The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link (USBRL) project achieved a major milestone last week by breaking through T-14 tunnel between Sangaldan and Sawalkote stations on the Katra-Banihal section.
The breakthrough ceremony on tunnel was done by a woman employee, Indu Paul Kaur of Awantipora in Kashmir, an engineer in IRCON.
T-14 is a tunnel of length 6.284 km with two tubes — the main tunnel and the escape tunnel. The ends of the tunnel are located in two districts of Reasi and Ramban.
The tunnel has been constructed using NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) methodology, which is an observational and sequential construction method, said Shobhan Chaudhuri, general manager, Northern Railways.
The south portal of tunnel T-14 is located in Sawalkote village in Arnas tehsil, at a distance of 100 km from the district headquarters of Reasi, at an altitude of 1,070 m, while the north portal of the tunnel is located in Ind village of Gool tehsil in Ramban, at an altitude of 1,150 m, said a Northern Railway official.
The construction of the tunnel has been a challenge as both the tunnel portals were located in remotest villages with no road connectivity prior to the start of tunnel construction.
One-Of-Its Kind
The 272-km-long railway line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining the Kashmir valley with the Indian Railways network under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link (USBRL) project was sanctioned in 1994-95.
One of the most challenging works undertaken post-independence by Indian Railways, the project aims to provide an alternative and a reliable transportation system to Jammu and Kashmir.
In view of the importance of the USBRL project in providing seamless and hassle-free connectivity, it was declared as a “National Project” in 2002.
Out of the total length of 272 km, 161-km has already been commissioned and operationalized, across three sections — Udhampur-Katra (25 km), Banihal-Quazigund (18 km) and Quazigund-Baramulla section (118 km).
Katra-Banihal Section
The Katra-Banihal section is the most crucial section of the project as it involves 164 km tunneling across 27 number of tunnels — the maximum in the project.
With 87 per cent of the total length (97 km out of 111 km) in tunnels, this section presents an engineering challenge in the highly rugged and mountainous terrain with one of the most difficult and complex Himalayan geology.
The Katra-Banihal line is expected to be operationalised by January 2024.
Adani Power Ltd (APL), a part of the diversified Adani Group, on Sunday said that it has begun supplying electricity from its plant in Godda in Jharkhand to Bangladesh.
This comes in the backdrop of Adani Power commissioning the first 800 MW ultra-super-critical thermal power generation unit at Godda’s Motiya village, The plant has started with supplying 748 MW of power to Bangladesh, a company statement said.
Earlier in November 2017, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) – the state-owned entity that purchases electricity on behalf of the government signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with APL’s wholly-owned subsidiary Adani Power Jharkhand Ltd (APJL) to procure 1496 MW net capacity power from the 2×800 MW ultra-supercritical power project at Godda.
APL is expected to commission its second 800 MW unit soon, the company said.
The development assumes significance as the ports-to-power conglomerate is exploring options to reduce the impact of the damaging report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg, which caused a significant portion of its wealth to be obliterated earlier this year.
Godda Plant
It was during his visit to Bangladesh in 2015 that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to aid in the entry of Indian businesses into Bangladesh’s power generation, transmission, and distribution sector.
This was followed by two sides inking deals worth $4.5 billion for Indian government-run and private companies to sell electricity to Bangladesh.
This included a contract for Adani Power to build a $1.7 billion, 1,600-MW coal power plant in Godda in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, which would supply power to Bangladesh.
Strategic Significance
“The Godda Power Plant is a strategic asset in India and Bangladesh’s long-standing relationship. It will ease the power situation in Bangladesh, making its industries and ecosystem more competitive,” said S B Khyalia, CEO, APL.
The electricity supplied from Godda will significantly improve the situation in the neighbouring country as it will replace expensive power generated from liquid fuel, bringing down the average cost of power purchased.
Bangladesh has one of the largest liquid fuel-based power generation plants in the Indian sub-continent region. The installed capacity of heavy fuel oil (HFO)-based plants is about 6,329 MW and high-speed diesel (HSD)-based plants is about 1,290 MW, totaling to over 7,600 MW.
Coal Issues
The Godda plant was to commence power supply this March. However, the BPDP had asked for relief from escalating imported coal prices, which delayed the commercial opening of the plant.
The coal-based power plant will source coal from the Carmichael mine in Australia, owned and operated by Adani Mining.
According to a Business-Standard report, BPDB in February had sought for “temporary relief” in the cost of coal supplied for the plant, given the current high thermal-seaborne coal prices.
Conflicting information given by the BPDB and Adani Power about the price of coal for the plant has only deepened the controversy.
Bangladeshi media reported, citing BPDB officials, that Adani Power asked $400 per metric tonne of coal for the Godda plant, a whopping 60 percent more than the average $250 Bangladesh usually pays for imported coal for its other power plants in Payra, Banskhali or Rampal.
However, Adani group said that the coal price chargeable by it would be $139 per metric tonne in March, the first month of its supplies.
Though at present, Bangladesh has long-term PPA ties with three other imported coal-based generators, the total tariff of Godda plant is competitive compared to peers, it stated.
The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi has joined the league of the world’s ten busiest airports based on passenger traffic, as per Airports Council International (ACI).
In 2022, the airport handled approximately 5.95 crore passengers, earning it the ninth position on the global trade association’s ranking.
10 Busiest Airports
The list of top ten airports for total passenger traffic is dominated by the United States, with top four slots occupied by American airports.
The Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta retained its position as the world’s busiest airport, having handled 9.37 crore passengers last year. It was followed by Dallas Airport, Denver Airport, and Chicago O’Hare Airport.
Other airlines in the top-10 list include Dubai Airport at 5th rank, Istanbul Airport reaching 7th position followed by London Heathrow Airport, Delhi Airport, and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in the 8th, 9th, and 10th spots respectively.
The IGI airport in New Delhi clocked a footfall of 59,490,074 in 2022 and climbed from its past rankings of 13th and 17th in 2021 and 2019 respectively.
The Delhi airport is India’s largest and the only airport from South and Southeast Asia to feature in ACI’s list of the 10 busiest airports.
Chinese Absence
It’s important to highlight that none of the Chinese airports made it to the list because the country was under stringent pandemic-related restrictions until late 2022.
In the ACI list for 2022 (based on 2021 traffic numbers), 8 of the top 10 busiest airports in the world were in the United States, and the remaining two were in China, namely, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Southern China’s Guangdong province and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province,
However, with the relaxation of most of the curbs on international travel to and from China, its airports could potentially impact the rankings for 2024. China is currently the world’s second-largest aviation market, following the United States.
“The reopening of China, the second largest aviation market after the US, is now expected to bring an overall gain, both domestically and for international travel,” states ACI world director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira.
Skewed To Domestic Traffic
A discerning trend in this year’s ranking is the industry-wide dominance of domestic traffic.
All five American airports in the top-ten list of passenger handled have a significant domestic passenger share ranging between 75 per cent and 95 per cent and none of the US airports featured among the busiest airports by international passengers handled.
The same appears to be true for Delhi airport. Despite being ranked as the ninth busiest airport globally, the Delhi airport did not feature among the busiest airports by international passengers handled,
In essence, the airport’s improved ranking can be attributed largely to the resurgence of domestic passenger traffic in India.
Delhi is the home to the busiest Airport in India called the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI). It is the largest airport in our country, with over 950 flights departing each day. It comprises three Terminals with over 80 airlines operating out of them and is named after the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
Its entry in top-10 club coincides with the government’s vocal aspirations to establish India as a major aviation center with multiple hubs, and recognizes the crucial role that large airports like Delhi will play in achieving this goal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will visit Telangana this week, will lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the Secunderabad railway station, on 8 April.
The redevelopment is planned such that the station will undergo a massive makeover with world-class amenities and an aesthetically designed iconic station building, read a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Secunderabad Station
Secunderabad railway station is located in twin cities of Secunderabad-Hyderabad.
Opened on 9 Oct 1874, Secunderabad Railway station is a major railway station in the twin cities area and serves as the hub of South Central Railway (SCR) zone. It is also a commuter rail hub in the Hyderabad urban area.
It is the only NSG1 category station (non-suburban grade-1) on the zone, handling annually more than 20 million passengers.
Redevelopment
The upgradation work of Secunderabad railway station is being undertaken as part of “Major Upgradation of Railway Stations” by the Ministry of Railways at a cost of nearly Rs 720 crore.
The upgraded station will be able to cater to the needs of the rail passengers for the next 40 years.
Award of Contract
As part of the exercise, the SCR has undertaken upgradation of Secunderabad station and has awarded the contract to M/s. Girdharilal Construction Private Limited in October, 2022.
The project has been awarded in EPC mode and is targeted for completion within 36 months, which is, by October 2025.
Roadmap to Redevelopment
Under the redevelopment plan, a new three-storey station building encompassing 22,516 square metres will be constructed on the north side. The existing south-side building will be extended and developed with G+3 floors.
Top view of the station.Passageway for public and passengers.The two-storey sky concourse.
The project also involves building a 108-metre-wide, two-storey sky concourse with the first level for passengers and a rooftop plaza on the second level for the general public.
The redeveloped station would be having double-level spacious roof plaza with all passenger amenities at one place along with multimodal connectivity, for providing seamless transfer of passengers from rail to other modes among others.
A five-level parking structure has been planned for the station’s northern side.
On the south side of the station, a unique subterranean parking lot will also be built. There will be designated entry and exit lanes (drop off and pick up zones). This will guarantee easier vehicle movement for the departing guests.
Works Executed So Far
Preliminary works such as mapping and topographical survey, soil investigation, tree inventory, joint inventory of movable and immovable assets are completed
Shifting of materials and facilities completed to accommodate the redevelopment works
Construction of offices for contractors is in progress
Right of way, which is a legal right to enter and carry out the work, has been provided to the EPC contractor for carrying out the work
The upgradation works are being taken up in a phased manner and are being completed one by one, so that there is no major hindrance to the travelling public.
The upgradation work of the station is being monitored at every stage to ensure there is no delay in the execution of the overall project. The project is targeted to be completed by October 2025.
The first broad-gauge passenger railway service between India and Nepal has completed one year of operation and is running profitably, a media report has said.
The 35-kilometre railway extending from Kurtha, Nepal to Jaynagar, India, was virtually inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi from Hyderabad House, New Delhi, India on 2 April 2022.
It began full commercial operation from the next day and has been making two round trips between its two destinations every day.
“We were greatly anxious at the start,” Niranjan Kumar Jha, general manager of Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL), recounted his initial fears. “We were worried about whether we would get passengers or be able to make a profit”. “Thankfully, these worries proved futile and now, the number of passengers is increasing daily”.
He expressed happiness at being able to operate the train service successfully for a year and shared that the Railway Company’s focus now was on making themselves self-sufficient.
The Jaynagar-Kurtha section is part of the 68.72 km Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link, out of which 2.97 km is in India and 65.75 km is in Nepal.
Long History
The rail link between Nepal and India has been popular since the early 20 century.
In 1937, the British had built a narrow-gauge line named Nepal Janakpur Jaynagar Railway (NJJR) to ferry cargo, mainly timbers, from the then heavily forested areas of Janakpur in the Kingdom of Nepal to Jaynagar.
However, over time it became a popular passenger service before it was stopped in 2014 for conversion to broad gauge. By that time, the railway line used to cover 52 kilometre distance from Jaynagar to Bijalpura in Mahottari district in Nepal.
As part of this, New Delhi decided to construct a broad-gauge network between Jaynagar and Bardibas, including trains to operate on the link. Construction work on this project started in 2014 and the project work was expected to be completed by 2020.
As per the plan, the railway track for this project is being constructed in three phases.
Construction of the first phase of the project of 35-km that links Jaynagar and Janakpur/Kurtha was completed in 2019 and has been operational since April 2022.
While work on the second stretch of 17 km from Kurtha to Bijalpur is complete, for the remaining portion up to Bardibas, survey work is ongoing in the final segment.
The construction cost of Rs 784 crore for the entire stretch is being borne by India in the form of a grant to Nepal. This project is being undertaken by IRCON, a Public Sector Enterprise under Railways.
Jaynagar-Kurtha section
The passenger service between Jaynagar which is 4 Km from the Nepal border to Kurtha, has now connected the two countries via rail in addition to road and air links. It has also fulfilled a long-standing demand of the people on both sides of the border for resumption of cross border passenger train services.
The Jaynagar-Kurtha section consists of eight stations, Jaynagar in India, Inarwa (border station), Khajuri, Mahinathpur, Baidehi, Parwaha, Janakpur and Kurtha.
Jaynagar-Bijalpura Rail link
With the operation of Jaynagar-Janakpur section of the Nepal Railway, the religious tourism has received a boost as many people from India now have an opportunity to visit Janakpur which is 29 km from Jaynagar and happens to be the holiest among the holy places for the Hindu pilgrims of the world as Goddess Sita, wife of Lord Ram was born there.
In the Ramayan period in Treta Yuga some ten thousand years ago, Ram was married to Sita at Janakpur.
Ever since, each year hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit Janakpur to pay homage to Goddess Sita and Lord Ram. Thousands of people throng in Janakpur on the occasions of Vivahapanchami in mid-December to commemorate the wedding day of Goddess Sita and Lord Ram.
Jaynagar-Kurtha rail link is the first of its kind as it enabled tourist train to cover the Ramayana Circuit in India and Nepal.
Using the Jaynagar-Kurtha rail link, Shri Ramayana Yatra “Bharat Gaurav” Tourist Train with 500 tourists reached Janakpurdham on June 2022. The tourists visited Janaki temple for Darshan, witnessed a cultural program in the premises of Janaki Temple, participated in Ganga Aarti and proceeded to Sitamarhi by road for the onward journey on the Ramayana Circuit route by Bharat Gaurav Train.
The Jaynagar-Kurtha rail link, though small, is part of a larger plan of deepening India’s ties with Nepal through the Railways, bypassing the influence of other neighbouring countries in this strategically vital region.
Jogbani-Biratnagar Rail link
The Jogbani (India) – Biratnagar (Nepal) railway link is another broad gauge route being implemented with the technical and financial assistance of India.
The total length of the railway line is approximately 18.6 km with 5.45 Km in India (from Bathnaha, Bihar) and 13.15 Km in Nepal (up to Katahari, Morang).
New line from Jogbani to Biratnagar
According to the latest status, the track of the 7.74 km section between Bathnaha and Nepal Customs Yard has been completed.
The government of Nepal is expected to shortly take over this rail segment. Work is ongoing in the remaining stretch.
Raxaul (India) – Kathmandu (Nepal) rail line
In April 2018, the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal had agreed to construct a newly electrified rail line connecting the border city of Raxaul in India to Kathmandu in Nepal. Accordingly, a Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic (PET) survey was completed and its report was shared with the Government of Nepal in May 2019.
On October 2019, the Nepalese government formally requested the Indian side to carry out a detailed survey of the chosen Alignment.
Proposed alignment.
As the next step, the Ministry of Railways is undertaking a ‘Final Location Survey’ (FLS) of the proposed Broad Gauge railway line at a sanctioned cost of Rs 39.72 Crores. The contract for FLS has been awarded to Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) with a completion period of 18 months. FLS work is completed and report finalization is underway.
When done, it will be a hill railway that will direct rail connectivity between Nepal’s capital city and the Indian network, opening multiple avenues for cross-border movement.
In a move that could bolster resuscitation of road accident victims, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has drafted a request for proposal for supply, operation and maintenance of incident management services (IMS) for the entire highway network in the country.
The aim of this system is to minimise the impact of accidents on national highways and restore normal capacity and safety levels to all affected road facilities as efficiently as possible.
Until now, this system was only available on the national highways (NH) which are managed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
In an office memorandum issued on Monday (3 April), the Ministry said it is proposing to extend the IMS scheme to all the national highways in the country, with initial emphasis on high traffic corridors and the states with difficult terrains.
India has a total of 1.45 lakh km of national highways, out of which about 65,000 km are managed by NHAI, about 7,000 km are managed by National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) and about 66,000 km are with the Roads wing of MoRTH.
The IMS operated by the NHAI is coordinated through the 1033 nationwide helpline, which entails a set of coordinated activities initiated when an accident occurs. The operator identifies relevant agencies and liaises with them. The operators run 24×7 route patrols, cranes and ambulances on the said stretches.
One Accident Every Minute
In India, road traffic injury is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity — there is one road accident every minute, and one fatal accident every fourth minute.
During 2021, a total 412,432 accidents were recorded in the country, of which, 128,825 (31.2 per cent) took place on the national highways, including expressways. Similarly, out of total 142,163 fatal accidents reported in 2021, 50,953 (35.8 per cent) were on national highways.
There are as many as 35 accidents per thousand vehicles, and the drivers involved in road crashes are in the age group of 20-40 years. Two-wheelers and cars contribute to 50 per cent of the total accidents. Other than road engineering issues, most of the accidents are caused by the driver’s fault.
Road crashes cost approximately one to three per cent of a country’s GDP.
New Requirements
The request for proposal (RFP) has outlined the modalities for roll-out of the IMS scheme to all the NHs in the country. This is to be done “on priority” by establishing IMS monitoring units staffed by skilled manpower.
“The response time of maximum 30 minutes for the ambulances and cranes to reach the site may be kept initially, which may further be reduced by integration of 1033 helpline with state 108/112 helplines. To ensure this, a close liaison with the corresponding state’s EMS (Emergency Medical Service) network is obligatory,” it added.
The RFP noted that the ambulances alone are grossly ineffective in initiating a post-crash response, as the victims are more than often trapped inside the crashed vehicle and need to be released with professional powered tools to ensure prompt emergency care.
As such, the IMS system should have provision of gas cutters and hydraulic rescue tools in the route patrol cars and small/medium cranes along with hydraulic towing arm and road clearing equipment staffed with trained manpower.
The specifications for the ambulances, patrol cars and rescue cranes are to be standardised to remove ambiguity and ensure uniformity in form and function.
The Ministry has sought comments by 15 April on the provisions of the draft RFP so that further deliberations may be made to finalise the documents, such that the scheme of IMS is rolled out across all states in the current financial year.
Racing against time, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor — India’s first bullet train project — has achieved a physical progress of 32.93 per cent in Gujarat and 13.72 per cent in Maharashtra, at the end of February this year.
This information was provided by Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw while replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on 5 March.
“Till now, out of total 352 km elevated viaduct, 257.06 km of piling, 180 km of foundation, 155.48 km of the pier and 37.64 km of girder launching have been completed in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli,” the Minister informed the members.
Additionally, the work on bridges across Auranga, Purna, Tapi, Narmada and Mahi rivers is in progress.
The first river bridge on Par River in Valsad in Gujarat was completed in February 2023. The 320-m-long bridge consists of eight full-span girders, each 40 m long. The height of pier on which these girders rests ranges from 14.9 to 20.9 m.
India’s First Bullet Train Project
Presently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) is the only sanctioned high-speed rail project in the country.
The high-speed rail operating at 320 kmph will traverse along west India’s landscape, covering a distance of 508.17 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, in just about two hours.
This will save time, compared to the current travel time between the two terminal stations, by about nine hours (by bus) or six hours (by conventional railways).
It will cover 155.76 km in Maharashtra, 4.3 km in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 348.04 km in Gujarat.
During the journey, the train will halt at 12 stations — Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.
The government is yet to determine a final deadline for the entire project, but the completion time for a 50-km stretch between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat has been set for August 2026.
The ground-breaking ceremony of the MAHSR project was held on 14 September 2017, in presence of the Prime Ministers of India and Japan.
Cost Escalation
The total cost of MAHSR project was estimated at Rs 108,000 crore in 2015 and an expenditure of Rs 38,506 crore has so far been incurred on the project. According to a NHSRCL report, the project has incurred expenditure of Rs 11,353.14 crore in the financial year of 2022-23.
The delay and the fluctuating Yen price has escalated the cost many times since the initial estimate of over Rs 1.08 lakh crore, with 80 per cent Japanese funding as an easy loan.
It is estimated that the project cost will likely touch Rs 2 lakh crore by the time of completion.
Running Behind schedule
The overall physical progress for the project stood at 25.63 per cent as against the target of 30.06 per cent till January 2023, a shortfall of 4.43 per cent.
The Minister also said in a reply that the execution of the project had been affected due to delay in land acquisition in the state of Maharashtra and consequent delays in finalisation of contracts.
With the target shortfall of over 4 per cent, it would be tough to meet the August 2027 target to make the over 300-km-long route operational in Gujarat.
Since the project is much behind the schedule in Maharashtra, the Railways is exploring possibilities to make the Gujarat portion operational by 2027.
The work on the Patna metro rail project is in full swing, with 30 per cent civil work completed on the elevated stretch and 11 per cent work completed on the underground portion of the Corridor-2 (Patna station-Patliputra bus terminal).
Civil work on the elevated part is progressing at a fast pace, after the required land has been handed over, and involves laying of U-girders. Work on the five elevated metro stations is also going on simultaneously.
A total of 308 such U-girders are planned to be erected in the elevated section, of which, 44 U-girders have been placed so far near Zero Mile. The first U-Girder span was placed between two piers near Bhoothnath station on 27 January 2023.
Launching of U-Girder at Patna Metro.
U-girders are precast pre-tensioned structures on which track laying can be done immediately. After casting, these girders are brought to the site and launched with the help of high-capacity cranes or launchers. Each such structure being used in the project weighs around 160 tonnes.
The officials of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), the nodal agency for the project, said civil work on priority corridor is to get ready by last quarter of 2024, after which electrical and rolling stock work will start.
Tunneling Work
The tunneling work of the underground section of the Corridor-2 started on 21 March after the first of the four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) was lowered.
The first TBM of the Patna Metro Project named “Mahavir” was lowered 16 metres below the surface, into the location of the Moin-Ul-Haq metro station. The TBM will bore a 1,494-m-long tunnel towards the Patna University station.
TBM Mahavir.TBM Mahavir
After the first phase of the corridor is completed, the boring machines will then be lowered at Gandhi Maidan, tunnelling 1,400 metres towards Patna Junction.
The tunneling work of Corridor-2 is expected to be completed over the next 30 months, during which four TBMs will be used in two phases. It will connect the seven underground stations of Corridor-2.
Two Corridors
The Patna Metro project which has two corridors — Corridor-1 from Danapur to Khemnichak and Corridor-2 from Patna station to Patliputra ISBT.
The 14.5-km-long Corridor-2 includes a 6.6-km long elevated priority corridor and a 7.9-km underground stretch.
Alignment of Patna Metro.
The elevated priority corridor will have five metro stations, namely, Malahi Pakri, Khemnichak, Bhoothnath, Zero Mile and Patliputra Bus Terminal.
The 7.9-km-long underground section will run between Frazer Road to Rajendra Nagar, consisting of seven underground stations — Patna Junction, Akashvani, Gandhi Maidan, PMCH, Patna University, Moin-ul-Haq Stadium and Rajendra Nagar.
While the priority corridor will be ready by 2025, the underground section of Corridor-2 will be completed by 2026.
The report finds that India’s cumulative module manufacturing nameplate capacity has more than doubled — from 18 GW in March 2022 to 38 GW in March 2023.
India will soon become self-sufficient in solar photovoltaic (PV) module, says a new study indicating it could become a viable alternative to Chinese modules that dominate the global market.
The report, published jointly Tuesday (4 April) by Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a US-based think tank, and JMK Research, a Gurgaon-based research and analysis firm, says India’s “nameplate” manufacturing capacity for solar PV modules will likely cross the 110 gigawatt (GW) by FY 2026, when the country would attain self-sufficiency for its solar PV module demand.
“Nameplate” is the maximum production capacity of a facility.
The report finds that India’s cumulative module manufacturing nameplate capacity has more than doubled from 18 GW in March 2022 to 38 GW in March 2023.
PLI Boost
According to the report, the central government’s production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) encouraging domestic manufacturing of “high efficiency” solar PV modules “is one of the primary catalysts spurring the growth of the entire PV manufacturing ecosystem in India”.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced last week it had allocated a capacity of 48,337 megawatts (MW) of domestic solar PV modules manufacturing capacity across two tranches of its PLI scheme, with a total support of more than Rs 18,500 crore.
Top Players
According to the report, the coastal state of Gujarat alone accounts for nearly 57 per cent of all the forthcoming PV manufacturing capacity.
“Some major reasons manufacturers chose Gujarat for setting up their PV fabrication facilities (fabs) include cheaper industrial electricity prices and easy access to ports for imports and exports. Further, the base of some of the largest Indian PV manufacturers, such as Adani and Waaree, is already in Gujarat,” the report added.
Further, at least 23 companies have proposed setting up GW-scale new module manufacturing capacities in the country.
Based on the proposed capacity addition size, Reliance New Energy Solar (Reliance), Adani Solar (Adani), ReNew, Tata Power Solar (Tata) and Grew Energy (a subsidiary of Chiripal group, a Gujarat-based textile company) are the top five manufacturers.
According to the report, the top five manufacturers will add almost 30 GW of new module capacity in India by 2026.
Roadblocks
The report identifies major challenges, which are still hampering the growth of the domestic PV manufacturing industry from realising its full growth potential.
The biggest challenge is sustained reliance on Chinese import for upstream components of PV modules such as polysilicon and ingots/wafers — almost all (around 95 per cent) of the upstream PV manufacturing capabilities, are still in China.
“With the Chinese government mulling restrictions on the outflow of the critical technology used in the manufacture of these upstream components, it is imperative for countries targeting integrated PV manufacturing at scale to identify alternate sources of supply for these raw materials,“ the report added.
There is a dearth of skilled professionals with experienced know-how in installing, commissioning and operating a solar manufacturing facility, especially for upstream components, such as cells, wafers, polysilicon, said the report.
The report also mentions that although the quality of all tier-1 Indian manufacturers is comparable to global standards, the manufacturers have complained that the domestic consumer base is largely hesitant towards Indian PV products.
The report’s co-author Vibhuti Garg, Director, South Asia, IEEFA, said that after India attains self-sufficiency in two to three years, the next course of action should be to challenge and compete for dominance in both quality and scale in the global PV module market.
Despite the aggressive market drivers, there are minor hurdles that are impeding the growth of the PV manufacturing industry. Therefore, policy stability is necessary to sustain investor confidence in the market, she added.
The railway lines on this stretch are part of the Delhi-Palwal railway route — a fairly busy corridor of the railway network within Delhi.
DMRC officials said they are currently seeking approvals from the Indian Railways for the work.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is building about 28.76 km of underground lines as part of its Phase-4 expansion.
Under Phase-4 expansion of the Delhi Metro, DMRC is constructing 65.20 km of new lines across three different corridors in the national capital, with 45 metro stations.
These include the Magenta Line extension from Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg (28.92km), Pink Line extension from Majlis Park to Maujpur (12.55km), and the upcoming Silver Line from Tughalakabad to Aerocity (23.62km). The Silver Line will connect the operational Violet and Airport Lines from their respective ends.
While the Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg corridor will have underground sections of 9.41 km in total, the Aerocity-Tughalakabad corridor will have 19.35 km of the same. The Majlis Park-Maujpur section will not have any underground stretch.
Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg
Delhi Metro has so far completed 2.2 km of underground tunnel (for up and down movement) between Krishna Park Extension and Keshopur on the Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg corridor.
This new tunnel stretch is a continuation of the earlier Magenta line tunnel that was constructed for the currently operational Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West corridor.
On this underground stretch, apart from the twin tunnels, the ramp and the entry/exit construction works have been completed, while about 70 per cent of the Krishna Park Extension station has also been completed.
Civil work of this particular underground section will be completed by early next year, though the entire Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg corridor will be ready by September 2025.
The 29-km line will connect the Janakpuri West Metro station on the Magenta line and the RK Ashram station on the Blue line.
Index Plan for Janakpuri West to R.K. Ashram.
The Janakpuri-RK Ashram stretch has a total of 22 stations, including 11 underground stations and runs through areas like Haiderpur, Sadar Bazar, Azadpur, Bhalswa, Pushpanjali Enclave, Mangolpuri and Paschim Vihar.
The lowering of the first-ever TBM under the Phase-4 project had started at Vikaspuri on the Janakpuri West–R K Ashram Marg corridor in October 2020, and following the initial drive, the main tunnelling had started early 2021,
Tughalakabad to Aerocity
Tunnelling work is currently under way between Chhatarpur and Kishangarh stations on the Silver line corridor.
The first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) on the Aerocity-Tughlakabad Corridor started its drive on 3 March, to bore a 1.27-km-long tunnel between Chhatarpur and Kishangarh stations.
Silver Line Metro Alignment.
The Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridor will have four elevated and 11 underground stations.
The corridor will also have four interchange stations at Aerocity, Chattarpur, Saket and Tughlakabad — making it one of the most vital corridors of the DMRC network.
Long Association With TBMs
A TBM is a machine used to excavate tunnels, with a circular cross-section, through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can be designed to bore through anything from hard rock to sand.
Tunnel Boring Machine. (Terratec).
TBMs have revolutionized the way tunneling work is done worldwide, as tunnels can now be bored without disturbing the buildings and other structures on the surface. TBMs are especially useful for underground tunneling work in congested urban areas.
DMRC has been using TBMs for its tunneling work since Phase-1. In Phase-3, when about 50 km of underground sections were built, about 30 TBMs were pressed into service in the national capital.
The underground network comprises stations built by cut and cover method, while tunnels are constructed by cut and cover, NATM (New Austrian Tunnelling Method) or earth pressure balance or slurry type shield machine depending on the geological strata of the project.
Selection of TBM depends on ground conditions, surface features and dimension of the tunnel.
What Next
In the coming months, tunnelling drives will be commenced on multiple stretches, including Sangam Vihar-Anandmayee (Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridor), Derawal Nagar-Pulbangash and Nabi Karim-Pulbangash strteches on Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg corridor.
While the tunneling on RK Ashram Marg corridor will be a usual job, it is the tunneling on the Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridor that will be a major engineering challenge for the Delhi Metro, as the line will pass under 17 pairs of active railway tracks — a record in itself.
The railway lines on this stretch are part of the Delhi-Palwal railway route — a fairly busy corridor of the railway network within Delhi.
“Therefore, construction will have to be carried out without causing any disruption to the movement of trains. In order to ensure that the work is executed in a safe manner, adequate instrumentation will be done to monitor the railway tracks on a 24×7 basis. State of the art monitoring equipment such as inclinometers and tiltometers will also be used on this section,” a DMRC spokesperson said.
DMRC officials said they are currently seeking approvals from the Indian Railways for the work.
