Despite a healthy increase in revenue from the four airports – Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur – and fearing a start of any fresh protest from airport employee unions, the central government is in no mood to privatise them. Instead, the Civil Aviation Ministry has initiated the process of developing these four airports through public private partnership model, which is moving at a very slow pace, says a senior ministry official. For the record, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma has said: "There is no proposal of privatisation of these airports at present." Sharma informed the upper house of Parliament on the first day of the Monsoon session via a written reply. But according to the revenue figures submitted by the ministry, the Chennai airport has generated an average of 21 per cent increase in its revenue from the airports operation in the past two years. For 2013-14, Chennai airport clocked a revenue of Rs 908.32 crore, a jump of 31 per cent over the previous year. For 2014-15 (revised estimates), the airport revenue from Chennai stood at Rs 1,022.80 crore thereby showing a 12 per cent increase over FY13. Similarly, Kolkata airport clocked a revenue of Rs 670 crore for FY15 and Rs 630 crore for FY14. Even the airports of Ahmedabad and Jaipur have reported an increase in their respective revenue for the last two financial years. But the civil aviation ministry has already floated the Request for Qualification (RFQ) for these airports. When specifically asked whether the Airports Authority of India has opposed privatisation, the minister replied in the negative. But only three months ago, the unions at Kolkata airport had threatened to bring all operations to a standstill. The protest was against any move to privatise the Kolkata airport. When the UPA-I government had attempted to privatise the Kolkata airport on similar lines as the Delhi, Hyderabad and the Bangalore airport, the union had blocked the normal operations at the Kolkata airport. Under the Left Front government rule in West Bengal, the then civil aviation minister Praful Patel was forced to abandon plans for the privatisation of both Kolkata and Chennai airports. Instead, the ministry had conceded to allow the Airports Authority of India to redevelop these two airports.
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Adani Mining has suspended two major contractors on its $7.4 billion Carmichael coal project in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Wednesday, raising fresh doubts about the project's future. Project manager Parsons Brinckerhoff and Korea's POSCO Engineering & Construction Co Ltd, which is also touted as an investor in the final project, were told late last week to stop work on the Carmichael mine, rail and port project, the newspaper said, citing sources. Company sources told the newspaper that senior Adani executives flew to India at the weekend for talks about the project's future. Both contractors have big roles in the project. Parsons Brinckerhoff are the principal project management consultants, while POSCO is due to build Adani's 388-kilometre (242 mile) rail line from the mine to the sea and take a financial stake in the development. Adani Mining said the latest suspension of work was due to delays in government approvals for the project. "The preliminary works contracts were previously sustained due to the level of investment Adani had maintained for more than 12 months in anticipation of a range of government decisions and approvals timeframes," Adani said in a statement. POSCO E&C said Adani had asked it to halt its design work as of July 16, with tentative plans to resume work in early October. Adani had raised concerns about the project's financing last month when it said it was rejigging the budget for the mine. Adani intends to ship most of the coal to India for use in generating household power, which would help Prime Minister Narendra Modi achieve his goal of connecting the whole country to the electricity grid during his tenure. The company said then that the project's budget, based on previous anticipated approval timelines and milestones, was no longer achievable due to delays in receiving various approvals from the Queensland state government. It also confirmed it had suspended the contracts of four engineering firms while waiting for those approvals. Adani has signed up buyers for about 70 per cent of the 40 million tonnes of coal the Carmichael project is due to produce in its first phase. The project mainly hinges on environmental approval to deepen a port on the fringe of the Great Barrier Reef in order to ship the coal, a proposal generating opposition worldwide. Greenpeace on Wednesday called on the Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt to revoke the project's mining licence. "The burning of coal from Carmichael would produce 121 million tonnes of deadly carbon dioxide emissions every year at maximum production," said Nikola Casule,a Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner, "It would be a catastrophe for the climate and for the Great Barrier Reef." (Agencies)
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Looking to augment solar power generation, Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Co (MPMKVVCL) has inked an agreement with RattanIndia Apna Solar to develop 5-MW grid-connected rooftop solar power projects in Madhya Pradesh.The power purchase agreement (PPA) and project implementation agreement (PIA) with MPMKVVCL was signed in Bhopal to develop 5-MW grid-connected rooftop solar power project in the state."It gives us immense pleasure to partner with the Madhya Pradesh government in its initiative to provide clean and affordable energy to people," Rajiv Rattan, Chairman, RattanIndia Group said after the signing of the agreement on 17 July.RattanIndia Apna Solar won the order through competitive bidding. This is one of the first rooftop solar projects tendered in the country and more are likely to come up very soon.This rooftop solar power project will be executed on about 75 public buildings in cities of Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh."Such initiatives would go a long way in augmenting the government's target of installing 100 GW of solar power capacity by 2020. Our company is fully geared up to contribute to the fast-growing solar power sector in the country," he said.RattanIndia is one of the oldest solar power companies and has been implementing such projects since 2011. It is one of the leading players in solar rooftop power projects.(PTI)
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It is of interest to note that many urban areas across the country now have Master Plans, Zonal Plans and Local Area Plans to control future development. One would like to believe that planning and urban design professionals are now active, aware and more involved in controlling the massive proliferation of urban growth across the country. This would however be a grossly misleading conclusion. A mere look at the plans in relation to the actual situation on the ground would help to dispel any illusions in this matter. With steadily increasing pressure of urban growth unauthorized construction is rampant in most areas, as there are no effective control systems in place. In discussing this issue, Delhi and its surrounding areas present a good example for study of a kind of planning that is being replicated in other parts of the country. Delhi has had three Master Plans from 1961 onwards, and in a sense much of what has been developed over the last 50 years has been in accordance with the prescribed Master Plans. The failure of course, lies in the gross mismatch between what was planned and what actually happened on the ground. One major failure was the factor of implementation over time. Facilities and amenities that should have been developed within some kind of time framework were not developed. Of the 15 District Centres proposed in the 1961 Delhi Master Plan to serve as the major work centers of the city, to date only 12 have been implemented. Some of these are still not fully complete, creating a serious shortfall of available commercial space in relation to overall population growth. In many areas where Local Shopping Centres and Community Centres were not built alongside with residential development, a series of retail shops came up within residential units to meet actual need. A misuse which still continues in many areas. When commercial development related to District Centres did not come up, the increased demand for commercial space was met in areas outside the Master Plan zone. A large number of commercial offices moved to adjoining towns like NOIDA and Gurgaon. These shortfalls relating to actual need have still not been rectified over time. This is because the Master Plans are inflexible documents, which in their updated form have simply replicated what was prescribed earlier, without making adjustments for the changed demands that emerged over time. The Latest Delhi Master Plan 2021 provides for 13 new District Centres in addition to the original 15 - which are supposedly in the process of development. Although six years have passed since the 2021 Master Plan became law, development continues at a pace controlled by the Delhi Development Authority. The DDA as per the 1961 Delhi Master Plan was entrusted with the responsibility to implement the Plan, as well as to buy, develop, and sell land within the notified area. Over time DDA’s interest in effectively planning the future growth of the city has diminished, and emphasis has shifted to the generation of maximum profit from the sale of land. The long term welfare of city residents, and the provision of meeting actual need on a timely basis, has become secondary. This has happened at a time when the population has increased way beyond earlier projections, and the pressures of growth, traffic and massive construction, all call for a complete revision of the Master Plan along with more intensive detailed planning of specific areas. What has happened in and around Delh, is similar to the process of development being followed in most states across the country. In many situations while the Master Plans make a fair attempt to provide a unified structure with a defined hierarchy of roads and sectors, actual development on the ground follows a totally disorganized process. Most pockets of land ear marked for development consist of irregular shaped plots, based on age old agricultural khasra plans. No attempt has been made to consolidate such plots into any kind of regular shape. The proposed traffic and infrastructure network is simply superimposed on these irregular patches of erstwhile farm pockets. Planning sanction is given according to prescribed use, regardless of the shape of the plots. The result of such inefficient planning is evident in large built areas of Gurgaon, with its odd shaped building complexes. Even in towns and cities where land has been consolidated and then sold in regular pockets by the local development authorities, the resulting end product is not always much better. This can be seen in the area controlled by the Delhi Development Authority in the metropolitan area of the capital. Although on the face of it the Master Plans and Zonal Plans appear to be more orderly, in many cases the lack of proper detailed planning, shows up in the shallow outline land use plans. There is no 3D visualization of the proposed development. Different areas as can be seen from the air or in Google maps showing major changes that have already occurred in different areas, that have either been ignored in the Zonal Plans, or find only casual mention. Notable plan omissions include, the enormous commercial development at Lajpat Nagar, Karol Bagh, Rajouri Garden, and the entire Delhi Metro Rail network, and the BRT corridors. The metro-rail and the BRT corridors have simply been superimposed on the existing development without reflection of the substantial changes emanating from these developments. The inevitable increase of concentrated development along these corridors are only verbally described in the plan notification with no detailed plans or urban design for the affected areas. Despite the fact that we have available today a whole range of up to date tools to facilitate proper detailed design of each and every space, the local planning authorities have not used any such devices. Today with the help of GPS projections, the entire existing development can be viewed in three dimensions, along with multiple layers of services, along with clear projections of future development being proposed. Such visualisations, can be regularly updated to reflect actual change, and also be used as devices for determining the direction of future growth. At present the plans contained in the Zonal Development Plans of the Delhi Metropolitan area lack depth due to inadequate infrastructure information, resulting in superficial outline development proposals. Part of the problem with planning in Delhi is the multiplicity of authorities responsible for control of specific areas and different aspects. The MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) now split into three units covering North, South and East zones, looks after the major part of the city within urban area limits, the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Committee) looks after the government area of Lutyen’s Delhi, and some areas beyond this. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) administers the Delhi Master Plan, and is also responsible for the development and sale of land within the city. The DUAC (Delhi Urban Art Commission) is the overall watchdog that is expected to protect and control the aesthetic and environmental aspects of the city. It is however largely an advisory body, and its recommendations are often ignored. As can be expected in such a situation there is considerable overlapping of responsibilities of the different agencies, with the result, that the future of development remains uncertain. Professional architects, town planners and urban designers should have been active participants in helping to bring about some sense of order in this confused and constantly changing urban situation. But this has not happened. Most town planners in government agencies have over time become bureaucrats administering and implementing outdated plans, without undertaking any creative exercise to update and change plans, to resolve complex urban issues arising from constant pressures of haphazard growth. Master Plans that do not respond to actual changes on the ground soon become obsolete and meaningless. Government officials responsible for the implementation of plans generally resist change. The steady increase of population in most urban areas calls for planning on an ongoing basis. This calls for a fundamental change in the current approach to the detailed development of our cities, and it is now essential that planners and urban designers play a lead role in making this change happen. The author, Ranjit Sabikhi has been in practice as an Architect in New Delhi since 1961. He taught at the School of Planning & Architecture in New Delhi from 1959 to 1975 and has also been a Visiting Critic to the Urban Design Program at GSD Harvard University and the School of Architecture at Washington University St. Louis
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has asked India to invest in infrastructure projects worth $8 billion, including an expanded role in developing a strategic port that will open up access to Central Asia, Iran's envoy to New Delhi said on Friday (17 July). The port of Chabahar in southeast Iran is central to India's efforts to circumvent arch-rival Pakistan and open up a route to landlocked Afghanistan where it has developed close security ties and economic interests. Rouhani suggested the larger role for India during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a summit in Russia days before the historic nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Iran's ambassador to India told Reuters. "The potential between Iran and India is great but we were just facing such a wall of sanctions, wall of American pressure," ambassador Gholamreza Ansari said. Ansari said that with sanctions likely to be lifted soon, it was a "golden time" for India to seize investment opportunities because of the two countries' close trade ties and shared interest in improving Central Asian transport links. "Connectivity is the main policy of Modi that coincides with Iran's government policy," Ansari said. "We have offered them, in connectivy, $8 billion of projects." Modi's meeting with Rouhani was part of a tour of Central Asia focused on increasing India's role in the region. It was not immediately clear how Modi responded to Rouhani's offer. India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Iran and six world powers reached a nuclear deal on Tuesday, clearing the way for an easing of sanctions on Tehran. India and Iran agreed in 2003 to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, near Iran's border with Pakistan, but the venture has moved slowly because of the sanctions over Iran's atomic programme. The two countries maintained a close relationship despite the U.S.-led trade restrictions that halved their oil trade to 220,000 barrels per day last year. In May, India's Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi, signed an $85 million deal for India to lease two existing berths at the port and use them as multi-purpose cargo terminals. Under the new proposal India could help build second and third terminals at the port, as well as railway connections into the rest of Iran, Ansari said. India has moved slowly on opportunities in Iran in the past, including the giant Farzad B gas field. Ansari said India was the "first priority" to develop Farzad B, but urged New Delhi to move fast: "If they drag their feet, the market will not wait."(Nidhi Verma/Reuters)
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's top civil servant hauled road builder KMC Constructions into his office last week, along with a state bank and officials, and set an October deadline to finish the Pink City Expressway linking Delhi and Jaipur. It looks a tough ask. The 225 km (140 mile) highway is still missing seven bridges, several stretches need to be widened to the projected six lanes, and miles of land have not yet been acquired. The road should have opened three years ago. The journey from the capital to the rose-hued sandstone tourist town can take six bumpy hours and is a symbol of the challenges Modi faces to kick-start Asia's third-largest economy. Frustrated by hold-ups in way-behind-schedule projects the government thought it had fixed, Modi's office is now itself leaning on contractors and banks whose estimated $49 billion in bad loans - much of it to infrastructure projects - are blamed for suppressing the investment cycle. Modi placed a $12.6 billion bet in this year's budget on road building, with $16 billion more to be spent on railways, looking to create jobs and boost economic capacity. To help pay for the modernization of decrepit roads and rail, Modi is reining in spending on health and welfare programmes for the poor - so the stakes are high. But a handful of troubled mega-projects like the Pink City Expressway are proving to be stubborn roadblocks. "The investment cycle has not picked up since the government came in," said Mahesh Vyas, managing director at research group Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). "Making a premium in the budget is one thing. You have to go and spend it." The transport ministry has already burned through $2 billion since April as it races to invest the $6.8 billion of government spending it has been allocated this year. Yet this has not fed through to a marked increase in new road building, with much of the money earmarked for cash-crunched developers. At last week's meeting, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra demanded results for five road projects that cars were supposed to be driving down years ago, two people with knowledge of the meetings told Reuters. The Prime Minister's Office did not respond to a request for comment. Land DealsA drive last week along the newly-laid Delhi-Jaipur road that runs through some of India's most important industrial zones quickly ground to a halt as cars were forced down rutted service lanes that bypassed half-built bridges. Work on the highway restarted late last year after a government threat to cancel the contract prompted the lenders, led by state-run IDBI Bank, and the developer to agree a loan restructuring, but there is still a shortage of land to finish the job. "If land is given, we will finish the project. Today, six-laning is completed on the land we have," said Shashank Shekhar, a senior executive at KMC. There are some signs of progress. Two hours before the meeting at the prime minister's office, the state government approved building on a roughly 16 hectare (39.5 acre) chunk of land - five years after KMC first requested permission. But close to 20 large projects remain mired in huge debts, land shortages and red tape, and the government needs private funding to bolster its public investment in infrastructure if it is to meet ambitious road building targets this year. In the past year the government has terminated the contracts for at least five roads and withdrawn rights for the developers to continue construction on a further 30, according to data from the highways agency seen by Reuters. "We have cancelled many projects. Every second day we cancel a project," said V. Chhibber, the top official in the transport ministry. "Somebody will have to carry the can, but the government's not going to carry the can." Chhibber said he was confident the ministry, already the biggest spending department since April, could spend the money allocated to it and construct at least 6,000 km of roads by the year-end. He said the number of stalled projects had come down from 100 when Modi's government came to power in May last year, but he acknowledged more needed to be done to speed up building, with land acquisition a "major hurdle". In India's south, for example, a 43 km road connecting manufacturing hub Chennai to a nearby state is still missing 40 percent of the required land - almost four years after it was due for completion, a person with knowledge of the project said. Later this month, Modi will again try to get a controversial bill through parliament to ease land acquisition rules. Between April and June, 496 kms of new roads were completed by the national highways agency, up from 359 kms last year, but the third lowest rate since 2008, official data shows. The government, which builds some roads without the help of the highways agency, has awarded 1,600 kms of roads out of a planned 10,000 kms this year. "If every project requires to go through the PMO (Prime Minister's Office), then there's something wrong with the way we have set up our system," said Vyas at the CMIE. (Reuters)
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The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has approved the planned delisting of shares in Essar Oil Ltd, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The delisting plan had already been approved by National Stock Exchange. Essar Oil, a unit of India's diversified Essar Group, was given the BSE green light on Wednesday, the sources said. Spokespeople for the BSE and the NSE could not be immediately reached for comment. An Essar spokesman declined comment. Russian oil giant Rosneft is in a talks to buy a stake of up to 49 percent in Essar Oil, which operates a 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) Vadinar refinery in Gujarat.
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The Indian Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a power transmission project worth Rs 8,548.68 covering seven states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the creation of a transmission system in these states that will also covers Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs 8,548.68 crore, an official release said. The project will have central contribution from National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) of Rs 3,419.47 crore (which is 40 per cent of the total estimated cost of project). The activities envisaged under the project include establishment of 48 new Grid sub-stations of different voltage levels with total transformation capacity around 17,100 MVA (Mega Volt Ampere) by installing over 7,800 ckt-kms (Circuit Kilometers) of transmission lines in these seven states. The project is proposed to be completed within 3-5 years. The cost on creating intra-state transmission system is proposed to be met through KfW loan (40 per cent of the total cost), NCEF grant (40 per cent of the total cost) and the remaining 20 per cent as state contribution, the statement said. These states are rich in renewable resource potential and large capacity renewable power projects are planned there. Creation of an intra state transmission system will facilitate evacuation of renewable power from generation stations to load centres, it added. Government has planned to have 175 GW of power generation from renewable energy sources by 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power.(PTI)
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