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A slow but steady recovery in machine sales worldwide is likely in the next few years, with India being one of the key growth markets for the future. However, this comes after the construction equipment sector has seen significant downturns as well as other major changes worldwide in the last few years, according to David Phillips, managing director of Off Highway Research. He said, “The industry structure has really changed.” Global sales of construction machines were worth around US$93 billion in 2014

India’s federal government has sanctioned the construction or upgrading of 2,500km of national level roads in Telangana state. Work should include another ring road around the capital Hyderabad, according to a report in the Times of India newspaper. The head of the state government, chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, said state planning officials will need to come up with a detailed forward plan for transportation in the new state. Rao has held office since Telangana was carved out of Andhra Prades

Analysis into traffic crashes in India has revealed that only around half of the country’s road deaths in 2015/2016 resulted in insurance claims. There were around 146,000 road fatalities in India during this period. The problem has been revealed by India’s Supreme Court. There are suggestions that the families of many of the road death victims do not know that they are entitled to compensation. The Supreme Court has pointed out that the four major sector insurers holding around 90% of the country’s busines

Volvo Construction Equipment has seen its sales dip 2% in the third quarter of 2016, following a strong year. However the profit margins have improved despite the flat sales volumes in the third quarter. The firm says that an improvement in the European market and order intake up by 17% failed to offset continued weakness in other markets, sending Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) sales down 2% in the third quarter, when adjusted for currency movements. Net sales in the third quarter decreased by 3

Funding has been found for a major highway project in India. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a substantial portion of the US$846 million of financing required for the 800km Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC). In all the ADB will provide $631 million in the form of a series of grants and loans, which will be delivered in stages. Meanwhile the Indian Government will provide $215 million. The VCIC itself forms part of the 2,500km East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC).

The 18th edition of the IRF World Road Meeting (WRM) will take place from 14 – 17 November, 2017 in Delhi, India. The WRM has been organised by IRF once every four years for the last 60 years. The WRM is a prestigious event and is expected to attract over 4,000 international and national participants. The theme for WRM – 2017 is “SAFE ROADS and SMART Mobility: The Engines of Economic Growth.” Road transport and mobility are the lifeline of a modern economy and contribute significantly to economic growt

The Africa Regional Seminar and Workshop delivers key recommendations on performance-based contracts. The International Road Federation (IRF) Geneva has helped co-organise the Africa Regional Seminar and Workshop on "Performance-based Contracts for Roads." This was organised and run jointly with local support from the Tanzania Ministry of Works, Transport, and Communications, the Road Fund Board, TANROADS, the Tanzania Transportation Technology Transfer Centre and the Tanzania Roads Association (TARA). Also

Construction work is proceeding ahead of schedule for the new Delhi expressway project in India. This US$862 million project now looks likely to be ready for traffic by August 2017. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), originally planned for the Delhi Eastern Peripheral Expressway to be completed by July 2018. Work on the 135km project started in May 2016. The highway project is a novel development for India as it will be the first in the country to be solar powered. It will also feature around

A new road upgrade project in India's Bihar State is now moving ahead, forming part of the country’s highway expansion programme. The US$138.4 million contract will see the NH 82 link running from Gaya to Biharsharif being widened to four lanes. Funding is being provided by the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA). The contract for the project will be handled by local company Gaytri Projects. The deal was awarded to the contractor by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Bihar State Road Development

Road development work continues in India, with the country planning its highway infrastructure expansion. The projects are being planned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). A new 127km highway will connect Lucknow with Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The four lane route will also pass through Ayyubganj and Musafirkhana and is expected to cost in the region of US$425.3 million to construct. The work is being carried out by the contractor Dilip Buildon.

India has approved an ambitious US$1.04 billion project for constructing and upgrading 558km of roads to link it with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. India's Department of Economic Affairs has agreed to the project that will have 50% funding from the Asian Development Bank. A report by India’s independent newswire agency IANS noted that the work will be done within two years. "We have taken up five highway stretches in the country, which are very important for such a connectivity to succeed. This project i

India has embarked on an ambitious 6-year plan to upgrade 27,000km of roads into economic corridors. The goal is to reduce traffic congestion and boost jobs in 30 cities, according to a report by the Times of India. Around 44 stretches of highway have been earmarked for improvement and construction will include ring-roads. Financing will be a mixture of private investment and public money. In addition, the government will develop another 15,000 km, which will serve as feeder routes to these corr

The Indian Government has revealed that 146,133 people died in crashes on the country’s roads during 2015. This figure is of concern as it is an increase of 4.6% over India’s road fatality rate of 139,671 for the previous year. Also of concern is the fact that over half of the people who died in crashes were aged from 15-34, revealing that there is a particularly high risk for the young on India’s roads. The data also shows that there were 501,423 reported crashes on India’s road network in 2015, an increas

A new highway widening and upgrade project is planned for the Indian state of Rajasthan. The project is worth some US$123.2 million and is for the upgrading of the NH-11A route. This will be widened to four lanes and with shoulders also, along an 83km stretch. The highway passes through the historic city of Jaipur, as well as Tonk and Dausa. The project also includes constructing three bypass sections, one bridge passing over a railway, three large bridges and 12 small bridges. The work will take 30 months

India is embarking upon a series of large road upgrade projects. In all 16 roads will be improved in 11 states, with a total length of 622km. The work will cost US$1.12 billion in all to carry out and the timeline for the tendering process has yet to be announced. The projects will be carried out in the states of Arunachal Pradesh Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Meanwhile Ashoka Concessions has been awarded the $311 million

Following the offer by Currie & Brown, a leading physical assets management and construction consultancy, to acquire Sweett Group plc, it was today announced that Sweett has been delisted. The combined entity will employ approximately 2,200 employees in over 60 offices in the Americas, Europe, India, the Middle East, the UK and the US. The cost of the purchase was not given.

Euro Auctions reports that it had record sales at its three-day auction at its recently expanded Leeds site in the United Kingdom at the end of August. A total of 4,645 lots went under the hammer at the 10.5 hectare site, achieving over €37 million. More than 40% of sales were placed via the internet, a record for internet sales, said Jonnie Keys, general manager of Euro Auctions.

A major programme of road upgrades will help boost transportation in India’s Kerala State. Close to US$190 million will be invested in developing new road links in the state. In all 76 new road links are being planned. Funding is being provided by the Indian Government with the work being overseen by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB).

A major programme of road development is planned for the Indian states of Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Odisha and West Bengal. In all some 1,120km of the country’s National Highways will be constructed in these states. This plan for road development forms part of the National Highways Interconnectivity Improvement Project. So far some 429km of these new roads have been completed, with all of the work expected to be finished by mid-2024. The work was initially expected to cost US$773 million but unforeseen e

The International Road Federation (IRF), together with IRF India, is putting out this Call for Papers to invite authors to submit abstracts for presentation at the World Road Meeting (WRM) in 2017. This conference will be of interest to professionals, academics, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners involved with road transport and mobility. The conference will take place place 14 to 17 November 2017 in Delhi, India.