BK Chaturvedi, Member of the Planning Commission of India, is in the hot seat. It was his draft of the original MCA in roads that made all the difference to PPP in roads. Now it´s time to debug that document, he tells Garima P.
Have investors been withdrawing on account of the existing Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for highways?
Quite a few people have been attacking the MCA saying that provisions need to be changed. Now that the economy is not doing well, it is easy to blame the MCA for
India´s east coast economic corridor On the Indian East Coast economic corridor, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is carrying out analytical work. The study will examine the kind of infra-¡structure and institutional investments needed to drive manufacturing-led growth that will create jobs and leverage local, national, regional and global opportunities, according to an ADB release.
The C Rangarajan Committee is expected to suggest reduction and deferment of premium to be paid by road developers to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Hence, with the panel measures, several highway developers are set to get major relief. Rangarajan committee is likely to recommend that for six-laning of highway projects, at least 25 per cent reduction in annual premium payment to NHAI during construction period and about 50 per cent during subsequent years.
The government could make builders liable for defects on the main carriageway for five years instead of the present two years. This measure has been said to be taken by the government to ensure that roads are maintained better in the city. The governments proposed move comes after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh´s directive to address issues of quality of roads built under the EPC model.
Punjab government´s ´Draft Master Plan 2031´has elicited the wide range public opinion that better road connectivity of Chandigarh with Mohali and Mullanpur was the main concern of Punjab people. Hearing on the objections/suggestions pertaining to the draft Master Plan 2031 was held on 26 November. The Punjab government suggested that the road network should be strengthened by construction of additional roads.
Kerala Public Works Department is mulling to come up with its State Road Policy to develop a sustainable road network which would meet the traffic requirements of the future. Draft of the policy will be an improvised version of the one prepared four years back. The formulation of Kerala Road Policy will be discussed at the high-level meet of PWD officials.
About 30 Special Economic Zone (SEZ) developers have been given six months to one year more time by the Union government to execute their projects. The decision was taken by an inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA) chaired by Commerce Secretary SR Rao in its meeting. Requesting for more time to implement their projects, Posco-India, Unitech Infracon and Lodha Dwellers have also made their requisition to the government.
To ascertain the accuracy of road developers´ claims of financial stress due to lower toll revenues, a Union government panel has called for a traffic survey on 47 highways. The panel has been appointed by the Union Cabinet to examine bailout demands of highway developers. The panel is headed by C Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Minister´s Economic Advisory Council.
The proposed ICICI Venture infra fund, which aims to invest in assets such as roads, ports, airports and seaports and infrastructure companies, has secured investment commitments of up to $270 million (Rs 1,685 crore) from major companies like LIC.
The Union government is likely to set up a Rs 5,500-crore Indian Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF). Media reports say that the Union Cabinet is likely to take up a proposal in this regard. The fund will be under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).