the banks to restructure the loans, if necessary. Some liquidity support is available in the form of a fully-funded debt service reserve account (DSRA), equivalent to three months’ principal and interest payment.

Fitch has factored into its rating the operational track record and financial strengths of the sponsors. This includes the credit enhancement value of their undertaking to finance the cost and time overruns, to replenish the senior and subordinated DSRA and to provide unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantees if event project cash flows are inadequate to create the DSRA. Additionally, SEW has executed a letter of undertaking to the senior to infuse INR100m, after the COD, to augment debt payment capacity and to inject additional funds in case operations and maintenance expenses exceed the base case projections submitted to the banks.

The agency believes that the road has long-term economic potential, and that its locational advantage should have a beneficial impact on tollable traffic. Also, it is situated on the highway that represents the shortest distance between Mumbai and Agra.

SNBTPL is a 74:26 JV between SEW infrastructure Ltd (SEW, ‘AA-(ind)’ / Stable) and Navayuga Engineering Constructions Ltd (NECL). Following inter-se adjustments among the sponsors, SEW has increased its equity stake in the project to 74% from the 51%, resulting in a reduction in NECL’s holding to 26%.

Applicable Criteria available on Fitch’s website at www.fitchratings.com: “Rating Criteria for Infrastructure and Project Finance”, dated September 29, 2009.

Source: in.reuters.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Investment and Finance

17 states pledge cooperation for highways projects

April 19, 2010

New Delhi, April 13 (IANS) Seventeen states and the union territory of Chandigarh Tuesday assured support to the centre for timely execution of highways projects in the build, operate and transfer (BOT) mode.

The governments of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and the union territory of Chandigarh signed the State Support Agreement (SSA) with the ministry of road transport and highways.

The agreement was countersigned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

For the development of highways, support of the state governments is essential in the matter of land acquisition, removal of encroachments, shifting of utilities, rehabilitation and other local law and order related issues.

“The SSA aims at formalising the cooperation arrangement with the state governments to the implementation of the extensive programme of development of national highways on public-private-partnership (PPP) through the NHAI,” an official statement said.

Five states — Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Puducherry and Sikkim — will also sign the SSA soon, it said.

However, Uttar Pradesh has indicated its desire to withdraw from the SSA it signed earlier.

“Discussions are going on with the government of Uttar Pradesh to resolve the matter,” the statement added.

Source: sindhtoday.net

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Vadodara-Bharuch NH-8 stretch not equipped to handle fire mishaps

April 19, 2010

VADODARA: The Vadodara-Bharuch stretch of National Highway-8 is not equipped to handle any major fire incident.

An RTI application has revealed that as per an agreement signed between National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and private operator L&T Vadodara Bharuch Tollway Limited (VBTL),which had bagged the six-laning project of 83.3 km stretch of NH-8 on build, operate, transfer (BOT) basis, L&T VBTL is supposed to provide fire brigade service on the highway. But, the ground reality is that there is no fire brigade service on the stretch, which ironically witnesses highest traffic movement, including vehicles that transport chemicals.

The RTI response that was provided to applicant Yashwant Jangid by NHAI states that as operations part of operation and maintenance (O&M) manual, the operator will have to take care of ambulance, fire brigade and tow away trucks and cranes as rescue and medical aid services. The documents under schedule-L carry stamps of both NHAI and L&T VBTL.

But, an L&T VBTL official looking after accident management of the stretch told TOI that he wasn’t aware about such a clause in the concession agreement. “If there is a fire incident on the stretch, we have handy fire extinguishers. If still the fire does not get extinguished, then we call local police which in turn contacts local fire brigade to do the needful,” the official said.

“L&T VBTL officials interpret that the clause in the agreement is to provide only fire brigade services, which does not mean that the highways should have fire vehicles stationed,” a NHAI official claimed. But, the fact remains that L&T VBTL has never approached Vadodara Fire Brigade and Emergency Services (VFBES), managed by Vadodara Municipal Corporation, to get their service.

“We are supposed to function and provide our services only in municipal jurisdiction of Vadodara. When we cross corporation limits, our services are charged. But, we have series of bills pending which neither the contractor of the highway nor the victims of accidents have paid,” chief fire officer of VFBES H J Taparia told TOI, adding that L&T VBTL has never approached them to sign an agreement for such services.

Incidentally, even on Wednesday morning, VFBES officials had to rush to Dumad Chowkdi from the starting point of Vadodara-Bharuch highway when a truck rammed a tree leaving the driver dead on the spot, while officials extricated a cleaner’s body that was trapped by using hydraulic equipment.

“We handle nearly 35 to 40 calls a year on this part of the highway as nobody is ready to go on that road,” Taparia added.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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By 2022, govt to lay 18,637km of expressways

December 3, 2009

NEW DELHI: The government has drawn up an ambitious target to lay 18,637km network of brand new expressways by 2022. These high-speed, access-controlled roads will be of the four-lane and six-lane variety with 3,530 km to come up in the next three years.

The highways ministry is ready with a Master Plan for the National Expressway Network. The new target of expressway length was projected after receiving observations from 11 states including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, the final draft report prepared by the highways ministry had proposed to develop 17,661 km of expressway network.

The expressways network will not be an upgraded national highway network but will be developed entirely as greenfield projects. These will preferably be built with three-metre high embankments and will have service roads along the stretches where there is a need. Officials said there was an urgent need to develop expressways network as road transport would remain the mainstay for sustaining the economic momentum of the country.

“The existing arterial network cannot meet the latent and the emerging demands for connectivity and accessibility while ensuring the desired level of safety,” said a senior ministry official.

As per estimates, the construction cost per km would be Rs 14 crore in case of 4-lane and Rs 20 crore in case of 6-lane expressways excluding land acquisition and other expenses. A recent presentation made before the top brass of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the ministry also mentioned that while majority of identified stretches would be built on build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode, stretches which were unviable could be developed on annuity basis.

The Master Plan document has also phased the expressway development programme for 2012, 2017 and 2022 and this has been done on the basis of financial viability, relative traffic intensity along various corridor segments, network comprehensiveness, connectivity warrants and relative economic potential of each proposed project.

The ministry is already in the process of preparing a draft for creation of a National Expressways Authority of India (NEAI) on the lines of NHAI and the highway regulator has also got an exclusive wing for the expressway as a stop-gap arrangement.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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No state consent, NHAI goes ahead with four-laning of highway section

December 3, 2009

Without taking the state government on board, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already decided to go ahead with the four-laning of the 80-km Muzaffarnagar-Hardwar section of the Delhi-Dehradun corridor.

The state government has not yet given its consent to the State Support Agreement for a 21-km stretch, which falls within the state. The rest falls in Uttarakhand.

The bids for the project were invited in September and had to be opened on October 9. But the Highway Authority had later thought of abandoning the project as the state government had refused to sign the State Support Agreement. They have now decided to go ahead with the project.

“The 9 bids received for this project were opened on Wednesday. A contractor for the project will be finalised within a week,” said M K Jain, Project Director.

“The state government has not sent any letter of consent on the State Support Agreement. But the Highway Authority is going ahead with the project,” added Jain.

According to him, the four-laning of the highway will start from June next year. About 70-hectare would be required for 21-km stretch in the state.

“Land has been earmarked. A proposal has been sent to the authorities for approval on notification of land acquisition. The notification will be issued within a week,” said Jain.

The Muzaffaragar-Hardwar section will be four-laned on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis under the National Highways Development Project (phase-III). The project will cost Rs 900 crore. The Detailed Project Report has also been prepared.

The state government had refused to sign the State Support Agreement as it wants to develop an expressway along the Upper Ganga Canal from Noida to Hardwar which will also open a passage for Uttarakhand from UP and Delhi. Jain said if the State Support Agreement was signed, the state government had to assure that no alternative expressway — Upper Ganga Canal Expressway — would be developed parallel to Highway Authority’s highway, leading to a competition.

“Since the agreement has not been signed, the state government is free to develop its own expressway,” said Jain.

The eight-lane Upper Ganga Canal expressway, popularly known as Hindon Expressway, will stretch from Noida to Hardwar through Muzaffarnagar and Roorkee. Mumbai-based firm called Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) is conducting the feasibility study of the project and are likely to submit the report by next month.

Source: expressindia.com

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Update on NHAI expressways projects

April 3, 2008

It is reported that, with access controlled expressways attracting massive investments, ministry of road transport & highways has decided to conduct the feasibility study for more such expressways and construction companies eyeing the access controlled expressway projects of National Highways Authority of India are likely to get investment opportunities for at least 4 such projects spread over 495 kilometer over the next few months. They are1) 70 kilometer Chandikhol Jagatpur Bhubaneswar – INR 761 crore2) 47 kilometer long Delhi Hapur – INR 474 crore3) 198 kilometer long Vijayawada Elluru Rajamundri – INR 1,602 crore4) 180 kilometer long Delhi Agra highway – INR 1,918 croreThe feasibility reports for these projects are already completed and the work is likely to be awarded in about 6 months. These projects are for widening the current 4 lane highways into 6 lanes and operating them for certain durations. Companies would have to bid competitively for these projects on a revenue sharing basis. Thus companies would have to bid on the extent of toll revenue that they are ready to share with the Government if they are allowed to operate the roads. Since these highways are already 4 lane stretches, the road operators can start toll collection even during the project construction phase from an appointed date, mutually decided by NHAI and the road operator. The toll revenues will be routed to an escrow account.Recently, NHAI has awarded 4 such mega projects of 882 kilometer length, which are likely to cost an estimated INR 10,912 crore. From the NHAI perspective, these projects have emerged as money spinners, with companies willing to foot the entire construction cost and part with 2% to 48.06% of their revenues in the initial leg of the project. At the end of the concession period, which is about 12 to 15 years duration, the winning firms have agreed to part with 12% to 59% share of toll revenues.The feasibility reports for another 10 projects of similar nature are under preparation. They are1) 315 kilometer long Kishangarh Udaipur stretch – INR 2,205 crore2) 235 kilometer long Udaipur Ahmedabad – INR 1,645 crore3) 190 kilometer long Varanasi Aurangabad – INR 1,330 crore4) 184 kilometer long Nellore Chilkaluripet – INR 1,288 crore5) 148 kilometer long Krishnagiri Walajapet – INR 1,036 crore6) 145 kilometer long Pune Satara – INR 1,015 crore7) 85 kilometer long Ludhiana Chandigarh – INR 595 crore8) 80 kilometer long Belgaum Dharwad – INR 560 crore9) 56 kilometer long Samakhiali Gandhidham – INR 392 crore10) 55 kilometer long Indore Dewas – INR 385 croreThe ministry has also decided to conduct the feasibility study for 4 such expressways between Delhi and Meerut, Chennai and Bangalore, Vadodara and Mumbai and Dhanbad and Kolkata. Source: http://steelguru.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Default, Investment and Finance