Following its parent IL&FS approving a Rs 80 billion recapitalisation plan for the company, road developer IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL) is planning to bid for projects worth Rs 40 billion.

In this extensive interview to INFRASTRUCTURE TODAY, he says that it is entirely up to the Railways on how it would like to leverage its unique position as the country’s most inclusive transporter.

Even as free joyrides are being extended to Nagpurites on the 5-kilometre stretch from the Airport South to Khapri on the Nagpur metro rail before its formal inauguration, the federal government has plans to extend the service to the city’s outskirts using the existing broad-gauge railway tracks.

In an exclusive interview to INFRASTRUCTURE TODAY, Debjani Chakrabarti, Director Highways, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) elucidates some of the key funding strategies being utilised by India as a part of the country's ambitious Rs 7 trillion roads building programme.

The initiatives that will have a direct bearing on the pace of execution include awarding projects after securing 80 per cent right of way, expediting projects stuck midway, delegating the power to grant forest clearances to regional offices, filing online for clearances to construct road over bridges (ROBs) and road under bridges (RUBs) and increasing the limit on sand mining.

The Government of India has embarked on the Sagarmala Programme with a vision to reduce logistics cost for both domestic and EXIM cargo and utilise the waterways to their potential.

Nandan Yalgi, Managing Director, Boxco Logistics India Pvt Ltd, lauds the efforts of the Ministry of Shipping in launching port-led development projects that will eventually bring down logistics costs across the country.

We are planning to raise Rs 2.9 lakh crore from the equity market, Rs 1.06 lakh crore from private investments and Rs 2.19 lakh crore from Central Road Funds (CRF) or toll-operate-transfer (TOT) or toll road (BOT) projects.

For instance, out of the 111 identified National Waterways, 106 were conceived in 2016 alone. An assertive Nutan Guha Biswas, Chairperson, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is confident that the statutory agency will continue to exceed its performance in 2018.