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What made the elephant dance?
What has made the world sit up
and suddenly take notice of India?
"It cannot be India's beauty
queens, fashion shows or our cuisine,"
said Mr. P. Chidambaram, Union Minister
for Finance. Then, what has made
the elephant dance? It is India's
success story of economic growth
that made the world look at the
country.
Addressing the 'Advantage India'
session at the recent annual Asian
Development Bank (ADB) conference
in Hyderabad, he expressed the confidence
that India would join the league
of developed nations in less than
14 years.
It took 14 years for the country
to transform from "a poor and
perhaps forgotten country"
to a thriving and increasingly noticed
emerging economy. It would take
even less time for India to join
the league of developed nations,
he said.
The GDP growth rate soared to an
average of 7-8 percent in the last
three years against an average of
6.3 percent during 1992-2001.
Relating how the Indian economy
has emerged as an attractive destination
for investments, he said that the
growth had been largely fuelled
by domestic savings. More Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) will further
fuel investment rate and globalisation
of Indian companies.
Stating that investor confidence
in India was at an all-time high,
he said that A.T. Kearney had ranked
the country as the second most attractive
investment destination.
The finance minister also said
that the second and much bigger
wave of offshore manufacturing was
yet to come.
While the first wave consisted
mostly of labour-intensive items,
the second wave, which had just
begun, could reach US$ 1.6 trillion
annually, triggering skill-intensive
manufacturing.
He predicted that the annual growth
rate of 25-30 percent in services
exports would continue in the next
six years. Stating that the country
had managed to break away from 2-4
percent per capita growth average,
he further elaborated that there
would be more than 200 million new
people earning incomes above Rs
6.75 lakh annually by 2025.
- Business Line
NHDP phases-IV to VII
The union government is intending
to take up highway projects costing
about Rs 2,200 billion (US$ 50 billion)
with a major portion of the projects
proposed to be implemented through
public private partnership (PPP)
model, said Mr Nirmal Jit Singh,
Member (Technical), National Highway
Authority of India (NHAI).
Addressing a national seminar on
'Road Construction Projects' organised
by the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), he said the huge programme
requires, apart from substantial
private sector financing, a massive
expansion in contracting and consultancy
sector, human resources in terms
of skilled manpower, equipment and
improvements in dispute resolution
mechanism.
Having already approved projects
in three phases of National Highway
Development Programme (NHDP), the
central government is currently
considering phases IV to VII. While
phase - IV would comprise two-laning
with shoulders of 20,000 km of national
highways, Phase-V would comprise
six-laning of 6,500 km of NHs, primarily
the Golden Quadrilateral and some
other high-density corridors.
Phase-VI of NHDP comprises construction
of 1,000 km of expressways. The
potential corridors include Vadodara-Mumbai,
Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Chandigarh,
Chennai-Bangalore and Dhambad-Kolkata.
Under Phase-VII, the government
plans to take up projects such as
ring roads, bypasses and elevated
highways, he said.
- Business Line
Government to tap 50,000 MW
hydel power potential
After roads, it's now the turn
of hydel projects to go the BOT
way. Rather than power utilities,
private sector construction companies
are investing in hydel power. A
number of construction companies,
including Jaiprakash, Gammon and
Nagarjuna Construction, have taken
up hydel-power projects on a BOT
basis. While two such projects are
already operational - 300 MW Baspa
hydel project and 82 MW project
in Himachal Pradesh - many more
are to follow.
The government is considering to
set up a 50,000 MW hydel-power projects
over the next 15-20 years, which
is 1.5 times the total capacity
set up, approximately 32,000 MW
since independence till date. The
estimated amount to be spent on
hydro-power projects is to the tune
of Rs 2,000 billion. The ministry
of power has identified around 162
projects spread across 16 states
through out India.
It is understood that Gammon India
Ltd is working on a 60 MW hydel
project in Sikkim, the company has
received the letter of intent and
is conducting a feasibility study.
The project cost is estimated at
Rs 4,500 million and will be implemented
by Gammon Infrastructure Projects,
a subsidiary company set up for
equity investments in infrastructure
projects.
Another 100 MW hydel project also
in Himachal Pradesh, is being jointly
promoted by Nagarjuna Construction,
SSJV Projects and Maytas Infrastructure.
The cost of this project is estimated
at Rs 4,990 million. Others like
Patel Engineering Ltd.(PEL) are
also interested in hydel power.
A hydel project has high capital
costs and a long gestation period
- construction can take 5-7 years,
more than coal or gas-based power.
However, once completed, expenses
are minimal.
- Economic Times
NHPC to invest Rs 600 billion
for new projects
The National Hydro-electric Power
Corporation (NHPC) has identified
various locations for setting up
plants with a combined capacity
of 26.870 MW. It plans to invest
around Rs 600 million for capacity
addition by 2012.
NHPC is buoyant about the prospects
of plants in Arunachal Pradesh and
Jammu and Kashmir. It has set its
sights on nine projects in Arunachal
Pradesh with a combined capacity
of 23,000 MW.
The hydel power generation major
is also looking at developing six
projects in Jammu and Kashmir with
a total capacity of 3,870 MW.
NHPC believes that the total hydroelectric
generation potential in the north
eastern region of the country is
around 60,000 MW. "Only 2 percent
of this potential has been tapped",
NHPC chairman and managing director,
Mr S.K. Garg said.
It takes an investment of around
Rs 50 million per MW for hydropower
generation to be set up. "Of
the 600 billion investments that
we have planned, funds will come
from the government's equity support,
internal company accruals and borrowings
from domestic and international
markets", Mr Garg said
- Business Line
Water policy: ADB to promote
PPPs
An independent review panel of
Asian Development Bank's (ADB's)
water policy has asked the bank
to promote 'business unusual' by
sharing risks and encouraging public-private
partnerships (PPPs).
The panel suggested that it was
time to move away from traditional
sovereign guaranteed loans toward
risk-sharing arrangements with investors.
"We should find financial instruments
that allow sharing risks that often
pose challenges to PPPs", said
Mr Pradeep Singh, President and
Chief Executive Officer of IL&FS,
who is also on the panel.
The panel, chaired by Ms Erna Witoelar
of Indonesia, has submitted the
72-page report to the ADB board
at the 39th annual meeting of the
bank.
The panel felt that the bank should
double and sustain an increase in
water sector financing in the next
four years. It also pointed out
that the bank needed to improve
the in-house capacities to meet
its goal of 'water for all'.
It called for efforts to work more
closely with knowledge management
organisations and civil society
to improve monitoring of social
and environmental impact of ADB
projects.
Mr Pradeep said that the bank should
focus on five river basins in five
countries.
- Business Line
Power plant upgradation on cards
The government is going to upgrade
a total of 225 power plants, both
thermal and hydroelectric, at an
estimated cost of Rs 124 billion,
according to power minister, Mr
Sushil Kumar Shinde. If the renovation
and modernisation (R&M) scheme
becomes successful, it will help
generate an additional 12,263.31
MW in the coming years, Mr Shinde
added.
The minister stated that 106 old
and 57 comparatively new thermal
power plants had been identified
for the life extension (LE) scheme
and the renovation and modernisation
(R&M) works respectively.
The old plants already have a capacity
of 10,413 MW. After the LE scheme
is implemented at a cost of Rs 92
billion, the plants can increase
generation up to 10,747 MW.
By investing heavily on renovation
and modernisation of old power plants,
the government is trying to achieve
34,024 MW generation target in the
Tenth Five Year Plan. The government
is aiming to add 62,000 MW in the
11th Five Year Plan, which can be
further increased depending on the
availability of gas at the right
time.
- Financial Express
Core industries post 8.8 percent
growth in March 2006
The six infrastructure industries
posted a healthy growth of 8.8 percent
in March 2006 compared to a growth
of 6.9 percent in March 2005. These
industries, however, grew just 4.9
percent in the whole of 2005-06,
compared to 5.8 percent in the previous
fiscal, largely due to negative
growth in petroleum (crude) and
slump in petroleum products and
finished steel for most part of
the year.
According to the data released
by the government, cement was a
major performing sector. Cement
production recorded a growth of
17 percent in March 2006 compared
to 6.3 percent in the corresponding
period last year. It had grown by
12.3 percent during 2005-06 compared
to an increase of 6.6 percent in
the same period in 2004-05, thus
doubling its growth.
The six industries namely crude
petroleum, petroleum refinery products,
coal, electricity, cement and finished
steel have a combined weight of
26.7 percent in the index of industrial
production with base 1993-94.
- Financial Express
CII supports domestic equipment
industry
The Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) is of the view that development
of road projects in the country
would tremendously benefit the manufacturing
industry and would lead to overall
GDP growth.
As investments in the road sector
is coming up in a big way, CII views
that there are lot of opportunities
for the earthmoving and construction
equipment industry to meet the growing
demand in this sector.
In this context, CII has made certain
submissions to the Ministry of Road
Transport & Highways (MORTH)
on behalf of the domestic equipment
industry.
According to Mr V.R.S. Natarajan,
Chairman of CII's Mining and Construction
Equipment Division, the domestic
equipment industry is facing acute
crises due to import of second hand
machinery. Since there is no restriction
on the age of the imported second
hand machinery, it leads to grave
hardship to the domestic industry.
CII has urged the government to
impose higher import duty on second
hand machinery and restrict the
age of the equipment to seven years.
The CII has also appealed for a
reduction in the duty on parts and
components of equipment compared
to new machinery.
At present, the import duty on
the machinery and equipment is 12.5
percent. Further, CII has also requested
the government to withdraw the 'Purchase
Preference Scheme' as it considers
the present scheme of purchase detrimental
to the policy of promoting efficiency
and maximising domestic value-addition.
- Business Line
Mumbai Metro can solve traffic
ills
With the Reliance-ADA Group accepting
the Maharashtra state government's
request to slash the viability-gap
funding (VGP), the Mumbai Metro
project could soon get off the blocks.
The group was chosen through an
international bidding process followed
by the MMRDA in two phases - technical
and financial. This will be the
first metro project to be developed
by the private sector.
The project will see an 'aggressive'
construction period of four years.
The proposed corridor is considered
to be the most congested alignment
in the suburban region, which witnesses
perpetual traffic jams. When completed,
it is expected to carry more than
500,000 passengers every day.
The metro promises to offer services
at fares comparable to BEST and
suburban local trains and also help
reduce traffic congestion on the
road corridor.
The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar link
is the first in a series of metro
rail projects for Mumbai. The Rs
75,000 million Colaba-Charkop line
is also awaiting clearance from
the government.
- Times of India
Bangalore Metro Rail project
cleared
The union cabinet gave its approval
for the Bangalore Metro Rail Project
covering a length of 33 km in two
corridors at a cost of Rs 54,530
million. The project to be implemented
by BMRC (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation)
in five years will have a debt equity
ratio of 70:30.
The main objective of the project
is to provide the much-needed transport
infrastructure to the city of Bangalore,
said Mr. Jaipal Reddy, urban development
minister.
BMRC has tied up with Japan Bank
of International Cooperation (JBIC)
for a loan of Rs 1,699 million for
phase 1 of the metro rail transit
system. The group of ministers had
approved the Rs 63,000 million project
earlier this month and it was waiting
for clearance by Cabinet Committee
on Economic Affairs.
The Bangalore Metro will have an
east-west corridor of 18.1 km and
a north-south corridor of 14.9 km.
Both the corridors will have elevated,
underground and a small portion
of surface raillines.
- Financial Express
Mott MacDonald to design Delhi
airport
The GMR-Fraport consortium has
appointed Mott MacDonald Group as
the leading technical advisor for
modernising Delhi airport at a cost
of Rs 600 million. Mott MacDonald
has, in turn, appointed leading
global architect HOK International
to design the airport.
According to civil aviation ministry
sources, the consultant would be
required to submit a master development
plan to the Airports Authority of
India (AAI) within six months.
The sources also said that once
the master plan is devised by September,
it has to be approved by AAI before
being implemented. On May 3, 2006,
GMR had taken over the management
of the Delhi airport from AAI.
- Financial Express
BMC to implement eco-housing
certification
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) plans to introduce 'Eco-Housing
Certification Programme' to regulate
the rapid and large scale housing
constructions in Greater Mumbai.
The programme also aims at promoting
environment friendly and energy
efficient housing projects in Greater
Mumbai
"BMC will partner with the
United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), International
Institute for Energy Conservation
(IIEC) led by Pune-based Science
and Technology Park (STP) to institutionalise
eco-housing practices," said
Additional Municipal Commissioner
(Projects), Manu Kumar Shrivastav.
The initiative is aimed at lessening
the burden on the city's infrastructure
and environment, he added.
The eco-friendly initiative includes
use of solar energy, rainwater harvesting,
segregation of garbage, vermiculture,
sewage processing units, water recycling
and tree plantation by the developers
and builders in their upcoming projects.
According to BMC sources, the eco-housing
system will save a lot of energy
and ensure minimal usage of conventional
resources.
- Financial Express
Construction of Three Gorges
Dam completed
China completed construction of
the world's largest dam on May 20,
2006, in Three Gorges area, central
China's Hubei Province, signifying
a milestone accomplishment of the
mammoth Three Gorges water control
project that aims to tame the flood-prone
Yangtze, the nation's longest river.
The concrete placement of the dam's
main section was completed 10 months
ahead of schedule, which will enable
the dam to start its role in power
generation, flood control and shipping
improvement in 2008, one year ahead
of designated time.
After the cofferdam is demolished
on June 6, the dam's main wall,
often compared to the Great Wall
in its scale, will formally begin
to hold water, protecting 15 million
people and 1.5 million hectares
of farm land downstream from flooding,
which had haunted the Yangtze River
valley for thousands of years. Upon
the demolition, a new landscape
featuring a reservoir with a serene
water surface behind the spectacular
dam will gradually come into being
along with planned rises of the
water level.
The Three Gorges, which consist
of Qutang, Wuxia and Xiling Gorges,
extend for about 200 km on the upper
and middle reaches of the Yangtze.
They have become a popular world-class
tourist destination noted for beautiful
natural landscapes and a great number
of historical and cultural relics.
This section of the Yangtze has
a narrow river course which is inconvenient
for shipping but boasts abundant
hydroelectric resources.
Pu Haiqing, deputy director of
the State Council, Three Gorges
Project Construction Committee,
said the project manifests that
a dream comes true and the philosophical
thinking and wisdom of the Chinese
people in following the law of nature
and making use of it for the benefit
of the people. He said the completion
of the dam of Three Gorges Project
marks a phased victory, for there
remains great deal of work ahead,
including resettlement and environmental
protection.
The Three Gorges project was initially
envisaged in 1918 by Sun Yat-sen,
the forerunner of China's democratic
revolution. It had undergone protracted
debates and researches for around
half a century before it was finally
approved in 1992 by the National
People's Congress, China's top legislature.
It is designed to control floods,
to generate clean energy and to
benefit shipping, with flood control
as its major objective.
The project, the world's largest
water control project, recruited
26,000 people, including professionals
and specialists from 50-odd countries
and regions, at the peak of its
construction. It is also, the world's
largest hydroelectric project, boasting
a total electricity generating capacity
of 22.4 million kilowatt.
The project's main dam, which is
2,309-m long and 185-m high above
sea level, involved concrete placement
of 16 million m3, smashing the 12.57-million
m3 record set by the Itaipu Hydropower
Station on the border of Brazil
and Paraguay.
More than 1 million people have
been moved to pave way for the project,
and most of them have been resettled.
- Xinhua online
New titles from ACI
The American Concrete Institute
(ACI) has published three new titles
recently.
Epoxy injection in construction
The first publication is titled,
'Epoxy Injection in Construction'.
This publication presents the science
and art responsible for the successful
injection of concrete. The expanded
edition includes updated information
on the technology and best practices
of epoxy injection; reflections
on improvements in methods, equipment,
and chemistry; new information on
the role of the owners' representative
in the injection project; and more
than 100 photographs and illustrations.
The price of the publication is
US$ 105.00.
ACI detailing manual
The second publication is titled
'ACI Detailing Manual'. It provides
answers to many detailing questions
asked by design engineers, architects,
contractors, detailers, and engineering
students. The book is divided into
three sections and includes ACI
documents: '315-99: Details and
Detailing of Concrete Reinforcement'
and '315R-04: Manual of Engineering
and Placing Drawings for Reinforced
Concrete Structures', as well as
supporting reference data. The three
sections are:
- Section 1 defines responsibilities
for architects, engineers and
detailers and establishes standards
of practice for both structural
and placing drawings.
- Section 2 illustrates methods
for presenting necessary design
information through 50 oversized,
fold-out drawings of highway and
non-highway structures. Structural
drawings confirm to 'Building
Code Requirements for Structural
Concrete (ACI 318-02/318R-02)'
and all drawings were prepared
with the assistance of the Federal
Highway Administration, California
Department of Transportation,
and Concrete Reinforcing Steel
Institute.
- Section 3 includes supporting
reference data in specific chapters
on reinforcing bars, wires, bar
supports, spirals, mathematical
formulae and tables, and common
symbols and abbreviations.
The price of the publication is
US$ 144.50 (ACI members US$ 87.00).
Guide for structural concrete
reinforced with FRP bars
The third publication is titled
'440.1R-06: Guide for the Design
and Construction of Structural Concrete
Reinforced with FRP Bars - It offers
general information on the history
and use of FRP reinforcement, a
description of the unique material
properties of FRP, and guidelines
for the construction and design
of structural concrete members reinforced
with FRP bars. The guide is based
on the knowledge gained from worldwide
experimental research, analytical
work and field applications of FRP
reinforcement. The price of the
publications is US$ 63.50 (ACI members
US$ 39.00).
For more details, please contact:
American Concrete Institute
P.O. Box 9094
Farmington Hills,
MI 48333-9094
USA
Tel: +1-248-848-3800
E-mail: bkstore@concrete.org
Website: www.concrete.org
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