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Morning Brief: EPFO Data Shows Job Creation More Than Doubled In September; First Muslim Litigant In Ayodhya Dispute Case Backs Law For Temple; And More

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news brief for today.

EPFO Data Shows Job Creation More Than Doubled In September

Latest payroll data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) suggests that ‘job creation’ in the country more than doubled to 9.73 lakh in September compared to 4.11 lakh in the same month last year. This is the highest monthly addition since September 2017, when the government started releasing EPFO data. The previous peak was achieved in July, when 9.32 lakh additions to the payroll count were reported. In September 2018, maximum number of jobs were created in the 18-21 years age group.

From September 2017 to September 2018, around 79.48 lakh new subscribers were added to social security schemes of the EPFO. The lowest number of subscribers were added in March. As the data put out by EPFO is subject to revisions in successive months due to irregularities, figures often change.

Also Read: Are We Creating 6.2 Million Formal Jobs A Year? EPFO Payroll Data Is Improving, But Nowhere Near Credible

Muslim Litigant In Ayodhya Dispute Case Backs Law For Temple

Iqbal Ansari, son of late Hashim Ansari who was the first litigant in the Ayodhya dispute case, has said that he would welcome any law brought by the government to facilitate the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Currently representing his father in the case, Iqbal Ansari said that he does not have any problem if the government brings an ordinance. According to the Business Standard, he said, “We want good of this country and if ordinance route is the way, I support the BJP”.

This development comes ahead of the ‘Dharma Sabha’ being held in Ayodhya on Sunday. Recently, Iqbal Ansari had said that he would not support the idea of an ‘out-of-court’ settlement of the vexed issue nor would he favour an ordinance for the temple construction. “We will abide only by the order delivered by the Supreme Court to settle the dispute,” he had claimed a week ago.

Police Excesses Continue At Sabarimala Despite High Court’s Rap

Police excesses continued at Sabarimala on Tuesday despite the Kerala High Court’s warning to the state government, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Cops took eight people into preventive custody from the temple complex Tuesday night based on what they said were “intelligence report”. According to the police, reports said that they were at the hill shrine to create trouble.

This development came a day after the Kerala High Court asked the state government why it had deployed 15,000 cops. It had criticised the government for using excessive police force against devotees under the guise of implementing the Supreme Court’s verdict regarding the entry of women of reproductive age into the shrine. The High Court had said the heavy-handedness must stop and warned against denying devotees their rights. It said the police “should normally be confined to their barracks instead of trespassing into spaces reserved for pilgrims”.

NHAI To Raise Rs 10,000 Crore Via Bonds

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to raise as much as Rs 10,000 crore by issuing bonds, the Economic Times has reported. According to the daily, the proceeds from this exercise will be used to finance the ambitious Bharatmala Project. The sale is likely to open for subscription in the next two weeks. The bonds may offer 8.5 to 9 per cent interest, with maturity periods of three, five and 10 years.

Earlier, NHAI has sold Rs 29,000 crore of bonds to institutional investors, such as the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the State Bank of India, at an average coupon rate of around 8 per cent. AK Capital, Axis Bank, Edelweiss and Trust Capital will help NHAI in the process of issuing bonds.

Also Read: Gadkari’s Mala Of Roads Will Connect India Like Never Before

Banks Get Rs 3.7 Trillion Lending Boost With RBI-Government Ceasefire

Extension of the timeline to meet the capital conservation buffer norms under Basel III regulations by 31 March 2020 has freed up nearly Rs 3.7 trillion for potential lending by banks, Mint has reported. The decision to extend the timeline beyond March 2019 was taken by the board of the Reserve Bank of India during a marathon meeting amid an stand off between the bank and the Finance Ministry. Under the capital requirements rule, banks are supposed to and build up capital buffers at times when credit is growing, which can be drawn down when losses are incurred.

From Swarajya

While We Wait For Verdict On Ram Mandir, Here’s Another Temple That Needs Reclaiming: Like Ayodhya, Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh is battling to reclaim the grand Vijay Mandir. Since it is not an election issue, will it get the attention it needs?

Why The RBI Had To Blink, And What It Can Learn From Needlessly Taking On The Finance Ministry: Here’s hoping that the RBI and the government have emerged wiser from this eyeball-to-eyeball. They need each other more than they think they do. In any confrontation, the RBI loses first, but the economy loses either way.

Why You Should Be Concerned About The Hate Speech Bill: As if existing laws are not enough, there is scope for more laws to stifle free speech and soon weaponise political correctness. Overzealous laws can get anyone, and it could be you, next.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

Bengalureans Love Their Metro: Service Sees Operational Profit For The First Time Since 2012-13

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) for the first time since 2012-13 has registered an operational profit, The Hindu has reported.

The usage of the metro has increased after concluded Phase I began operations last June. An operational profit of Rs 73.11 crores between April 2017 to March 2018 was declared in the recently released annual report of BMRCL. During the period, BMRCL spent Rs 264.1 crores on operations and maintenance. The total revenue generated by Namma Metro was Rs 337.21 crores.

“This has given immense confidence to the company about achieving break-even level of operations in the current financial year 2018-19 even with a marginal surplus, which helps meet a part of its debt obligations,” the report states.

The operational profit will be used to clear debts and expenses of the previous years. For the last two financial years, BMRCL has recorded a loss of Rs 93.67 crore and Rs 38,73 crores respectively.

Since the extension of Phase I upto Yelachenahalli, revenues have risen to 158 per cent compared to the last financial year. Average ridership has increased on the Purple Line by about 55.52 per cent (1.72 lakh passengers per day). Green Line has seen 238 per cent (1.26 lakh commuters) rise in ridership.

The Managing Director of BMRCL, Ajay Seth said that BMRCL is working with Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) on a common mobility card, enabling passengers to travel on both metro and city buses.

136-KM Western Peripheral Expressway Around Delhi To Be Inaugurated Today

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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Over 12 years after it was launched, the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway, a 136-km green and smart road intended to ease traffic by bypassing Delhi on its western border, is set to become fully operational as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates it today.

Also called Western Peripheral Expressway, it connects Kundli with Palwal. In April 2016, the 53-km stretch of the expressway connecting Palwal and Manesar, which was completed at a cost of Rs 457.81 crore, was opened.

It passes through five districts – Sonepat, Jhajjar, Nuh, Gurugram and Palwal and connects four national highways – Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar, Delhi-Agra-Varanasi, Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai and Delhi to the India-Pakistan border at Attari.

The 134 km-long Easter Peripheral Expressway was opened to traffic in May this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since it became operational, there has been a reduction of around 20 per cent trucks entering Delhi. Together, both expressways form a 270 km-long beltway around the National Capital Territory.

This news comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, unhappy with the delay, asked Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to review the WPE project and make sure it is completed by the end of September. He had also chaired a review meeting on the project on 29 August, reports say.

The project was conceived during the Prime Ministership of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002 and was to be completed by 2009. However, like most other infrastructure projects, the expressway continued to hang fire during the 10-year rule of the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana and the United Progressive Alliance headed by Sonia Gandhi at the Centre between 2004 and 2014.

The Haryana government has approved the development of five cities on 50,000 hectares each side of the Western expressway, which would cover eight districts of the state namely Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Rewari, Mewat, Faridabad and Palwal.

In May this year, the 135-km Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) was completed and dedicated to the nation.

The Eastern and Western Expressways were envisioned keeping in mind reducing traffic on city roads and to make a complete ring of Delhi. The project was completed and delivered in 910 days.

The EPE and WPE combined together effectively form an Outer Ring Road around Delhi with a total length of 270 km, of which about 183 km passes through Haryana and the remaining 87 km through Uttar Pradesh.

Bundelkhand Expressway: Uttar Pradesh Government Releases Rs 640 Crore To Acquire Land For ‘Atal Path’

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Indian Infra Hub Staff
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In a bid to expedite the process of land acquisition for the Bundelkhand Expressway project, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has released Rs 640 crore to make payments to land owners, Zee Biz has reported.

The Bundelkhand Expressway is a proposed 293-km-long, four lane access-controlled highway project.

The highway will start from Jhansi and pass through some of the most underdeveloped districts of the state like Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpur, Auraiya and Jalaun. From Jalaun, the expressway will pass through Etawah district and reach Naseempur via Bateshwar before joining the Agra-Lucknow Expressway.

Since it is likely to pass through Bateshwar in Agra’s Bah tehsil, the ancestral village of late Prime Minister and BJP Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the UP government has decided to name the Expressway ‘Atal Path’.

The estimated cost of the project is nearly Rs 10,000 crore. An annual budgetary provision of Rs 650 crore for the mega infrastructure project by government is aimed at boosting socioeconomic development in the extremely backward Bundelkhand region of the state.

The Industrial Development Department has issued a government order for payments towards land acquisition.

“The government has issued Rs 640 crore to the district magistrates of Chitrakut, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah to expedite acquisition of land for the expressway,” a senior government official said on Friday (16 November).

According to the official, the highest amount is allocated to Jalaun, Rs 210 crore followed by Rs 136 crore to Auraiya. Rs 100 crore has been given for Banda, Rs 82 crore for Hamipur, Rs 45 crore for Mahoba besides other districts.

The government is also providing impetus to another mega project, Bundelkhand Defence Corridor, aimed at bolstering UP among the top defence manufacturing states in India. Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Chitrakoot will comprise the 6 nodes of the proposed Defence Corridor. The government has also identified more than 5,000 hectares of land for the project.

Prime Minister Modi Inaugurates Kundli-Maneswar Expressway, Attacks Congress For Wasting Public Money

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kundli-Manesar section of the
western peripheral expressway and flagged off the Ballabhgarh-Mujesar metro line in Haryana. He also laid the foundation stone for Vishwakarma Kaushal Vishwa Vidyalaya , AIR has reported.

Speaking after inaugurating the projects, Prime Minister said, the two infrastructure projects will bring new revolution in connectivity. He added that the Kaushal Vishwa Vidyalaya will provide boost to education of the youth of the region.

Prime Minister also criticised the erstwhile Congress-led government for delay in the expressway project and said the work on the project should have been completed eight to nine years ago.

“The manner in which work was done in earlier governments should be a case study for how to waste public money”, he said.

He said that the expressway will be critical in reducing pollution in Delhi and adjoining areas. The expressway will also ensure ease of living and ease of travelling, he said.

The 135 km long expressway, built at a cost of 6,400 crore, will divert more than 50 thousand heavy vehicles away from Delhi as well as provide high-speed link between nothern and southern districts of Haryana.

With the inauguration of more than Rs 500 crore Escorts Mujesar-Ballabhgarh corridor of Delhi Metro, Ballabhgarh will be the fourth city in Haryana after Faridabad, Bahadurgarh and Gurugram to have metro connectivity. The total length of the metro in the state after the addition of Escorts Mujesar- Ballabhgarh metro line is 29 km.

Namma Metro-Mitra: Family Donates Property Worth Rs 3 Crore To BMRCL For R.V. Road-Bommanhali Stretch

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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In a generous gesture, a family in Bangalore has donated a prime property on Hosur Main Road towards one of the metro lines of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), reports the New Indian Express.

84-year-old A Muni Reddy and his family donated a prime land of nearly 268 square meters worth Rs three crores in Bommanahalli over to BMRCL for the 18.8 km R.V. road-Bommanahalli stretch.

MS Channappa Goudar, General Manager, Land Acquisitions Cell, informed that the land has been transferred to BMRCL.

“It was a real surprise when the family handed over the land, and the family members did not want any compensation. This kind of support helps us reduce a little of our project cost,” he added. He expressed hope that other big establishments would emulate the kind gesture.

Phase two of the project which earlier cost Rs 26,405 crore, now increased to Rs 32,000 crore, largely due to high land acquisition costs.

The donation comes at a time when landowners are taking the BMRCL to court in-demand for higher compensation of their properties, and few owners are taking the litigation route, so they do not part from their properties.

The property is located near another of the family’s property, AMR Tech Park, which houses 15 high-end offices and IT firms, employing around 10,000 staff. The property owned by Muni Reddy was passed to his sons- Ramesh, Babu Reddy, Nagabhushan and Lokesh.

Oldest Son, R Prashanth, speaking on behalf of the family said that it was his grandfather’s suggestion to donate the land as their contribution towards the city’s development and the rest unanimously agreed.

‘Clean, Well Maintained And Good’: Audit Official Says Namma Metro Reminded Him Of Malaysia

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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On Sunday, November 18, L Pochhawlg, Director General of Commercial Audit led a team of officials to travel in Bengaluru’s Namma Metro for inspection purposes.

Travelling from Kempegowda Metro Station to Baiyappanahalli, the team took note of the condition of the tracks, coaches, services offered and the behaviour of the staff. His team has been in Bengaluru since last three days and have been meeting officials over various issues.

Pochhawlg also happens to be on the Audit Board in the capacity of an ex-officio member in Hyderabad.

He took note of the operations and the team went on to inspect the Operation Control Centre inside the train as well as pilot’s chamber at notable stations across the city. Furthermore, the team had an interaction with the staff of Namma Metro.

Deccan Herald quoted an official of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited speaking on Pochhawlg’s pleasant experience as saying, “He is the first director to travel on the train. He said that it was well-maintained, clean and good. He said it reminded him of Malaysia. However, the complete report will only be known at a later stage.”

Mumbai-Pune In 25 Minutes? Hyperloop Will Make It Possible

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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0

In an effort to reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Pune, the Maharashtra government is working on introducing the Hyperloop project. Once the project is launched, the travel time between the two cities will be reduced from 3 hours to 25 minutes. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that this project is a public infrastructure project and private organisations will be able to participate in it.

The project is being undertaken as a partnership between the Government of Maharashtra and Warren Hyperloop. According to sources, the Hyperloop demo will be conducted on a 15-km stretch in 2019 from Balewadi, Pune. The route will run parallel to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

The American firm will be spending Rs 300 crore in the initial phase of the project. Post the success of the test, full electric hyperloops will be built and supplied within four years by 2024, and its estimated cost will be Rs 20,000 crore, reports Metro Rail News.

Fadnavis visited a test site in Las Vegas, Virginia Hyperloop Forest, after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for constructing the Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop between Virgin Group and the state government was signed. Virgin Hyperloop is headed by maverick businessman Richard Branson.

Also Read: Mumbai To Pune In 30 Minutes: Here’s How The Hyperloop Promises That

Gone Are The Days Of Policy Paralysis: NDA’s Per Day Highway Output More Than Twice Of UPA-2

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
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0

The current Narendra Modi led government has built more than 33,000 km of highways in four and a half years, higher than what previous UPA government could achieve in seven years, reports Financial Express.

The NDA has built 33,361 km of highways, a little more than what UPA did in the seven years between FY08 and FY14.

The construction targets set by the Minister of Road and Transport, Nitin Gadkari have been ambitious. While last year, the target was 40 km per day, this year it was raised further to 45 km a day.

Under last year of UPA-2, FY14, the output had fallen to a meagre 11.7 km per day which has been more than doubled to 27 km a day in FY18, though still far from minister’s ambitious target.

During the first four years of the current government, the award of highway projects amounted to 51,073 km, double the level achieved by UPA during its last four years. The target for awards in 2018-19 is set at 20,000 km, higher than 17,055 km awarded during 2017-18.

The achievement of the government becomes more significant in view of the fact that fast tracking of projects has occurred despite persisting twin balance sheet problem. On one hand there is weak lending sentiment amongst the NPA-riddled banks and on the other are equally reluctant private investors whose ships sank due to lower-than-expected toll receipts.

The current government took several measures to ensure progress in road-building projects. One was the hybrid annuity model (HAM) that was launched to reinvigorate the PPP model in which government bears 40 per cent of the cost.

The government also eased the exit policy for developers freeing capital to shift to new projects, expedited land acquisition and introduced one-time fund infusion scheme in stalled projects.

Gone Are The Days Of Policy Paralysis: NDA’s Per Day Highway Output More Than Twice Of UPA-2

By
Indian Infra Hub Staff
-
0

The current Narendra Modi led government has built more than 33,000 km of highways in four and a half years, higher than what previous UPA government could achieve in seven years, reports Financial Express.

The NDA has built 33,361 km of highways, a little more than what UPA did in the seven years between FY08 and FY14.

The construction targets set by the Minister of Road and Transport, Nitin Gadkari have been ambitious. While last year, the target was 40 km per day, this year it was raised further to 45 km a day.

Under last year of UPA-2, FY14, the output had fallen to a meagre 11.7 km per day which has been more than doubled to 27 km a day in FY18, though still far from minister’s ambitious target.

During the first four years of the current government, the award of highway projects amounted to 51,073 km, double the level achieved by UPA during its last four years. The target for awards in 2018-19 is set at 20,000 km, higher than 17,055 km awarded during 2017-18.

The achievement of the government becomes more significant in view of the fact that fast tracking of projects has occurred despite persisting twin balance sheet problem. On one hand there is weak lending sentiment amongst the NPA-riddled banks and on the other are equally reluctant private investors whose ships sank due to lower-than-expected toll receipts.

The current government took several measures to ensure progress in road-building projects. One was the hybrid annuity model (HAM) that was launched to reinvigorate the PPP model in which government bears 40 per cent of the cost.

The government also eased the exit policy for developers freeing capital to shift to new projects, expedited land acquisition and introduced one-time fund infusion scheme in stalled projects.

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