With the Union government clearing the way for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the railways, the Railway Board is devising a plan for operations, maintenance and construction projects.
Land ordinance has done away with consent and social impact assessment.
A tribunal consented with the decision of the newly constituted board of the IL&FS and observed that the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings was the best option for the two firms.
Greater public and private participation is required in sectors such as railways, ports and power as India looks at investing USD 1 trillion in infrastructure over the next five years, Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Ray said.
India was among the top-five economies with the largest general government capital stock level, said, in 2015, an International Monetary Fund report called "Making Public Investment More Efficient". The report fuelled a debate on countries sitting on piles of cash that could be used better. India was believed to have public assets worth $4.5 trillion. The report urged countries to start asset recycling. Six years after the report, Australia's success in asset recycling has turned India into a believer; despite doing averagely in its previous efforts on roads, railways or meeting its divestment targets.
Santosh Kamath, partner (infrastructure and government services), KPMG in India, expects an extension of a tax holiday for the sector.
7 key areas that the Budget must address to re-energise the infrastructure sector, suggests Vinayak Chatterjee.
These could include strengthening the public-private partnership (PPP) dispute resolution mechanism, uniform PPP institutional framework, easier terms for infrastructure companies accessing bond markets, and tax sops, Business Standard has learnt. Investment in infrastructure projects with high multiplier effect has been the Centre's main plank to revive the economy, create employment and boost consumption.
A host of factors including the reform measures taken by the government and decline in global oil and commodity prices have led to lower inflation, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Call it a craze, fever or national interest but HSR is our window to the outside world."
The ministry of railways has dropped its proposal for monetisation of stations on public-private partnership mode, and projects are now being taken up under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode, a source said. The source also told PTI that the ministry of railways has been asked to expedite monetisation of other assets, including trains, goodsheds, hill rail, stadiums, railway colonies and railway land parcels among others. "Largest asset class (stations) dropped. Stations earlier proposed on PPP mode are now being taken up under EPC mode," the source said.
E-commerce players may soon rent out drones, so you can use them the way you book a cab on an app, and test viable use-cases for last-mile delivery.
The prime minister had called ferry service his 'dream project' while addressing a gathering at Gandhinagar on Monday.
There is a huge opportunity for foreign investment in India as the government focuses on rapid infrastructure development in the country, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.
In a major initiative to pump prime the economy through public expenditure, the government has decided to inject a whopping Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) for funding infrastructure projects.
Delhi Metro, Yamuna-expressway and Tata Power's Mundra ultra mega power project in Gujarat are among the six ventures that have figured in the list of world's most innovative, impactful infrastructure projects prepared by international accounting firm KPMG.
A plan for projects to be awarded in the year 2010-11 is to be launched soon.
With buyers playing safe, projects such as Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway find it difficult to get new concessionaires
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has circulated a draft Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultations.
DIPP had proposed 100% FDI in Railways, which it had to now scale down to 74% in certain areas
The Shipping Ministry will award 30 port projects during the current financial year, which are likely to come up at an investment of about Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion).
The Finance Ministry on Thursday said the growth rate in the current financial year will accelerate to 5.8 per cent, better than previous estimates, saying the green shoots of economic recovery are now visible.
.jpg)
Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said the discussions at the day-long meet involved an overview of five models of participative policy, framework of engineering, procurement and construction contracts and sectoral guidelines for foreign and domestic investment.
'In Eastern Ladakh the Chinese attempted salami slicing.' 'Our response has been superb. Our military has responded magnificently.'
The changes in the ordinance have been made after taking inputs from states suggesting changes to the Act which would make it more industry-friendly
'Similar to the case of the digital payment system where the government created a public platform and others joined in, we are exploring a similar structure to create a PPP platform where the compute required for AI could be accessed by the small player.'
The new agri-infra fund, the duration of which will be 10 years till 2029, aims to provide medium-to-long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
The Election Commission (EC) has raised certain questions on the government's proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the construction and maintenance segments of the railways.
The Railway Budget has impressed industry watchers.
Private sector firms need to be re-engaged for better infra planning.
The railways, whose performance in public-private partnership projects has been dismal, will try five different models for inviting private sector participation for last-mile connectivity projects.
20 new industrial clusters will be developed in 2014-15.
SmartCity project is in advanced stage.
The Bengal CM said, The Narendra Modi government has created a situation in the entire country which is worse than Emergency.
Infrastructure Investment Trusts need to be listed on stock exchanges besides being subject to stringent disclosure norms including detailed provisions for related party transactions and valuation of assets.
President Pranab Mukherjee has given nod to re-promulgation of the controversial land ordinance, which could not be converted into law during the recently concluded Budget Session of Parliament, for the third time.
After launching expressway projects worth almost Rs 1 trillion, the Uttar Pradesh government is now betting big on the aviation sector to propel the state's economic growth. Air travel, comprising both business and leisure, is expected to give a fillip to the socioeconomic landscape by attracting fresh investment. It would also ramp up infrastructure and create jobs.
The public-private partnership model is a compulsion, says the minister.
Diwesh Sharan, a deputy director general of ADB, says beside the PPP model and viability gap funding, there is a 3rd option - value capture - to raise funds for India's ambitious infrastructure projects.
Stocks to watch: BHEL, L&T, IRB Infra and Suzlon
