Infrastructure

Apprehensive about the possible impact of the Prime Minister's proposed Ganga Basin Authority on the Ganga Expressway project, the state government is busy drawing its own conditions.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has called a meeting of its members on December 15. The meeting, which will be chaired by T K Nair, Principal Secretary, PMO, will be attended by the chief secretaries of the four states through which the river flows.

The members of the four states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal -- will

discuss the profile and the jurisdiction of the proposed river basin authority.

"The meeting will look into a whole gamut of issues from its implementation to the implications of its creations with the objective to increase the availability of water by increasing the flow in the river," said Alok Ranjan, Principal Secretary (Urban Development).

"There is a possibility that in future any project that comes up along the course of Ganga will have to obtain the clearance from the river basin authority," he added.

The Ganga Expressway, which will connect Noida in western Uttar Pradesh to Ballia in the east, could run into rough weather if the Centre decides to arm the river authority with strong regulatory powers.

According to official sources, as the Prime Minister had announced that the river basin

authority will regulate the "quantity and quality" of the water in the river, there are little doubts that this would affect the Ganga

Expressway and the future developmental projects along the river.

The state government has already obtained the sanction for the project from the Ganga Flood Control Commission in Patna.

In October, a delegation led by Swami Ramdev met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drawing his attention to the plight of the river and demanded that Ganga be accorded the national river status.

A consortium of ITNL ENSO Rail Systems Ltd (IERS), a group company of IL&FS and real estate major DLF, has emerged the sole bidder for the 3.2-kilometre Gurgaon Metro rail project being implemented through public-private partnership (PPP) by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

This is the second project in the country in which a metro rail project is being undertaken through a PPP model after the 71-kilometre Hyderabad metro project was won by Maytas Infrastructure.

According to industry sources, infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) had also initially shown interest for the project, but backed out finally.

The Rs 1,000-crore project envisages the development of a metro link for providing last-mile connectivity from Delhi Metro's Sikanderpur station on MG Road to NH-8 over a 60-metre-wide sector road (Vishwakarma Marg), where DLF Cybercity is located. The project provides further scope of extending the metro link to sector 55-56 in south Gurgaon and Udyog Vihar and Sector 21 Dwarka in the north.

Under the request for proposal (RFP), the contract was to be awarded to a company which would offer HUDA the highest revenue share of advertising and real estate rental which it earns from the project. However, it does not have to share revenue of the fare it collects. HUDA has offered 250 square metres of floor area in each of the six stations which the concessionaire can rent out to kiosks and retail outlets. The concession period is for 99 years. The land, however, would be owned by the Haryana government which would give it on lease to the concessionaire.

The two players are planning to set up a special purpose vehicle in which IERS will have 74 per cent equity holding, while the rest will be with real estate major DLF. The entire debt component of the project will be raised by IERS.

Sanjiv Rai, MD & CEO of IERS, said: "Yes, we are the sole bidder for the Gurgaon Metro rail project. We are awaiting the approval from the Haryana Urban Development Authority. Once the approval is received, we are expecting to achieve the financial closure of the project in the next six to eight months."

However, the company has not yet decided the debt equity ratio. "The debt equity ratio will be more similar to other infrastructure projects. However, a final decision will be taken only after consulting our bankers and seeing the market condition," said Rai.

The company will be required to finance, design and construct all the civil works. The concessionaire is also required to procure and install all systems including the rolling stocks, overhead electrification, track, signalling and telecommunication, ventilation, air-conditioning, automatic fare collection, depot and other systems and facilities required for a successful metro link.

The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) on November 21, which was constituted in January 2006 under the chairmanship of secretary, economic affairs in the ministry of finance, has so far approved 87 projects with a total cost of Rs 89,891 crore. The committee has so far approved 77 highway projects, six infrastructure projects, two airport projects and one each in tourism infrastructure and railway sectors.

The highway development projects approved by the PPPAC include six laning of Kishangarh-Udaipur section at Rs 3,076.38 crore, Vijaywada-Eluru-Rajmundray section at Rs 2,426.65 crore and Chilkaluripet-Nellore section at Rs 2,163.90 crore.

In addition, the committee has approved six-laining, four-laining and development of various other sections of highways in Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. The approval assumes significance as the government is trying to fight economic slowdown by stepping up investment in the infrastructure sector projects.

The government on Sunday approved a stimulus package that seeks to increase government expenditure by Rs 20,000 crore mainly in infrastructure projects like highways, rural roads and ports.

Oriental is part of New Delhibased privately-owned Bakshi Enterprise, whose infrastructure arm Oriental Structural Engineers (OSE) is undertaking several roads and highway projects across the country and will transfer its interests in all these projects into the new company. Dabur India vicechairman Amit Burman is a shareholder in Oriental Structural Engineers in a personal capacity.

The specialist India-focussed fund will invest in Oriental Tollways through a Mauritius-based subsidiary. "The investment (by Infrastructure India) will come into Oriental Tollways in tranches," said the person, who is directly involved in the transaction but asked not to be named.

Infrastructure India's mandate is to invest in Indian energy and transport infrastructure projects and comes out of its belief that now is an appropriate time to focus on infrastructure in India given the fast pace of change in its economy.

Its investment, which will value Oriental Tollways at Rs 918 crore, comes against a gloomy backdrop for the overall Indian infrastructure sector, which has in the past been hobbled by bureaucratic delays and is now a victim of tight funding conditions amid a global credit crunch.

The fund has already invested in a few infrastructure projects in India such as Shree Maheswar Hydel Power Corporation, a 400 MW hydroelectric power project located in Madhya Pradesh.

Oriental is executing highway projects under the Golden Quadrilateral programme of National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Its parent Bakshi Enterprise has revenues of Rs 1,500 crore and has various businesses including aluminium castings, auto components and real estate development, besides infrastructure development through four separate privately-held companies.

It has a 49.4% stake in Oriental Pathways Indore, 55.16% in Oriental Pathways Agra, 56.24% in Oriental Pathways Nagpur and 49.99% stake in Path Oriental Private Ltd (Rewa). All these are set to become part of Oriental Tollways.

Infrastructure India is a closedended investment firm which was listed on the LSE last June. Bloomsbury Asset Management Advisors is its investment adviser.

ORIENTAL PROJECTS
Highways under Golden Quadrilateral programme of NHDP in UP and Tamil Nadu projects worth Rs 830 crore
Allahabad Bypass Project worth Rs 530 crore
Fourlaning projects in UP and MP worth Rs 260 crore

SIX YEARS since it started its operations, Delhi Metro is all set to make its first journey to north Delhi.

Terming it a 'New Year gift' to residents of north Delhi, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will make its Vishwavidyalaya-Jehangirpuri section operational in the first week of January 2009.

Till now, the metro station at Vishwavidyalaya used to be the boarding point for people living in various residential colonies beyond Delhi University like Model Town, Mukherjee Nagal: Adarsh Nagar, Gujranwala Town and Azadpur

The section, said a DMRC official, was originally to be inaugurated in October 2009 and is the second section after ShahdaraDilshad Garden line to be opened in phase II.

The 6.36 kilometre extension will have five more stations beyond Vishwavidyalaya - GTB Nagal: Model Town, Azadpur, Adarsh Nagar and finally terminating at Jahangirpuri. While the GTB Nagar metro station will be underground, the rest of the stations are elevated.

Initially, there will be no parking facility at any of the five metro stations on this section.

"Since Jehangirpur is the terminal station, we expect a lot of crowd on this station. We have asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to allot us 3,000 sq. mt. of land to develop a parking lot on this station," DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. DMRC is also planning a multilevel parking lot at GTB Nagar

According to DMRC officials, all stations on this section have been designed architecturally different as compared to other stations of Phase II of the metro.

"There will be space for commercial purposes on the concourse level at each station. The entry and exit gates on concourse level will be opposite and uni-directional to help better segregation of incoming and outgoing passengers," a DMRC official said.

With the opening of this section, the DMRC is expecting an increase of 1.5 lakh passengers in its ridership.

Sanjay G Ubale, MD, Tata Realty said, "We are in the process of tying up a $1 billion infrastructure fund to create the necessary resource base for the infrastructure projects that we are lining up. Our objective is to create world class infrastructure with the best technology in India."

The new infrastructure fund to be raised from overseas investors is in addition to the existing $750 million Tata Realty Initiatives Fund-1, a real estate dedicated fund raised from overseas investors from Australia and elsewhere.

TRIL has also bid for the development of the Udaipur and Amritsar airports in a consortium with Singapore's Changi International Airport and Tata Power. The consortium has qualified for the request for proposal stage in this case. The company has also qualified for 18 buildoperate-transfer (BOT) projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which involve constructing four to six lanes on the highway network across the country.

On the other hand, delay in privatisation initiatives or changes in policies can have a significant impact on investments in most sectors except telecom and oil and gas. Crisil research believes that speedy infrastructure reforms will lead to significant private investment in the sector. Power and ports will be two key sectors where investments need to accelerate so as to ease the growth constraints.

According to the report `Indian infrastructure: risk and investment opportunities', infrastructure is set to expand significantly with the high investment planned, the increasingly complex nature of projects and a larger participation from the private sector fuelled by high expectations from various stakeholders. Risks associated are also higher now due to resource constraints, cost escalation of materials and services, and increasing financing costs.

However, the report observed that the fiscal position of the Centre and state governments can have a bearing on infrastructure investments apart from slower economc growth and policy stagnation. While the fiscal position of the Centre and state governments have grown in strength as compared with the previous five years, rising subsidies and employee costs worsen the fiscal balance, limiting the government's ability to invest in infrastructure.

Morerover, non availability of inputs and finance can delay infrastructure investments. Problems related to land acquisition and constrained availability of labour and equipment can hinder investments in roads, ports, airports, power projects and SEZs. Project execution risk has also increased, since projects have become larger and more complex. On top of it, the rates of return have declined due to rising input costs, while cost of finance has increased. This is one of the key challenges for infrastructure investments in the current economic context.

DK Joshi, Crisil's director and principal economist said, "Beneath the surface impression of slow movement in infrastructure and related projects, there is a dynamism that is far more powerfurl than anything we have seen before."

There is an absence of public transport. We definetly need some bus service from these sectors to center point of Noida like (Atta, Sector 62 industrial hub, NTPC, Sectors 12, 22, etc. Lot of people commute from this sector to different parts and believe me its painful. Expressway is too far to catch a bus from. So if you are staying in these sectors you need to own one car for each family member.
There is no local market provided in these areas. For any basic grocery need one has to go all the way to Sector 82. And sicne there is no public transport, I need not say how difficult it is to manage.
Roads are in very bad shape and service lanes besides expressway are too dangerous. They are very narrow and they have to bear two ways heavy traffic which includes big lorries and trucks.

The temporary market that was illegally established on 3,000 sqm of land in the posh Sector 18, and it was main hurdle in the path of Metro rail in Noida. Authority has earmarked 2,400 sqm of this land for power back up room and work station.

"We were left with no option, as we don't have land near the proposed Metro station at Atta Market. The verdict has given as a great relief and way to Metro project. The market will be demolished on Wednesday," said YK Bahal, the ACEO of Noida.

The authority officials pasted notice of demolition on the site on Tuesday evening. The stricture came after 9 years of legal battle in courts. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, in her first visit to Noida in January had addressed a gathering at the market had promised not to demolish it.

The present cost of the land is around Rs 200 crore at the rate of authority.

I just wanted to check following point with respect to sector 82 connectivity..

1. How far is sector 82 from sector 18(Atta market )

2. What are the available tranport options to go to sector 18

3. I heard about fyover project in sector 82. Where it this flyover coming and how it will help the connectivity.

4. How are electricity/tele facility in sector 82.

As India's public spending has been constrained by large budget deficit, a substantial portion of investment in infrastructure will come from private sector, report said. It further mentioned that public-private partnership has emerged as an effective method to attract private investment in infrastructure. By 2006, the government had awarded 86 PPP contracts.

The Noida Authority had sought permission from the EC in its letter dated February 22, about office cum commercial scheme worth Rs 4,000 crore. The election commission, in its orders on the subject, has banned the implementation of the scheme due to the ensuing Assembly elections.

Noida Authority had launched an office cum commercial scheme in Sectors 94 and 124 on the Delhi-Noida entry point, but almost simultaneously the dates for UP Vidhan Sabha elections were announced by the EC. Noida Authority had sought advice from the commission about the fate of the scheme.

Dy CEO Ravinder Naik has instructed all departmental heads not to take any action on the scheme and ensure that no financial benefit is passed on to anybody. This scheme involved three plots of 30 acre each in Sector-94 and another two plots of 30 acre in Sector-124.

Builders were to be allotted these plots under `Two Bid System' and a technical bid followed by a financial bids were to be gone through. Builders were expected to construct office cum commercial space for multi-national companies.

In deference to election commission's instructions, brochures to banks and builders are not made available by Noida Authority now.

No  matter how much you spend on the construction of the house, it is incomplete unless tastefully decorated with velvety turf and quality plants. In the houses or flats you do it yourself and in the societies, the onus is on the management. See any housing ad, and the first thing to lure the customers is the `beautifully landscaped environs'.

When once you have done efforts to plan your garden well, why not compete with others to find out as to where your garden stands out in comparison with others in the city. Third week of February to the second week of March is the time when all flower shows-cum-competitions are held in this region. There is a category of competition in the home gardens, terrace gardens included. Make up your mind and we will tell you what judges look for and how your garden can have an edge. There is a category for whole of the society premises too.

What is the status of Taj Expressway?

What is the route of Taj Expressway?

TO SHOWCASE the industrial products of Noida, a new display centre would be constructed in Sector 60. The decision was taken at the 140th meeting of the Noida Board yesterday.

The Noida Authority has allotted an area of two acres for this purpose.

The centre would also house convention centres and other facilities to facilitate commerce and Industry.

In another major decision, the displaced villagers, who were allotted five per cent of their total acquired land as compensation by the Noida authority at a specified sector in Noida, now will able to sell off this property. Previously such plots could not be sold off.

A decision was reached to start the stalled work to in stall sewer lines on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

The work initiated by the Mayawati Government was put under scanner by the Mulayam Singh Government in 2003 for alleged corruption.

The work would now be undertaken by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam.

The Board has also decided to form a new administrative body to purchase buses on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).

Meanwhile, the Noida Authority has also decided to run half a dozen mobile libraries across various sectors in Noida.

GDA also approved the proposal for three Metro rail routes for Ghaziabad. According to a GDA official: ``The board has agreed that the cess on all new constructions will be levied to funds Metro rail projects. The proposal will be sent to the state government for its approval.'' The board approved the Metro routes from Anand Vihar to Vaishali, Vaishali to Indirapuram and NH-24 to Mehrauli for the Integrated and Hi-Tech cities and from Shahdara to the new bus terminal.

A clover leaf flyover at Meerut Road crossing near the Hindon Bridge, at a cost of Rs 50 crore has been approved. Also, Rs 34 crore has been sanctioned for building a road along the Hindon, from the NH-91 bridge to NH-24 via Indirapuram. Rs 1.50 crore was cleared for setting up still and revolving cameras at all major crossings and entry points to the city. These will all be connected to a control room, via leased internet lines.

Besides, Noida Authority officials say, a helipad will be built atop each of these, a first in the country. The budget of more than Rs 120 crore has been sent for approval to IIT Delhi, said K Ravindra Naik, Additional CEO, Noida Authority.

Parking has been a major problem in Delhi and now across Delhi's suburbs because of the increasing number of hotspots, say traffic officials. The Sector 18 market alone boasts of a Mall, a multiplex and the Radisson Hotel and the number of vehicles parked in the market crosses 10,000 on the weekends.

Dinesh Yadav, Circle Officer and incharge of Traffic in Noida, claims that in the coming months, traffic control could become a problem as the Authority has decided to sell off available commercial plots which are used for parking.

Once this happens, Yadav says there would be huge traffic jams as there would be no space on either side of the road. The same is true in Sector 25 market where the Spice multiplex is located and a City Centre is coming up, he added.

It's to tackle this situation that the Noida Authority has decided construct the multi-level parking lots in Sector 18 and 25.

The design for the two seven-storeyed, partly underground parking structure is being done by Jaiswal Associates (the same firm that designed the Centrestage mall).

Government of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP) has been requested to discuss the proposal for extension of Phase-II of Delhi Metro to NOIDA with the Delhi Government and DMRC before the final approval is given. The routes and proposed stations planned so far along NOIDA extension beyond New Ashok Nagar are, NOIDA Sector-15, NOIDA Sector-16 NOIDA Sector-18, Botanical Garden, Golf Course and NOIDA City Centre. Only preliminary works for this route are being done by DMRC. The project is planned for completion by DMRC by September, 2009, subject to necessary approvals by the competent authority.

As regards extension of Delhi Metro to Ghaziabad there is no formal proposal from Government of Uttar Pradesh to Central Government.