Page 2 - Infrastructure Sector

Elections, infrastructure push to boost consumption: Nestle India CMD

Narayan said consumer market sees polarities of booming premiumisation and tepid demand for mainstream products

Govt should focus on capital expenditure in interim Budget: Former NITI VC

Former NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the government needs to continue its focus on capital expenditure in the upcoming interim budget, as private investment is 'still weak' and there is a need to bridge infrastructure gap, which has been 'plaguing' the Indian economy. Kumar noted that increase in capital expenditure during the Modi government period is showing results in terms of the much better quality of the infrastructure and this was needed to make Indian industry globally competitive. He said because of rising indirect tax revenues and also the widening direct tax base, the finance minister will also achieve fiscal consolidation targets. "The capex thrust will continue because the private investment still remains a bit weak. And also, we need to overcome the infrastructure deficit that has plagued our economy and also the logistics cost, which are very high and can only be covered by rising public capital expenditure" he told PTI in an ...

As many as 431 infra projects show cost overrun of Rs 4.82 trillion in Dec

As many as 431 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, were hit by cost overrun of more than Rs 4.82 lakh crore in December 2023, an official report stated. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,820 projects, 431 reported cost overrun and 848 projects were delayed. "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,820 projects was Rs 25,87,066.08 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 30,69,595.88 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,82,529.80 crore (18.65 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for December 2023 said. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2023 is Rs 16,26,813.80 crore, which is 53 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreased to 638, if delay is

PM GatiShakti helping in better planning of infrastructure projects: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the interconnectivity of data layers is helping in better planning, monitoring, and implementation of infrastructure projects through PM GatiShakti. Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 at Gandhinagar, the minister said that delayed infrastructure projects lead to cost overruns, affecting citizens' finances. He noted the significant contribution of PM GatiShakti for faster, more efficient, and cost-effective infrastructure development to deliver maximum benefits to citizens. The PM GatiShakti initiative was launched to develop an integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. Citing the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project, Goyal highlighted the immense benefit that the PM GatiShakti initiative has brought to the efficient planning of large-scale infrastructure development projects.

Centre issues Rs 5,488 cr additional instalment of tax devolution to Bengal

West Bengal has received Rs 5,488.88 crore as additional instalment of tax devolution by the Centre. On Friday, the Centre had disbursed Rs 72,961.21 crore to all states as tax devolution for funding various social welfare measures and infrastructure development schemes. This comes in addition to the tax devolution instalment due to states on January 10, 2024, the government said. The Centre disburses tax devolution funds in 14 yearly instalments. In the latest allocation, Uttar Pradesh received the largest share at Rs 13,088.51 crore. This was followed by Bihar (Rs 7,338 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 5,727.44 crore), West Bengal (Rs 5,488.88 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 4,608.96 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 4,396.64 crore) and Odisha ( Rs 3,303.69 crore).

Chennai needs at least 2,000 km more of modern stormwater drains: Official

Ten days after Cyclone Michuang brought more than 50 cm of rain inundating many parts of Chennai, a senior official of Greater Chennai Corporation said the city needs to add at least 2,000 km more of modern stormwater drains with a higher capacity to handle showers of this magnitude. The city currently has around 2,950 km of drains, most of which have an inadequate handling capacity of 2-5 cm per hour, S Rajendiran, GCC chief engineer for stormwater drains (SWD), told PTI. "Chennai has a road length of 5,500 km. At least 5,000 km of drains with higher capacity are required for the city to handle such heavy rains. New drains coming up in the northern, western and southern parts of the city are being built to handle rain precipitation of 7-8 cm/hour," he said. The official was referring to the 767 km of drains being constructed at a cost of Rs 3,520 crore in Kosasthalaiyar river basin (North and West Chennai) and 360 km of drains built in Kovalam river basin (South Chennai) at Rs 1,71

UltraTech Cement to buy Kesoram's cement business in $645 million deal

As a part of the deal, UltraTech will issue one share for every 52 shares of Kesoram and give UltraTech ownership of two integrated cement units in states of Karnataka and Telangana

Eight key infrastructure sectors growth up at 12.1% in October: Govt data

All the sectors except for fertiliser recorded healthy production growth in the month under review

Fischer Group looks to triple turnover in India to Rs 600 cr in 5-7 years

Germany's fischer Group, a major player in fixing systems for the construction industry, plans to treble its turnover in India in the next 5-7 years, tapping the fast growth of the sector in the country, top company officials said on Thursday. The group, which clocked a turnover of around Rs 200 crore last year, will be focussing on infrastructure projects, along with sectors such as energy, industry, and oil and gas, to accelerate its growth in India. "India is one of the most important countries for fischer Group. India is investing and India is growing... we are working on some of the most important construction projects...," fischerwerke GmbH & Co KG Managing Director Business Units & Engineering Oliver Geibig said here in an interaction. The group has five divisions -- fixing systems, automotive, fischertechnik, consulting and electronic solutions. Geibig said the group's focus in the mid-term on India will be on fixing systems for the construction industry. Elaborating ..

Planning for megapolises: What to expect from infra boom in NCR and Mumbai

In time we might see the Indian equivalent of the Greater Bay area of southern China. It may be time to plan ahead for better outcomes than we have seen so far in India's cities, writes T N Ninan

Smart metering infrastructure catches pace as states award mega tenders

Smart meter tenders have gained momentum in states, thanks to the new power distribution reforms scheme of the Centre

Core sector output slows to a four-month low of 8.1% in September

Experts say pickup in rainfall expectedly flattened the core sector expansion

JSW Infra extends gains after strong listing; zooms 41% over issue price

Moody's Investors Service, on Tuesday, upgraded JSW Infra corporate family rating (CFR) and senior secured bond rating to Ba1 from Ba2, and changed the outlook to stable from positive

Key infrastructure sector growth rises to 8% in July 2023: Govt data

Growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to 8 per cent in July 2023 compared to 4.8 per cent in the same month last year on expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the official data released on Thursday. Production of steel, cement and electricity also grew in July, the data showed. However, the core sector growth was lower in July compared to the previous month when it was 8.3 per cent, the Commerce and Industry Ministry data showed. The output growth of the eight sectors was also lower at 6.4 per cent in April-July 2023-24 against 11.5 per cent in the year-ago period.

As many as 388 infra projects show cost overruns of Rs 4.65 trn in July

As many as 388 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.65 lakh crore in July 2023, an official report said. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,646 projects, 388 reported cost overruns and as many as 809 projects were delayed. "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,646 projects was Rs 23,92,837.89 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 28,58,394.39 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,65,556.50 crore (19.46 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for July 2023 said. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till July 2023 was Rs 15,21,550.38 crore, which was 53.23 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreases to 602 if delay is

Pace of lending to infrastructure sector tumbles sharply to 1.8% in May

The share of power sector loans is around half of the bank's infrastructure loan portfolio of Rs 12.22 trillion as of May 2023

India's key infrastructure sectors' growth slows down to 4.3% in May

The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent in May 2023 due to a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas, and electricity. The core sector growth was 19.3 per cent in May 2022 while in April 2023 the key infra sectors recorded a growth rate of 4.3 per cent. During April-May this fiscal, the output growth of these eight sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent as against 14.3 per cent in the year-ago period.

Centre's Svamitva scheme spawns infrastructure for accurate map making

The concluding part of the series on Svamitva looks at CORS, a network of GPS-enabled stations for creating maps in quick time

National Investment & Infrastructure Fund in talks to raise $244 mn

Infrastructure investment trusts, known as InvIT for short, are like mutual funds and allow pooling of assets for financing projects and can help make up the shortfall in investment

Key infrastructure sector growth slows down to 6-month low of 3.5% in April

The production growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a six-month low of 3.5 per cent in April 2023 due to a decline in the output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and electricity. The core sector growth was 9.5 per cent in April 2022 while in March 2023 the key infra sectors recorded a growth rate of 3.6 per cent. The growth rate in April 2023 is the lowest since October 2022 when the sectors expanded by 0.7 per cent. Coal production growth declined to 9 per cent in April this year, according to the official data released on Wednesday. Fertiliser production soared by 23.5 per cent, steel by 12.1 per cent and cement output by 11.6 per cent in April, the data showed.