Page 4 - Road Transport

Road connecting Mizoram with Myanmar to be completed by Nov: Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said a cross-border road under the ambitious Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) to link south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district with Myanmar's Sittwe port will be completed by November this year. Addressing a rally at West Phaileng in Dampa assembly constituency in west Mizoram's Mamit district bordering Bangladesh, Gadkari said the 26-km road project costs Rs 1,132 crore. "The road under the Kaladan project will be completed by November and it will be helpful to connect Myanmar's Sittwe port," he said. Gadkari, the union road transport and highways minister, said that infrastructure and communication have to be developed to bring all-round development. "If the infrastructure is good, we get investment in industry and agriculture, by which we can create jobs. And by creating jobs we can eradicate poverty, which is the basic principle behind development," he said. Addressing the rally ahead of the November 7 Mizoram assembly poll

Road logistics industry anticipates favourable demand in FY2024: ICRA

Rating agency ICRA on Wednesday said that it anticipates a favourable demand scenario for the road logistics sector in FY2024, aided by stable domestic consumption and investment demand. It said the industry's revenue growth is pegged at 6-9 per cent in FY2024 on an elevated base of FY2023, driven primarily by demand from varied segments like e-commerce, FMCG, retail, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial goods. "ICRA expects the outlook for the sector to remain stable," it said. According to ICRA, downside risks to the estimates remain from any material tapering of demand due to elevated inflation and interest rates and global supply-demand shifts impacting the Indian economic scenario. The industry debt coverage metrics are expected to ease marginally in FY2024 compared to the FY2023 levels with a likely contraction in operating margins because of inflationary input cost pressures, primarily elevated crude oil prices and debt-funded capital expenditure for vehicle replacemen

India, US eyeing collaboration in batteries, minerals: Advisor to PM

Amid the quest for energy transition and ambitious net zero goals, India and the US are looking to collaborate in the fields of battery technologies and critical minerals, said Tarun Kapoor, the special advisor to the Prime Minister.He was speaking at the 20th Indo-US Economic Summit, organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC).The theme of this year's summit is 'Sharing ideas & potential for a substantial partnership between India and the US for the next 25 years'.Addressing a session on infrastructure, road transport and highways, he noted that both countries are already collaborating to set up funds for renewable energy, and are also working on payment security mechanisms for electric buses."We have a good scope of collaboration even further in terms of getting more investments into the country, partnerships between companies in India and US companies particularly considering the technology play which is happing all over the world," he said."Batteries and ...

Hurdles in biofuel use: Few vehicles, weak ethanol-blended petrol rollout

Last week, Union Ministers had called for quick adoption of biofuels in the transportation sector

Centre will not make six airbags mandatory for cars: Nitin Gadkari

No deadline for BS7 implementation but industry should make the transition

Gadkari inaugurates multi-level flyover in Pune, pitches for skybus service

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways on Saturday inaugurated a multi-level flyover built at Chandni Chowk in Maharashtra's Pune and said it will address traffic congestion in the city. He also pitched for skybus services here. While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was not present at the event, deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar attended the inauguration. The main issue of traffic congestion in Pune will be resolved as the bridge constructed here at Chandni Chowk has a total length of 16.98 km. An amount of Rs 865 crore has been spent on this project and now the work on the 2.2-km-long Chandni Chowk interchange has also been completed, Gadkari said. The internal and external service roads have been aligned with Mumbai-Banglore National Highway, he said. The Union minister also suggested that the state government develop skybus services in Pune, saying roads in the city have little scope for expansion. I advise Ajit Pawar and Chandrakant Patil (higher and technical ..

Telangana Guv seeks clarity on bill to absorb RTC staff as govt employees

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday sought clarifications from the BRS government on a draft bill meant for absorption of state Road Transport Corporation employees into government service. Amid concerns expressed by the TSRTC staff that the bill should be passed in the ongoing assembly session, she assured them of safeguarding their interests. The state government recently decided to recognise the employees of the state-run corporation as government staff and proposed to table the bill in the assembly. The Raj Bhavan on Friday had said it received the draft bill on August 2, and the Governor needed some more time to examine it. On Saturday morning, sections of RTC employees held a strike for a couple of hours and took out a demonstration to the Raj Bhavan demanding the Governor permit the state government to introduce the bill in the assembly. Subsequently, the Governor (who was out of station) invited representatives of the employees to Raj Bhavan and addresse

Maha CM Shinde announces Rs 500 cr for concretisation of bus stands

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation will be given Rs 500 crore for concretisation of its bus stands, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced on Wednesday. Speaking at a function here to mark the 75th anniversary of the MSRTC, he said the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) will provide Rs 250 crore to the public transporter to make its bus stands pothole-free in the first phase. "(There will be a) Complete concretisation of bus stand flooring. Not a single dust particle should be visible," Shinde said, while also stating that MSRTC must provide clean toilets on bus stands. "There are potholes on bus stands. Water and mud accumulate in potholes and passengers face a lot of trouble," he said. Shekhar Channe, vice chairman and managing director of MSRTC, told PTI that the corporation has around 580 bus stands across the state and the funds will be used mainly to concretise these stands. The corporation has already submitted a proposal to the Industries

Ganga expressway in UP likely to open for the public before schedule

"The expressway is a dream project of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and no slackness would be tolerated in its construction," he said during a meeting to review its progress

NCRTC to build dedicated pedestrian bridge at Anand Vihar RAPIDX Station

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will build a dedicated pedestrian bridge at Anand Vihar RAPIDX Station of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor, officials said on Thursday. Two separate bridges are also being constructed for segregated entry and exit of vehicles, they said. The bridges are being constructed by the NCRTC over the Ghazipur drain passing between Anand Vihar RAPIDX station and Chaudhary Charan Singh Marg. Among the three bridges, the bridge on the right will be used for vehicular entry to the Anand Vihar RAPIDX station, while the bridge on the left will be used as the vehicular exit. The one on the middle will be used only by pedestrians for movement inside the station premises. The bridge being constructed for the entry of vehicles into the Anand Vihar RAPIDX station is about 10 metres wide, NCRTC officials said. "Taxis and private vehicles will be able to enter the premises from this entrance bridge and drop passengers at the station gat

Transport sector accounts for 40% of pollution, need greener fuel: Gadkari

Addressing the GH2 summit in Mumbai, the minister urged the industry to develop greener fuel alternatives to tackle the problem

Public transport tech firm Chalo raises $45 million, to expand globally

The funding would help the firm to expand its presence in international markets after its successful entry into South-East Asia

Anurag Jain appointed Road Transport Secretary as part of top level rejig

Senior IAS officer Anurag Jain has been appointed as Road, Transport and Highways Secretary as part of a top level bureaucratic reshuffle effected on Thursday by the Centre. Jain, a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, is currently Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. He succeeds Alka Upadhyaya, who has been appointment Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, according to a Personnel Ministry order. Upadhyaya has been appointed in place of Rajesh Kumar Singh, who is now Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in place of Jain. Saurabh Garg, Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will be Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment. Garg, a 1991-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed in place of Anjali Bhawra, who will now serve as Secretary, ...

Road Ministry targets construction of 12,500 km of highways in FY24

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has put plans in place to maintain the pace of highway development and construct 12,500 km of highways in the current financial year, a senior official on Wednesday said. Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary, MoRTH, said Rs 10,000 crore is planned to be raised through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) mode in FY 2023-24. "MoRTH has put plans in place to maintain the pace of highway development, with a strong pipeline of projects across the country. "For 2023-24, MoRTH has taken up targets to award 12,000 km and construct 12,500 km of highways in the country," she told PTI. The road transport and highways ministry is yet to declare data on the construction and award of highway projects for 2022-23. The ministry has constructed 10,237 kilometres in 2019-20, 13,327 kilometres in 2020-21 and 10,457 kilometres in 2021-22. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Lt

Gadkari meets state, UT transport ministers to discuss concurrent policy

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday chaired a meeting of transport ministers from all states and Union Territories (UTs) to discuss various concurrent policy matters, including review of road traffic regulations, setting up vehicle fitness stations and streamlining the issuance of driving licenses. Gadkari, in a tweet, said that with mutual consultation and cooperation with the transport minister of states and UTs, a range of innovative solutions were discussed. Keeping up with technological advancements, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has taken several measures with a view to develop future-ready road transport in India, with safety and sustainability being the key driver of all such measures, an official statement said.

Ukraine, EU extend deal on road transport liberalisation till June 2024

Ukraine and the European Union (EU) have extended a deal on road transport liberalisation for one year till June 30, 2024, the Ukrainian government press service has reported

Free travel in roadways buses for women in Rajasthan from midnight today

Women in Rajasthan will not have to pay fare for travelling in roadways buses in Rajasthan from Tuesday night. This benefit of free travel will be available for the whole day on Wednesday

Road transport and highways sector has maximum delayed projects: Report

The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 460, followed by railways at 117 and the petroleum industry at 90, showed a government report. In the road transport and highways sector, 460 out of 749 projects are delayed. In railways, out of 173 projects, 117 are delayed, while in the petroleum sector, 90 out of 152 projects are running behind schedule, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for January 2023. The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD) is mandated to monitor central sector infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above based on the information provided on the Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) by the project implementing agencies. The IPMD comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The report showed that the Muneerabad-Mahaboobnagar rail project is the most delayed project. It is delayed by 276 months. The second-most delayed project is the ...

Section of Delhi-Mumbai expressway to open to commuters today: Officials

The 246-km Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will open to commuters from 8 am on Wednesday, officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the section, which is set to reduce the travel time from the national capital to Jaipur from five hours to around three and a half hours, on Sunday. "The expressway will be opened for the common people from Wednesday. The first toll plaza has been made near Nuh, where the car FASTag will be scanned... Basic facilities will be made available on the expressway soon," Mudit Garg, Project Director of NHAI, said on Tuesday. Those going from Delhi to Jaipur will have two alternative routes. Drivers will be able to reach Dausa in Rajasthan from Alipur in Sohna via Rajeev Chowk using the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, he said. The expressway was kick started in 2018, with the foundation stone being laid on March 9, 2019. It is expected to halve the commute time between Delhi and Mumbai from nearly 24 hours to 12 hours and

Gadkari unveils advanced drone air traffic management system 'Skye UTM'

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday unveiled Skye UTM, touted as the most cutting-edge unmanned traffic management system in the world