Accelerated development of highways will be taken up with 2,500 km access controlled highways and 9,000 km of economic corridor. In addition, there will be 2,000 km each of strategic highway projects and port connectivity projects, she said.
India can become the number one automotive manufacturing hub in the world within five years, but auto companies need to enhance safety features to reduce deaths due to road accidents, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday. In his inaugural address at the Auto Expo 2023 here, the minister for road transport and highways asserted that the government's target is to reduce these accidents by 50 per cent before the end of 2024 while asking the auto industry to take suo moto action for road safety as the government doesn't want to make anything mandatory. Gadkari's sentiments were also echoed by Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey, who lamented that while India has only 1 per cent of the total overall vehicles, the country accounts for 11 per cent of the total global deaths due to road accidents.
Work is also progressing on 17 strategic highway-cum-airstrips, three of which have been completed, he said. Besides, work is on in full swing on the Rs 12,000 crore ambitious Chardham project for providing all-weather connectivity to Gangotri, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Badrinath.
The government on Friday extended the validity of motor vehicle documents like driving licence (DL), registration certificate (RC) and permits till June 30, 2021, in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In an advisory to states, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said it is extending the validity of fitness, permit, driving licence, registration and other documents whose extension of validity could not be granted due to lockdown and which had expired since February 1, 2020, or would expire by March 31, 2021. It had earlier issued advisories dated March 30, 2020, June 9, 2020, August 24, 2020, and December 27, 2020, in connection with extension of validity of documents related to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
Only a few thousand chargers dot the Indian landscape, some in working condition, others not, with some held hostage to the power supply vagaries of local utilities, reports S Dinakar.
'I would put my hand in the ground and have a little listen to what the mountain was doing.' 'Actually, it was still collapsing.' 'And there was a very real possibility that at some stage, without warning, the collapse could continue -- and continue across us, the people who were doing the rescue and also across to the men on the other side, who were being rescued.'
India's incumbent two-wheeler players, led by TVS Motors, are flexing their muscles, having crossed the registration of 10,000 electric two-wheelers for the first time in November this year, according to data from Vahan, the website of the ministry of road transport and highways. The two key incumbent players, TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto, now account for around 15 per cent share of registrations in the month of November. The number will only go up with Hero MotoCorp now joining the bandwagon with its Vida range of electric scooters.
A Bolero car still could not be traced, he added.
In light of the recent incidents involving scooters from prominent electric mobility brands bursting into flames, the subject of electric vehicle (EV) safety has come under the spotlight. As many as 20 electric scooters of Nashik-based Jitendra EV Tech caught fire after being loaded on a transport container. While no one has been reported injured, the company said it is conducting an investigation to find the 'root cause' of the fire.
'I've never seen such cooperation before. Problem solving. Everyone working together. And truthful.' 'Someone from the prime minister's office was there the entire time, at the table, one of the team.' 'Now you have to figure out how to get them out. And I'm just gonna sit here patiently.' 'But if you annoy me, I could actually ruin the whole game for you and for the people in here, which is the avalanche'.
At least 12 passengers were killed and two others missing after a Maharashtra state transport bus fell into the Narmada river from a bridge in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Monday, officials said.
As most victims' bodies were charred beyond recognition, the authorities have decided to conduct DNA testing to identify them before handing them over to the relatives.
The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that China has made a huge build-up in the Tibet region and the Army needs broader roads to move heavy vehicles up to the India-China border to avoid a 1962 war-like situation.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday pitched for formulating a policy for using the Reserve Bank of India's rising foreign exchange reserves for funding road projects, saying the country needs low cost finance for such infrastructure projects. Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should also have a financial arm like the power ministry's Power Finance Corporation (PFC). "We have a surplus of dollar reserves in the country. I have decided to talk with the RBI Governor, about how we can formulate a policy by which we can use this foreign exchange reserves for development of infrastructure in the country," he said.
Electric scooters suddenly catching fire has become a cause for concern of late.
'What's happening in Gaza is another ethnic cleansing, a repeat of what happened in 1948.' 'That is why people do not want to evacuate. Either you evacuate or you die.'
A railway official said a train has been booked for the Dussehra rally from Nanded city in central Maharashtra.
Gadkari said the NHAI was working on setting up an InvIT to monetise its projects for mobilising resources through capital markets.
Subsidies have been stopped for several manufacturers that are under investigation for alleged violations of local-sourcing rules.
The dismissal of the five --most of whom have cases registered against them for terror activities -- was ordered under Article 311 of the Indian Constitution.
Bringing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single nation-wide GST regime will reduce taxes on these products and increase the revenue of both the Centre and states, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will definitely try to bring petrol and diesel under GST if she gets the support of the state governments, said Gadkari while addressing the Times Now Summit virtually. "In the GST Council, finance ministers of states are also members.
The tunnel would reduce the travel time to the Ladakh region by 15-20 per cent and would come up close to the Atal tunnel near Rohtang Pass, reports Megha Manchanda.
A lesson we have not learnt from China is the urgent need to knit the vast country together to keep it from falling apart at the seams. While there is considerable dent in poverty, sadly, the North East remains as distant today as it always was, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
With just a month left in this financial year, electric two-wheeler sales, so far, are at just 62 per cent of the ambitious target of 1 million units set for 2022-23 by the NITI Aayog. According to VAHAN data, compiled by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), 620,006 units of electric two-wheelers were sold across the country in FY23 until February 21. Though the industry may miss the 1-million target, sales in FY23 are already up 146 per cent from 249,621 units sold in FY22.
The ministry of road transport and highways on Monday launched a modified e-rickshaw based on the new rules notified through amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act.
"There were discussions and the ministry had received suggestions that petrol-diesel vehicles should be banned. I would like to clarify that the government does not intend to ban petrol and diesel vehicles. We are not going to do anything like that," Gadkari said, addressing a gathering at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) annual convention, 2019.
India tops the world with 11% of global deaths in road accidents while we have only 1% of the world's vehicles.
The minister said that the priority for him will be "rolling out all stuck highway projects that include many of the IL&FS projects within 100 days".
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has given firm assurances at a meeting held in Delhi of acting on his request for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the 'firing by Assam Police' along the states' border.
England has been blanketed in snow, plunging Britain's transport network into chaos with crashed cars, grounded planes and cancelled trains. Police forces and highway agencies across the United Kingdom have urged people not to travel unless 'absolutely necessary' as they deal with surging calls, while all trains have been suspended out of London Euston.
The ministry also wants to extend support to states through a special provision from the proposed Rs 25,000 crore fund for electric bus and personal rapid transport initiatives.
Global investors have cited the ongoing war and high valuations of Indian equity markets as a reason to skip the IPO.
Asserting that India has full potential to emerge as a global hub for electric vehicles by 2025, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday asked automobile manufacturers to reduce cost and forego profit initially to capture market and fuel growth. Once the market picks up there will not be any looking back, Road Transport and Highways and MSMEs Minister Gadkari said, promising all support to manufacturers in the initiative aimed at cutting India's huge import costs of crude and arresting pollution. The minister said he is scheduled to make an hour-long presentation on EVs before the Chief Justice of India post-Diwali.
These notes can be used at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds, petrol pumps, metro rail tickets, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills and ASI monument entry tickets. Highway toll has been scrapped till November 14.
A man was shot dead in police firing in Telangana's Secunderabad, trains went up in flames, and public and private vehicles attacked, as railway stations and highways turned into battleground in many states on Friday amid burgeoning protests against Agnipath, the contentious defence recruitment scheme.
Gadkari said, infrastructure sector including highways, airports, inland waterways, railways, logistic parks, broad gauge and metro, apart from MSMEs can attract large scale foreign investment.
Mumbai Police have seized "high quality" charas worth Rs 14.44 crore, which was brought from Kashmir in a car, and arrested a man, his wife, daughter and one other person in this connection, an official said on Tuesday.
Terming infrastructure as the "backbone" of any nation's development, Goyal while presenting the interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha said India aspires to be a USD 10 trillion economy in the next eight years, and on the anvil is next generation infrastructure of roads, railways, seaports, airports, urban transport, gas and electric transmission and inland waterways.
"Extremely proud of our young cricketers. Congratulations to the Indian team for winning the ICC U19 World Cup. They have shown great fortitude through the tournament. Their stellar performance at the highest level shows that the future of Indian cricket is in safe and able hands," Modi tweeted on Sunday.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the media needs to remain vigilant and flag shortcomings of the government with a view to improve the effectiveness of governance.