INCREDIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE

ThatÂ’s precisely the theme of Infrastructure TodayÂ’s next edition. If readers recollect, Golden Quadrilateral, at 5,846 km, touted to be the largest highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world then took several years to complete. However, things have changed drastically in the last four years. In FY18 alone, NHAI awarded 150 road projects of 7,397 km, a record in itself!

IndiaÂ’s infrastructure spending will have to accelerate to at least Rs 50 lakh crore or Rs 50 trillion between fiscals 2018 and 2022 to make a visible impact on service delivery and provide a foundation for rapid and inclusive economic growth. This projection factors an average annual GDP growth of 7 per cent, infrastructure investments equal to approximately 5.5 per cent of GDP, and a pick-up in private sector investments after fiscal 2019. Experts see the power, ports, railways, urban transport (metro rail) and urban sectors accounting for 78 per cent of the overall infrastructure spending.

To begin with, Metro rail sector has seen strong traction in the last couple of years and is expected to provide sizeable opportunities for construction companies over the next three to five years. The overall cost of expansion of the operational and approved metro projects under implementation is over Rs 2.5 trillion, and another Rs 2 trillion worth projects are in various stages of approval and are likely to come up for bidding in the next five years. In total, about 440 km of new metro network development has been approved and another ~800 km is in the proposal stage. In case of roads, HAM projects formed the bulk of the total value of awards last year at 63 per cent, followed by pure EPC contracts at 35 per cent and BOT projects the remaining. In addition, governmentÂ’s Bharatmala project is generating interest in logistic parks worth Rs 2 trillion in 24 villages, and is supporting the investment in 44 economic corridors. The centre is expected to start projects worth Rs 3 trillion under Phase-I.

That said, a magnum opus $100 billion project industrial project— Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor—is currently underway and progressing at a faster pace. The project will create a trade corridor between Delhi and Mumbai running through Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Additionally, of the eight planned smart cities for the Phase I of the project— Dholera, AURIC, Vikram-Udyogpuri and IITGNL—are in the implementation stages.

WhatÂ’s more, under Sagarmala programme, the government has already awarded more than Rs 1.80 trillion in the port sector. Also, have commenced railway works and road connectivity projects too. Of the Rs 4 trillion, projects worth Rs 300-400 billion are in the tendering process.

Apart from these big announcements, projects like Chenab River Railway Bridge, Navi Mumbai International Airport, Charanka Solar Park, the Bogibeel Bridge, Banihal-Qazigund tunnel, Sewri-Nhava-Sheva sea bridge to name a few are all set to change the definition of mega projects vis a vis India. The point here I am making is how things have changed in the last four years. Since the beginning of 2014, the federal government has launched several big-ticket infrastructure projects and above mentioned numbers and projects depict how the country has leapfrogged from small-scale structures to mega-scale wonders. This will certainly elicit interests from major global engineering and construction companies to engage its well-trained and experienced project managers to deliver projects within stipulated budget and timelines.

FIRST Construction Council is organising the INDIA CONSTRUCTION FESTIVAL on October 24th-25th in New Delhi in association with New-York-based ENR magazine to bring these global majors to India and whet their appetites.