The Uttar Pradesh government is expecting over 35 crore pilgrims to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, a significant increase from the 24 crore who attended the 2019 Kumbh Mela. The event, which will take place over 45 days, will feature extensive security and sanitation measures, as well as a digital component. The state government has allocated Rs 7,000 crore for the event.
In recent years, the twin demands of both religion and defence have been added to the development argument to sweep aside environmental and terrain considerations while undertaking infrastructure development in the Himalayan zone, points out former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Gadkari said the NHAI was working on setting up an InvIT to monetise its projects for mobilising resources through capital markets.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday favoured giving a majority 51 per cent stake to foreign partners in joint ventures for building tunnels and detailed project reports to improve work quality. Gadkari said providing a majority stake to a foreign partner in the joint venture is necessary to ensure that only serious and technically qualified players bid for tunnel projects.
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Thursday admitted that the 'feel good' factor in Indian economy is yet to spread to the farming sector.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday said it has asked Manipur government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation each within four weeks to the next of kin of all the people who died in ethnic clashes since May.
'... that it once again shies away from renewing its commitment to strategic divestment,' points out A K Bhattacharya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party as an 'aapda' (disaster) for Delhi, saying this 'aapda' had taken the national capital in its grip in the past 10 years.
A farmers' protest against three farm laws of the Centre, which was continuing on a national highway in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district since December 19 last year, has come to an end with the protesters alleging use of force by police.
"These are simple rules, but their observance makes a lot of difference to our daily lives," he said.
The time taken in land acquisition has been drastically brought down to 12 months from 24 months earlier.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi S Dhavan and Justice Shashank Kumar Singh was hearing a PIL filed by an advocate, M P Gupta, alleging that the future of the Golden Quadrilateral Project was in danger.
The earthquake rocked many parts of Thailand including its capital Bangkok, the venue for next week's summit of BIMSTEC regional grouping that is scheduled to be attended by Modi among other leaders.
The assailants believed to be Pakistani terrorists, meticulously studied the site layout before executing their plan.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company Reliance Energy Ltd on Thursday announced it has bagged three road projects valued at Rs 2,320 crore (Rs 23.2 billion) from National Highways Authority of India.
The prime minister, who is on a two-day visit to the state, inaugurated, laid the foundation stone of and dedicated to the nation, railway and metro projects in the state worth Rs 4,500 crore.
"We have received various representations over the new eligibility criteria which enables foreign bidders to score higher than Indian bidders. This, in the long run, may lead to a major chunk of infrastructure projects being bagged by foreign companies. To ensure a level playing field, we are considering whether an additional weight of 30 to 33 per cent should be given for projects developed or constructed in India," a senior government source said.
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.
The Golden Quadrilateral project connecting the four metros -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkota and Chennai would be completed by the end of 2004, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and National Highways Shripad Naik said.
"My aim is to make Maharashtra the world's big financial powerhouse and to make Mumbai a global fintech capital," he said.
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.
It was the summer of 2006 (May 18). Writers' Building, then the state secretariat, was buzzing with journalists. The event marked the start of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's second term as chief minister. And in style, it got off with West Bengal bagging the small car plant, Nano.
After the Ladakh fiasco where Xi Jinping did not expect the Indian Army to resist his land-grabbing tactics, he has to save face before his colleagues in the Communist party.' To bring the threat of a mega-dam to the northern Indian border is a clever move, observes Claude Arpi.
The move, if accepted, will help resolve nearly one-third of the 1,200 cases on payments pending in various courts in the country.
If it was Andhra Pradesh last Budget, it's poll-bound Bihar that has now turned to Centre with a list of demands. How the NDA government is delivering on promises.
Five people were killed and about 50 missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads, officials said on Thursday.
While activity in the highway segment has been slow, the bid pipeline saw recovery in January 2024, and awards are expected to improve in Q4FY24. The national highway (NH) bid pipeline has recovered from a low of Rs 15,900 crore in December 2023 to Rs 68,400 crore at present. The NHAI's pipeline stands at Rs 66,100 crore, with hybrid annuity model (HAM), build operate transfer (BOT) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) projects accounting for 60 per cent, 29 per cent and 13 per cent share, respectively.
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
The development of the Rih-Tiddim road and establishment of numerous rural "haat" (flee markets) along the Mizoram-Myanmar border would also increase the trade volume, Modi said while addressing a public meeting at the Assam Rifles ground here after inaugurating the 60-MW Tuirial hydro-electric power project.
There were no potholes on the road where cricketer Rishabh Pant's car met with a near-fatal accident, a National Highways Authority of India official said on Monday.
Locals hold gradual land subsidence responsible for the fissures and attribute it to the widening of the national highway, violation of norms in construction works related to mandi parishad, erosion caused by the Pindar river and unsystematic flushing out of rainwater.
The highest ever average daily construction rate of 130 km has been achieved for rural roads
Land acquisition costs have gone up to almost 50% of total project cost.
Mann said blocking roads by holding sit-ins had become a "trend" during the past few days, taking on the farmers' unions virtually head-on in an uncommon thing for any chief minister of the agrarian state.
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.
The move is part of a larger initiative by the government to speed up work in the highway sector.
PM to launch works on Zojila tunnel, other infrastructure projects.
'The size of the investments is important, but equally crucial is the number of jobs that these proposals create.'
Delhi's air quality plummeted to alarming levels on Tuesday after 24 days, with many areas witnessing a significant spike in pollution despite the strictest measures, including a ban on construction activities and the entry of trucks into the city, coming into force.
Schemes like the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana strain fiscal resources amid rising unemployment and prices of food items.
