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GQ is just 93 per cent complete ? Highway upgradation behind
by 2 years
Road to nowhere
Delay in awarding contracts ? 2015 completion deadline in
doubt
India's ambitious highway development programme certainly
seems to be ailing with the Rip Van Winkle Syndrome. Despite
occasional reports of work moving ahead "at full speed",
the progress achieved by the National Highway Development
Programme (NHDP) of late, seems to indicate the contrary.
There is evidence to suggest that the people in charge are
sleeping. The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) project which should
have seen completion in the middle of this year, though it
was slated to end two years ago is just 93 per cent complete
as of now. Ditto with the upgradation of the national highways
connecting north-south and east-west of the country. Authorities
are now hoping the project dubbed NSEW, phase II will be completed
by December 2008 - this, when the original target was December
this year. As per government records close to 89 per cent
of the NHDP has achieved completion - out of the total length
of 7,498 km of national highways to be upgraded, work on 6,669
km has been done. There is also the tendency to fast forward
without considering the projects on hand. Witness the fact
that the twolaning of 20,000 km of highways under phase IV
is yet to be approved by the government though the concerned
ministry has got phase V approved from the Cabinet.
Further the government is focused on four-laning of 6,000
km of the national highways under phase III A of the NHDP,
even though the detailed project report for phase III B has
been cleared by the Union Cabinet. The powers that be have
also approved phase VI of the NHDP, as part of which 1,000
km of four to six lane expressways will be constructed. Phase
VII will include construction of ring roads, flyovers and
bypasses on select routes… The irony is that work on
phase II, which relate to the four-laning of 356 km of highways
connecting ports to hinterlands, is yet to take off - only
111 km have been completed. Ergo the 2015 deadline seems a
mockery. The current status of the various projects only raises
more questions than it provides answers to the Great Indian
Road Riddle. No one at the helm in New Delhi has successfully
answered the question why a project begun in 1999 by the government
- 89 per cent of which has reportedly been completed - should
take an additional nine years to reach the 10 per cent finishing
rope? By any logic this is baffling because the minders cannot
offer the excuse of lack of access to the latest technology
or consultants. Admittedly much of the problems have arisen
because of the lethargy in awarding contracts.
While the minders in New Delhi are supposed to be issuing
all the contracts by 2012 in time for the national highway
development programme to be completed by 2015, the tardy pace
of contract assignment has stonewalled development. With the
authorities in slumber mode it certainly looks like it is
going to be long, long road ahead.
Railway agri hub policy on anvil
A policy for supply chain infrastructure management of agricultural
products is on the cards with the Railway ministry working
on the draft. As part of this development the authorities
are in discussions with retail giants like Cargill, Reliance,
ITC and Pantaloon. The Railways, which has large surplus land
at its disposal, plan to offer space at the highest bidder
to the players for setting up agri retail hubs. An estimated
investment of Rs 200 crore is expected on each of the 16 hubs
being planned. There will one each in the four metros. It
is reported the agri centres in the four metros will act as
the main hub, while those in the secondary cities like Lucknow,
Bhopal, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad will act as spokes.
Leap in luxury
Emaar and Accor tie up for Formule 1 hotels in India
Real estate developer Emaar MGF and Accor, global leaders
in economy and budget hotels, have announced a joint venture
to bring the Formule 1 brand of budget hotels to India. The
new venture, Budget Hotels India Pvt Ltd, has planned investments
of $300 million in 100 properties over ten years. Emaar MGF
is a partnership between global property developer Emaar Properties
and MGF Developments. It has identified potential locations
across the country for the new hotels, starting with the major
metros. The company hopes to develop 50 hotels over the first
five years, with another 50 to be developed in a second fiveyear
phase. The total development will add 10,000 hotel rooms
to the economy sector.
The tie-up with Accor marks Emaar's foray into budget hotels.
Accor CEO Gilles Pelisson said, "The Formule 1 product
is ideally suited for India 's rapidly growing tourism market.
The brand is recognized as the international benchmark for
budget hotels and has been successful in both established
and emerging economies. India has one of the world's most
dynamic economies and there is currently a vast undersupply
of quality accommodation. With major growth in airlines servicing
India's international and domestic sectors, and the emergence
of many new business districts around the country, we see
a tremendous future for the Formule 1 brand." Shravan
Gupta, executive vice chairman and managing director, Emaar
MGF, said, "We see huge potential in the hospitality
space and we are moving aggressively in this direction by
bringing in products across the value chain. Emaar MGF also
has plans to construct 10-15 luxury hotels for which we have
acquired land across the country."
Hilton DLF in hotel JV
DLF Limited has announced a joint venture company in India
with Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) to develop and own 75
hotels and serviced apartments over the next 7 years. While
DLF will hold 74 per cent in the JV, Hilton will hold the
remaining minority stake. Over the next 5 to 7 years, Hilton
will invest up to $143 million. The venture will involve 20
hotels in a number of key locations including Chandigarh,
Chennai, and Kolkata.
Jharkhand UMMP in July
The Centre has indicated that it will award the fourth ultra
mega power project (UMPP) at Tilaiya in Jharkhand by the end
of July. This will follow the third UMPP at Krishnapatnam
in Andhra Pradesh. The ministry of power has now asked the
Power Finance Corporation (PFC) to work out the timelines
for request for qualification and request for participation
for Tilaiya.
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