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To Transform Into A Major Transshipment Hub, Tuticorin Port Plans To Build Third Container Terminal

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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To transform into a major transshipment hub, the V O Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi — fourth-largest container port in India — is planning to build a third container terminal, The Hindu Business Line has reported.

According to the report, the port trust plans to convert berth number nine into a new container terminal. The new terminal is likely to have a handling capacity of 0.6 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs). The trust has also identified berth number ten for future expansion with a handling capacity of 0.88 TEUs.

“Converting the ninth berth into a third container berth is the only option to grow into a 2-million container port in 2023,” the daily’s report quotes J P Joe Villavarayar of Vilson Shipping, Thoothukudi, as saying.

This development comes after Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Shipping, flagged off the first container mainline vessel from the port in December last year, saying this will be a gamechanger for container traffic at the port.

Currently, reports say, containers to be sent from Tuticorin to countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China are transported by feeder vessels to Colombo, where they are transferred to larger vessels. This process significantly increases transportation cost.

“In order to make the Tuticorin port a mainline port we have redesigned the development project of Rs 2000 crore and now the deepening of the port would be done in less than Rs 500 crore, after which all vessels with draft of 16 meters can call on the port.”, Gadkari had said back then.

The port, being close to the East-West trade route, has the potential to attract mainline vessels and become a transshipment hub.

The daily’s report says handling capacity at the two private terminals of the port is set to reach its maximum by end of this fiscal. Container handling at the port has witnessed a compound annual growth rate of 8 per cent in the last five years. Container handling reached 0.7 million TEUs on 31 March and it is to handle over 1 million TEUs of traffic by the end the next financial year.

Also Read: Shipping Ministry Stages A Coup, Develops Thoothukudi VOC Port As Transshipment Hub

No Acquisition Delays, Cost Overruns: Major Part Of Chennai Metro’s Phase II To Be Built On Government Land

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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A large part of Chennai Metro’s Phase II, spanning around 120 kilometres, will be built on land owned by the government, The Hindu has reported.

According to the daily’s report, the second phase, which involves the expenditure of around Rs 69,180 crore, will have 128 stations. In total, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) would need nearly 121 hectares of land for the project.

A majority of this land, at least 93.79 hectares, is government-owned. The remaining land, 27.19 hectares, will have to be acquired from private players.

“We made a conscious decision to primarily use government land and ensure that a minimum number of people are affected,” an official has told the daily.

According to the official, CMRL has brought down the average size of each station from 220 metres in the first phase to 150 metres in the second phase.

“When compared to Phase I, we acquired less land for the phase I extension. For phase II, we will acquire only what is absolutely essential,” he added.

Another benefit of using government land is that the project will be insulated from delays and cost overruns during land acquisition. Moreover, CMRL will also save the money that it would have otherwise spent on resettlement, rehabilitation, and compensation for the affected people.

Phase II of this project is divided into three segments — Madhavaram to Shollinganallur, Light House to Poonamallee and Madhavaram to SIPCOT. Of this, 76.3 km will be elevated and 42.6 km will be built underground.

In Pictures: Fast-Tracked By Yogi Government, Work On Purvanchal Expressway Progresses In Full Swing

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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After the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh fast-tracked the construction of the Purvanchal Expressway, work on the project has been progressing in full swing in different parts of the state.

The six-lane Purvanchal Expressway, which will have a length of around 350 kilometres, will link state capital Lucknow with Ghazipur in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. The access controlled expressway will pass through the districts of Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Sultanpur, Azamgarh and Mau.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has put out some pictures showing the progress made in the last few months.

When the expressway is ready, the travel time between Lucknow and Ghazipur will come down to around five hours, reports say.

The expressway will link the state’s most underdeveloped part to the capital, which in turn is linked to the National Capital Region (NCR) through the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway (which links Agra and NCR).

“The proposed Purvanchal Expressway getting connected with Agra-Lucknow Expressway shall become a vast Industrial Corridor connecting Eastern boundary to Western boundary of the state which will result into overall development of the state,” UPEIDA, the nodal agency for this project, has said in the past.

by Swarajya Staff –  Apr 25 2019, 10:28 pm,
In Pictures: Fast-Tracked By Yogi Government, Work On Purvanchal Expressway Progresses In Full Swing

Soil being compacted with road rollers in Pachhin Patti village of UP’s Azamgarh district. (UPEIDA/Twitter)

After the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh fast-tracked the construction of the Purvanchal Expressway, work on the project has been progressing in full swing in different parts of the state.

The six-lane Purvanchal Expressway, which will have a length of around 350 kilometres, will link state capital Lucknow with Ghazipur in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. The access controlled expressway will pass through the districts of Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Sultanpur, Azamgarh and Mau.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has put out some pictures showing the progress made in the last few months.

(UPEIDA/Twitter)(UPEIDA/Twitter)

When the expressway is ready, the travel time between Lucknow and Ghazipur will come down to around five hours, reports say.

The expressway will link the state’s most underdeveloped part to the capital, which in turn is linked to the National Capital Region (NCR) through the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Yamuna Expressway (which links Agra and NCR).

“The proposed Purvanchal Expressway getting connected with Agra-Lucknow Expressway shall become a vast Industrial Corridor connecting Eastern boundary to Western boundary of the state which will result into overall development of the state,” UPEIDA, the nodal agency for this project, has said in the past.

Area being cleared for leveling of soil. (UPEIDA/Twitter)Area being cleared for leveling of soil. (UPEIDA/Twitter)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is holding a massive rally and a roadshow in Varanasi today, had laid the foundation of the expressway in May 2018.

The project is expected to cost the government around Rs 23,350 crore. Out of this, around Rs 6,500 crore is being spent on land acquisition alone. Around Rs 11,800 crore will be spent by the government on construction.

 

In February this year, Chief Minister Adityanath inspected the project in the Amethi district and said it would be completed in 24 months.

In the annual budget, the government has allocated Rs 1,194 crore for the Purvanchal Expressway project. In total, it has earmarked Rs 3,194 crore for the construction of expressways three expressways in the state.

The project is being completed under the engineering, procurement and construction model. UPEIDA has divided the project into eight packages. Three firms—Gayatri Projects Limited, GR Infraprojects and PNC Infratech Limited—have already been awarded two packages each while Apco Infra Private Limited and Oriental Structural Engineering have been awarded one package each.

After the Adityanath-led government took office, earlier bids for the project were canceled. The government had alleged back then that the existing bids were overpriced as bidders had “worked as cartels”.

“The last time the bids were almost 10.97 per cent overpriced because construction companies joined hands and worked as a cartel. The UPEIDA was able to break the cartel, and new bids are almost 10 per cent less which will save around Rs 600 crore,” a senior UPEIDA official has been quoted as saying.

Eastern UP, which has over one-third of the total Lok Sabha seats in the state, is set to vote in the next few weeks. The Purvanchal Expressway project is likely to bring electoral benefits for the BJP. Gorakhpur, the traditional bastion of Adityanath, and Varanasi, Modi’s constituency, are in this region.

Also Read: Ten Expressway Projects In India To Look Out For

India To Get Its First Undersea Tunnel In BKC-Kalyan Shilphata For Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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India is set to get its first undersea tunnel as part of the bullet train corridor being developed between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

The corridor which covers a distance of 508 kms will have a 21 km underground link from BKC to Kalyan Shilphata in Maharashtra out of which 7 km will be under the Thane creek, 1.8 km under the sea bed and the remaining under the mangroves marshland on either side of the creek.

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) invited bids for the construction of the corridor while issuing a tender on Tuesday (23 April). The tender for construction of tunnelling works includes testing and commissioning for double line high-speed railway.

It requires the use of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) and the new Austrian tunnelling method (NATM) for constructing the tunnels. The tender requires the project to be completed within 1,280 days or 3.5 years.

A report was submitted last year on the density of the rock under the sea bed which helps determines the viability of the undersea tunnel, it includes geo-technical investigations like static refraction technique (SRT) survey.

The tests were carried out by Engineers from NHSRCL, RITES Ltd and Japan’s Kawasaki Geological Engineering which involve firing a high-energy sound wave towards the seabed from below the surface of the water and mapping the refracted sound wave to determine the density of the rock under the sea bed.

Speaking to Economic Times, an official of the NHSRCL said: “All environment related clearances from the respective authorities including the Coastal Regulation Management Authority, the National Board of Wildlife and the forest department are either received, or authorities have principally agreed for the approval.”

NHSRCL is cleared of the project by India’s apex institutes including the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), the Mangroves Survey of India (MSI) and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO).

The report concluded that the environmental impact of the project in the said area is negligible and disturbance to the wildlife in the region is minimal. The undersea (underground) tunnel will be 20 to 40 metres below the ground and no mangroves are being cut in the area.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project: NHSRCL Invites Bids For Tunnelling Works

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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by Swarajya Staff –  Apr 24 2019, 7:56 pm,
Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project: NHSRCL Invites Bids for Tunnelling Works

A bullet train (Photo via NHRSCL Website)

The National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) has invited bids for tunnelling Works on Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project, Rail Analysis reported.

The scope of work include testing and commissioning for double line high-speed railway using tunnel boring machine (TBM) and new Austrian tunneling method (NATM) between Mumbai underground station at Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Maharashtra as a part of the construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail. The length of tunneling work will be over 20 km.

As distinct from the old Austrian tunnelling approach, NATM uses the geological stress of the surrounding rock mass to stabilize the tunnel itself.

Earlier last month, NHSRCL invited bids for 237 km out of 508 km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project. The tender has been invited for projects totalling close to Rs 20,000 crore.

The bidding process was opened as per the guidelines of Japanese ODA Loans. As per the agreement with the Japanese funding agency, JICA, only Indian and Japanese construction firms are qualified to bid. It is likely that some of India’s leading Infrastructure companies like L&T and AFCON will form joint Venture with Japanese companies like Hitachi Construction and Mitsubishi Construction to bid for Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project.

“Bids must be delivered on or before 15:00 hrs on 16th July 2019 and must be accompanied by a Bid Security of INR 200 Crores,” said the NHSRCL in its bidding document.

Expected to be completed in the next 48 months, the total length of proposed High Speed Rail Corridor works out to be 508.17km. 155.642 km of the proposed alignment falls in Maharashtra, 350.530 km in Gujarat and 2 km in UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The route of Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail will be passing through two states, Maharashtra and Gujarat and one Union Territory, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, of the Union of India. The train will start from Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai and will end near Sabarmati Railway Station in Ahmedabad.

The high-speed corridor has been proposed with 12 Stations i.e. Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand/Nadia, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati, all near major traffic points. Two depots are proposed on either end of the corridor one near Thane and one near Sabarmati Rail Depot.

Construction Of 354 KM Purvanchal Expressway Fast-Tracked By UP Government; To Bring State’s East, West Closer

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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Giving more push to big ticket infrastructure projects, Uttar Pradesh government is fast tracking the construction of the 354 km long Purvanchal Expressway project, reports Financial Express.

The expressway, one of the longest in the country, links the eastern and western far reaches of the state –Chand Sarai of Lucknow district with Haidaria in Ghazipur district, while connecting nine districts of the state.

Varanasi is also linked with a separate link road. Connecting the NCR to the expressway are Agra-Greater Noida Yamuna Expressway and 302 km long Agra-Lucknow expressway.

The foundation stone for the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year. While Akhilesh Yadav had also laid a foundation stone in December 2016, even half of the land acquisition for the project was not done by then.

After the change of government, a new tender was floated, scrapping the old one, citing lack of land availability.

Apart from reducing the travel time by 4-5 hours , the other benefits of the expressway include keeping a check on city pollution, saving fuel, reduced chances of accidents and more. The expressway is expandable to eight lanes and provides massive scope for development alongside it.

Hyderabad Metro’s Jubilee Bus Station-Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station Line To Be Operational By November End

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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With the Ameerpet-Hi-Tec City lane successfully inducted, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) is now aiming to finish the Jubilee Bus Station-Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) stretch by the coming November end, reports Times of India.

All the civil construction of the 10 km route is over and awaiting the supplementary works of installing telecommunication, over head cabling, electrical and signalling in all the ten stations in one of the densely populated corridors. With the bulk work of viaducts completed, the roofing of the stations needed to be executed.

The route is expected to provide better connectivity between JBS and Secunderabad. By linking MGBS, the long distance commuters will find it easier to travel to and fro. Meanwhile, land acquisition for the remaining six stations from the MGBS – Falaknuma stretch is completed.

With the start of the Ameerpet- Hi-Tec City route, 2.2 lakh passengers now use the Metro with a footfall recording of around 40,000-50,000 for the new route. With 56kms of operations underway, Hyderabad has second longest services after Delhi.

Bengaluru Metro Phase-III Criticised For Omitting Marathahalli-Hosakerehalli, Iblur-Hebbal Routes

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BTMC) has received criticism for its Namma Metro Phase-III plans from various quarters, Economic Times has reported.

The project which covers a total distance of 83.2 km network does not cover Marathahalli to Hosakerehalli and Iblur to Hebbal routes, the two significant stretches which were part of the original plan proposed for Phase II-A and Phase-III in 2013.

The 21.31 km Hosakerehalli-Marathahalli line and the 20 km Iblur-Hebbal stretch were to pass through the city providing Metro connectivity to important areas such as the Inner Ring Road, Koramangala, South East Bengaluru and the Old Airport Road.

The controversial Phase III elevated corridor which has five lines, covers mostly outlying areas located mostly on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) or beyond. Two routes connect the KIADB Aerospace Park to Nagawara (25 km) and the 10-km stretch between Kogilu Cross and Rajankunte.

A well-known proponent of the elevated corridor RK Mishra said that it makes no sense to drop the two Metro lines but argued that the Metro alone cannot solve traffic congestion. “We will request authorities to integrate the Metro with the elevated corridor,” he said while speaking to the Economic Times.

A Metro linking the ORR from Hebbal to JP Nagar, Magadi Road (Majestic-Seegehalli) and Iblur and Carmelaram are also part of the proposed Phase III plan.

A letter written by Namma Metro managing director to the BMTC in January indicates that Phase III has been “finalised”, while some reports say that the proposal is still waiting for the government’s approval.

Connectivity Boost For NCR: Construction Of Jewar International Airport To Begin Post Elections

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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The Allahabad High Court has dismissed petitions filed by eight farmers against the notification issued by Uttar Pradesh (UP) government for acquiring land for the greenfield Jewar airport along the 165 km-long Yamuna Expressway.

With this, all hurdles in the way for the grand project to be materialised are hereby done away with, and the construction activity can begin as soon as the Lok Sabha elections are over, reports Financial Express.

The said notification had been passed by the UP Government for acquisition of 1,239.14 hectares of land under Section 11 of the 2013 land acquisition act which is towards the rights to fair compensation and transparency. Thereafter, seeking a compensation at four times the circle rate, on 23 February 2019, eight farmers from Kishorpur village had filed a plea in the Allahabad high court to strike down the notification.

As per the law, the administration will now seek permission from the Election Commission of India to start the distribution of land compensation to farmers after 11 April 2019, which is the polling day in Gautam Budh Nagar.

Also, the Jewar airport is expected to be operational by the year 2022-23, and 1,239 hectares being acquired for it now would be consumed in the first phase. In total, the entire project would go on to consume 5,000 hectares of land.

Transport Officials Crack Down On Private Bus Operators Who Overcharge Commuters On Festivals

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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Transport Authority of Karnataka and the Regional Transport authority has finally decided to clamp down on private bus operators who overcharge customers, Deccan Herald has reported.

The industry has been largely unregulated for years with the officials reportedly not acting on complaints against high amount of fares charged to commuters.

The bus operators are accused of charging double or even triple the bus fares on weekends, special occasions and festivals. This has led to crackdown on some operators resulting in licence cancellation and fines.

As per Transport Commissioner V P Ikkeri, “RTO officials following a three-month-long special drive from November 2018 to February 2019, had suspended permits of 368 buses and cancelled 59 others for three consecutive violations. Rs 25 lakh has been collected during this time”.

The official have proposed to regulate the private bus fares to fix how much they can charge on special dates with the bus operators seeking a 20 per cent increase. The transport department is expected to decide on this demand within the next fortnight.

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