The authorities also declared unsafe a mosque and a religious school for girls at Nai Basti village in Thathri, 35 kilometres from Doda town along the Kishtwar-Batote National Highway.
Public-sector banks, including Canara Bank and Bank of India, are tapping the infrastructure bond market. Canara Bank on Tuesday raised Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.40 per cent through 10-year infrastructure bonds. This comes after SBI on July 10 raised Rs 10,000 crore also through infrastructure bonds with a 15-year tenor at a coupon rate of 7.36 per cent.
Security forces in Manipur have launched a major crackdown on the banned People's Liberation Army (PLA) following an ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy. Fifteen cadres have been arrested, including suspects directly involved in the attack. Investigations are underway to determine if the PLA has political patronage and if weapons looted during ethnic clashes are being used against security forces.
23% increase for Highways: The allocation during the current year to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) has been stepped up by 23 per cent over the 2008-09 (BE).
The highway authority's annual toll earning for 2009-10 was in the range of Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) from 141 public-funded toll plazas in the country.
For the current financial year, NHAI will receive Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) as its share of road cess and its annuity payments are in the same range.
Security has been increased in Uttar Pradesh districts bordering Nepal following violent protests in Nepal over a ban on social media. Authorities are monitoring the situation and have increased patrols and surveillance.
China plans to build a new highway along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India as part of Beijing's efforts to strengthen its strategic position and project its power, a media report said on Wednesday.
The thrust will be on improving connectivity in economic corridors and remote and border areas with a view to hike trade and enable faster movement of cargo.
World Bank is expected to extend $2.5 billion loans to India this fiscal, which is lower than the targeted $3 billion annually during 2004-07.
The Centre's ambitious Rs 6-trillion National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) could fall short of yearly targets for the current fiscal year (FY22) and the next one as well (FY23), partly due to the long gestation period in monetising big-ticket railway infrastructure, Business Standard has learnt from sources in the finance and rail ministries. Officials say the major chunk of railway monetisation will happen from FY24 onwards because leasing some of the infrastructure, like stadiums and dedicated freight corridor, will not happen anytime soon. Rail infra is expected to be the second-biggest contributor to the NMP, with about Rs 1.52 trillion worth of assets to be monetised.
Protesters in West Bengal's Murshidabad district set fire to police vehicles and hurled stones during a demonstration against the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Jangipur area, where a large crowd had gathered demanding the withdrawal of the legislation. Police responded with lathi charges and tear gas to control the situation. Several people were detained and police personnel were injured in the stone-pelting. The West Bengal Police has said the situation is under control and strict action will be taken against those who resorted to violence.
After twice revising its deadline from the original December 2004 to the latest December 2006, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials say that till date it is only 94.4 per cent complete.
The corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just about 4 km from the international border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
NHAI to pull plug on Rs 3,000-crore ventures for poor show
The sector hit many roadblocks during 2014, as builders were seen shying away from the projects and investments dried up amid various regulatory, judicial and policy-related bottlenecks.
The agitating farmers had earlier said they would picket toll plazas to press their demand for a repeal of the three new laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.
MCA is a legal contract, which prescribes the terms and conditions for executing a road project.
Besides projects under the NHAI, the government earmarks funds for constructing roads, undertaken by various state government agencies and municipal corporations. Nath will be seeking Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) for this.
The Union finance ministry has endorsed the views of Gajendra Haldea, infrastructure advisor to the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, who had objected to recent changes in bidding norms by the National Highways Authority of India.
Government officials believe that central bridge projects perform better than state projects due to stricter checks and balances.
'Probably revised guidelines will come, and then the real picture will emerge.'
The Plan panel is against an NHAI proposal to increase the cost allocation of building each four-lane highway by 33 per cent.
NHAI has already initiated process to handle such emergency situation and also taking all possible measures to avoid such incidents in future, an official statement said on Sunday.
Inadequate funding and non-viability of some projects have forced several leading infrastructure development firms to stay out of bidding for over 13 highway projects worth over Rs 12,500 crore (Rs 125 billion).
The government began the selection process a year earlier and has twice gone through the process of short-listing candidates.
A report by a senior official in the Planning Commission has said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is heading towards bankruptcy, as its debt is set to increase five times in the next three years.
"I am shocked why it was not followed. This is even there in the manual of the Indian Road Congress. Had that been followed then there would have been no casualties. There have been gross violations," Maitra said.
To centralise process by setting up special units in each state.
Currently, roads are only entrusted with the authority which licences them to private developers who cannot provide such roads as security to avail loans from banks and other other institutions. Once the roads are vested with the NHAI, the authority can lease them to the developer who can securitise the property to raise money.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been under attack for delays in completion of its road projects as well as for poor corridor management.
At present, Road Secretary R S Gujral is handling the additional charge of NHAI chairman, the position which has been vacated by Brijeshwar Singh, for three months.
National Highways Authority of India is working on a proposal to scrap the 30 to 35 per cent premium on toll charged on highways that bypass cities.
The company, which is bidding for 16 road projects worth Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) this year from the National Highways Authority of India under the public-private-partnership model, intends to invest the money in the form of equity to set up special purpose vehicles to execute new road projects.
IHMCL implemented the FASTag electronic tolling of national highways, but due to technical glitches, road ministry is mulling the option of offering this job to a Korean company
