Focus Feb 01, 2013 Breaking the vicious (water) cycle An efficient water utility is at the core of the reform process. The roadmap for utility reform has to overcome the triple problems of low investments, low recovery, and poor levels of service, writes Abhay Kantak The urban water supply and sewerage (WSS) utilities in India suffer from poor quality infrastructure and service delivery.
Web Exclusive Dec 05, 2012 MBL to tie up funds for Rs 5 bn highway project A recent report by CRISIL Research shows that MBL Infrastructures (MBL) may attain financial closure for its over Rs 500 crore Bikaner–Suratgarh highway widening project during Jan-Mar 2013. The company was earlier awarded the project for Developing and Operation of Bikaner–Suratgarh Section of NH–15 in Rajasthan by the state government. The project has been awarded to the consortium led by MBL
Cover Story Dec 01, 2012 Road projects in limbo Slow progress in project execution coupled with subdued interest in bidding for new projects under current policy frame may give alternative option to call for revaluation or fresh bids for already allocated road projects. In order to avert this situation, a Performance Review Unit (PRU) proposed by the Planning Commission needs to be endowed with power to gather information from nodal agencies on clearances and incentivise or to regulate, writes Sumantra Das.
Cover Story Dec 01, 2012 Reinventing India’s road infrastructure Highway award and implementation has faced a major slowdown this fiscal, but most of the factors are the usual suspects. Then why is this year different? Rohit Chaturvedi and Tejaswi Subramanian explain the potential pitfalls and silver lining in the sluggishness. After a year of aggressive bidding and flourishing business, the road sector has seen a marked slowdown this year in the number of allotments made or expected to be made by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Editor's Page Oct 01, 2012 The PPP-EPC Cycle Periodically alternating between promoting PPP-led projects and more controlled EPC may circumvent investor interest uncertainty.
Report Jun 01, 2012 Water experts question uniform thrust on PPP The conference was a milestone in that experts discussed why the government-promoted PPP model has often failed when it comes to the water sector.
Web Exclusive Apr 03, 2012 Default rate at ten-year high of 3.4 per cent: CRISIL Credit quality pressures have intensified for India’s corporates in 2011-12 (refers to financial year April 1 to March 31). Instances of default by CRISIL-rated entities increased to 188, the highest for any year.
Cover Story Nov 01, 2011 Infra Debt Funds: Creating new wealth IDFs come as a new solution to debt finance to long-term, high-value infrastructure sectors. Eligibility norms for IDFs are rather stringent but justified given the risks and quantums-typical of infrastructure investment-involved.
Cover Story Nov 01, 2011 A new opportunity to participate in Indian infrastructure The government is finally preparing to launch its first IDF this year, albeit with a $3 billion corpus open to domestic investors alone. Vishal Shah and Smit Sheth hail IDF as a good beginning, but contend that the definition of infrastructure needs to be sharpened.