Page 30 - Infrastructure

US, Saudi Arabia, India discuss possible rail, port connectivity deal

The plans for a sweeping, multi-national ports and rail deal would come at a critical time. To counter China's Belt and Road global infrastructure push, Biden is pitching Washington

Uttarakhand assembly presents supplementary budget of Rs 11,321 crore

A supplementary budget of approximately Rs 11,321 crore for 2023-24 was tabled in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday, proposing the largest allocations for drinking water and infrastructure development projects in the state. This is the state's first supplementary budget for the current fiscal. The amount of Rs 11,321 crore includes approximately Rs 3,530 crore of revenue expenditure and Rs 7,791 crore of capital expenditure. Tabling the budget in the House, state finance minister Premchand Agarwal said as in the past this budget too makes provisions for projects dedicated to people's welfare. The highest allocation of Rs 765 crore has been made in the budget for the Jal Jeevan Mission followed by Rs 600 crore for infrastructure-related works, Rs 321 crore for strengthening of infrastructure under the housing and urban development department and Rs 156 crore for the acquisition of land for the construction of a ring road around Tehri lake. A budgetary provision of Rs 100 crore

G20 ministers reach consensus on definition of digital public infra: MoS IT

G20 Digital Economy Ministers have reached a consensus on the definition of digital public infrastructure, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday. The minister said that under India's Presidency, G20 Digital Economy Ministers reached a groundbreaking consensus on the manner in which digital public infrastructure (DPI) will shape the future. "This has been for the first time ever a global consensus and what ought to be the definition, the framework and the principles of Digital Public Infrastructure," Chandrasekhar said. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an intense digitalisation process in 2015 with the Digital India programme. "India has seen several DPIs that have been created. I can safely say that DPI conversations that are being held across the world and have been amplified in a sense by G20 conversations have gained momentum in the context of this Indian Presidency in the G20. "India is now a case study- a nation that has ..

Delhi should have robust infra for hosting grand events like G20: LG Saxena

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Saturday said the national capital's infrastructure should be such that grand events like the G20 Summit can be hosted in a week's notice, and stressed that a lot of work was carried out in this regard in the last two months. In an interview to PTI, he appreciated the efforts and hard work of all the agencies and officials involved in the preparations, and shared that finishing touches will be given by Saturday evening. Saxena stressed that many permanent assets have been created for the city as part of the G20 Summit, and urged people to ensure that they are maintained and not vandalised. "We will focus on beautifying the entire city now," he said. Asked about the controversies which emerged in the run-up to the Summit with regard to the budget spent and the 'Shivling' shaped fountains, he said, "I do not want to go into the controversies." He also said many of the artefacts have been given under CSR initiatives and not much expenditure ha

Gati shakti framework could unsnarl India's infrastructure bottlenecks

Capability-building measures under Gati Shakti framework could address existing challenges

JNPA eyes top spot in container volumes amid Gati Shakti boosted revamp

'One of India's busiest container ports, JNPA is expected to reclaim its top position in handling container volumes'

Anurag Thakur unveils infrastructure projects worth Rs 13 cr at NIS Patiala

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Thakur graced the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in Patiala

PM Gati Shakti: Infra projects worth Rs 5.89 trn recommended for approval

As many as 100 big ticket infrastructure projects of different ministries worth Rs 5.89 lakh crore have been recommended for approval under the PM Gati Shakti initiative so far this fiscal, a senior official said on Monday. These projects have been recommended by the Network Planning Group (NPG) constituted under the PM Gati Shakti initiative launched in October 2021. The NPG has achieved the milestone of appraising 100 projects in 54 meetings, Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary (Logistics), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, said. The inter-ministerial NPG meets every fortnight and appraises infra projects to ensure multi-modality, synchronisation of efforts, and comprehensive development in and around the project location. The initiative was launched to develop an integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. All logistics and connectivity infrastructure projects, entailing investments of over Rs 500 crore are routed through the NPG. The NPG's approval

India taking lead in using space tech to boost development: Jitendra Singh

Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh asserted on Monday that India has taken a quantum leap in space technology under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and has taken the lead in using it for aiding infrastructure and development works as well. With the country waiting with bated breath for Chandrayaan-3's scheduled touchdown on the lunar surface on Wednesday, Singh expressed confidence about its success and added that India will launch its first preliminary mission later this year in the run-up to its manned Gaganyaan mission, expected in the second half of 2024. Before the manned mission, there will be two unmanned missions, including one with a robot, he told reporters here. Noting the nationwide excitement about the moon mission, he said the Modi government has unlocked the space sector and raised awareness about India's space technology like never before. To a question about the failure of Russia's lunar mission, he said it had used a different route and ...

DMRC, NBCC to work together in infrastructure development in India, abroad

The DMRC and public sector undertaking NBCC have joined hands to work together in the field of infrastructure development in India and abroad, officials said on Monday. This was announced by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in a post on X. "A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between DMRC and NBCC (India) Limited to work together in the field of infrastructure development in India and abroad," it posted.

NHAI, GAIL join forces to simplify infrastructure expansion process

MoU signed to expedite crossing permissions, resolve disputes

Huge challenge upon us, need year to rebuild infrastructure: CM Sukhu

Himachal Pradesh will take a year to rebuild the infrastructure wrecked by the heavy rains this monsoon but the state is up to themountain-like challenge, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday. In an interview with PTI, he said the estimated damage in the two devastating spells of heavy rain this week and in July is about Rs 10,000 crore. Rains this week triggered landslides across the state, blocking roads and bringing down houses. About 60 people are dead, and more feared buried under the rubble. The chief minister said it takes time to rebuild roads and water projects. But the government is speeding up the process. We have to get the infrastructure fully restored within a year. I am working with this in mind. It's a big challenge, a mountain-like challenge. But we are not going to back away, he said. The state government will continue with its vision to make Himachal Pradesh self-reliant in four years and the country's most prosperous state in 10 years.But

Corruption in infra projects taking nation on 'highway to hell': Cong

The Congress on Tuesday cited a Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) of India report on the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' highway projects to accuse the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of corruption and said it is "taking the nation on a highway to hell". The opposition party also asked if Modi will take responsibility for the "incompetence and corruption in the Bharatmala projects under his direct watch". Citing the CAG report, Kharge said Modi should look within before harping on corruption by his political opponents. "BJP's corruption and loot is (are) taking the nation on a highway to hell," Kharge said on X, formerly Twitter. In a scathing report against the Modi government, he said, the CAG has pointed out that the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' is being built with "innumerable deficiencies, non-compliance of outcome parameters, clear violation of tender bidding process and huge funding mismanagement". Kharge said the CAG has exposed that the "cost of this project was originally

Indus Towers' macro tower installations grow by 6.3% to reach 200,000 units

Telecom infrastructure major Indus Towers on Friday said its macro tower installations grew by 6.3 per cent year-on-year to achieve the milestone of 2 lakh units across all 22 telecom circles in India as of date. The company had reported an installed tower base of 1,98,284 at the end of the June 2023 quarter. "Indus Towers Limited, India's largest telecom tower company and one of the largest in the world, announces reaching a milestone of 200,000 macro towers spread across all 22 telecom circles in India as on date," the company said in a statement. Macro towers are used for providing mobile phone coverage to large areas. "As operators accelerate their 5G rollouts and drive network expansion, Indus Towers is actively matching their pace to seize the burgeoning growth opportunities and establish enduring value for the long term with sustainability at its core," Indus Towers MD and CEO Prachur Sah said. The company shared that macro towers installation grew at the rate of 6.3 per ce

Railways aim to save 200k litres diesel a day by electrifying pit lines

A senior government official said that the railways will substitute fossil fuels with grid electrification at all 411 maintenance pits by December 2023

Bringing Gati and Shakti to development

The planning of the ambitious energy corridor of Indian Railways, for instance, has been done completely on the Gati Shakti principles

Modi government significantly enhancing border infrastructure: S Jaishankar

The Modi government has significantly enhanced border infrastructure in the last nine years, including along the frontier with China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday. In an interaction with a group of journalists, he said infrastructure push along the Northern border is going to determine India's response to national security challenges. Jaishankar said India is boosting connectivity with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The external affairs minister said India is in talks with Bhutan for a rail link between that country and Assam.

Centre suggests public servants to use Gati Shakti approach to plan infra

The centre has suggested public servants in states to use PM Gati Shakti approach for planning modern infrastructure specially in districts, an official statement said on Saturday. The approach and use of the PM Gati Shakti was discussed during a web-based seminar hosted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on August 4. Secretary, DPIIT, Rajesh Kumar Singh laid emphasis on crucial need for the administrators and public servants to understand the concept and uses of PM Gati Shakti approach in building world class infrastructure for the country. More than 250 participants with senior most officers from 27 Central Training Institutes (CTIs) and about 34 State Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) participated in the webinar. "Detail Route Survey done by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas used to take 6-9 months to prepare 46 reports. However, with the NMP through electronic Detailed Route Survey (eDRS), the reports are now created in a few

DPIIT hosts Vietnamese delegation to promote bilateral cooperation in Infra

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has hosted a delegation from Vietnam to promote bilateral cooperation in the infrastructure and logistics sector, an official statement said on Wednesday. The five-day visit of the delegation from July 31 to August 4 is a follow-up to an Indian delegation's visit in March. Around 80 participants, including Vietnamese delegates from various logistics and supply chain companies and associations, had fruitful discussions on both days, the DPIIT said. A direct shipping route between India and Vietnam is a potential area of interest for both sides, it said, adding, investment opportunities in industrial parks and greenfield industrial smart cities such as Dholera Special Investment Region can be explored by Vietnamese businesses. "Investment opportunities in modernisation and monetisation of infrastructure at 85 locations in Tier-I and Tier-II cities under public-private partnership mode, could be explored by the ...

SBI's infra bond response likely to lure lenders into tapping mkt: Bankers

Earlier in the day, the SBI accepted bids worth 100 billion rupees for 15-year bonds at a coupon of 7.54%