India says it turned its Commonwealth Games into a world-class success, and now it aims to do the same with its infrastructure. Patrick Smith reports. On October, 2010 India put itself on the world stage, and disaster appeared to loom as a catalogue of problems dogged its biggest ever sporting event. Costing nearly US$2 billion to stage, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever were, according to some, in doubt.
The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway which runs from the capital to its capital to its satellite town, is on one of the highest density corridors in India
India says it turned its Commonwealth Games into a world-class success, and now it aims to do the same with its infrastructure. Patrick Smith reports
On October, 2010 India put itself on the world stage, and disaster appeared to loom as a catalogue of problems dogged its biggest ever sporting event.Costing nearly US$2 billion to stage, the most expensive
After years of planning some projects were incomplete, there were health scares and a bridge collapsed at the Games site (the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium) in the Indian capital, Delhi.
Yet, as hundreds of millions worldwide had watched the events unfold and despite initial fears, 71 nations took part in the 19th Commonwealth Games, which were heralded a success by the organisers.
A day after the event closed on 14 August, its official website declared: "Delhi promised to deliver world-class Games and Delhi delivered," while the under-pressure Delhi 2010 organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, said: "For the athletes it has been a life-changing experience. For India it has been a new beginning in sports.
"For the world it has been evidence of what India can do on the sporting stage. This is a new era for Indian sport. All this has made what has turned out to be the largest, the most watched and the most enjoyable Games ever.
Android phones check progress
The Bihar state government is adopting path-breaking cellular phone technology to monitor the timely completion of road projects.
The Bihar State Road Development Corporation (BSRDC) under the Road Construction Department (RCD) is using Android phones to help executive engineers keep an eye on road construction work from district headquarters, said RCD Secretary Pratya Amrit, who will also do so from his office in Patna.
Upwardly mobile Bihar will be the first state to test the latest technology, and in the first phase the phones have been given to eight executive/assistant engineers for inspection of state highways 68, 69 and 70 in Naxal-hit Gaya and Aurangabad, which are being constructed or augmented with an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan. The three projects have been chosen because they were running behind time and needed immediate effective steps to check the slippage.
An assistant or executive engineer will visit construction sites every two days to take pictures of under-construction roads and upload them on the RCD site, with photos taken using the phones verifying that the pictures have actually been taken at the site of the construction work. The RCD Secretary will also monitor the location of the engineers using Google Maps, another application available on the phones.
Once the government is convinced of the usefulness of the technology, all 200 engineers in charge of road projects under the RCD will be given the phones, Amrit said, who noted that the measure does not entail much expenditure.
Pioneering work in the road sector is considered as a major reason for the landslide victory of the JD(U)-BJP coalition government in the recent Bihar Assembly elections."A month ago [September, 2010], questions were being asked whether the Games would be held at all. We drew inspiration from [India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal] Nehru: 'Success does not come suddenly or without setbacks'." And in a blog message, one person noted: "...On the day that the humiliating stories about the preparations for the Games surfaced, the Bombay Stock Exchange hit a new high. The Indian 'economic miracle' would survive a Commonwealth Games fiasco. But Indian pride would take a very bad hit." That may be true, but with the host nation winning an unprecedented 101 medals (including 37 golds to take second place behind Australia), and with a growth rate hovering around the 9% mark, this nation of some 1.2 billion people also has many other achievements of which to be proud, not least in its infrastructure development.
Here, like its ambition to host the Commonwealth Games, is the ambition to further improve transportation in the highways and other sectors, and this includes plans to make the
Indeed, by 2025 it has been estimated that 60% of the world's population, a projected 4.5 billion, will live in cities (Frost & Sullivan report, The Development of Megacities on Mobility and Vehicle Technology), and this will require major changes to transport infrastructure worldwide.
The report suggests that over 110 major cities will feature smart technologies by 2020, while India and China alone will see the development of 50 new cities to accommodate population growth.
Kamal Nath, (former Minister for Road Transport and Highways), who has taken charge as the Urban Development Minister, wants to see the Delhi Metro grow from 190km to 415km, which is 1km longer than the existing (402km) and planned London Underground. And such transport will be needed. By 2030, India's population will be around 1.53 billion, the largest in the world.
In an interview with The Times of India, Nath said that he had created a momentum in the highway sector, delivering 12.5km a day, something that had not happened in the five years prior to that.
According to him, urban development is one of the key areas contributing to GDP [gross domestic product] growth up to 60%, and is expected to go up to 70%.
He said the focus would be on transportation since the auto sector has grown up to 34%.
"As economy is growing at 8%-9%, we have to facilitate the creation of economically vibrant, inclusive and sustainable urban centres," he told the publication.
Meanwhile, according to Bhagwan Deokar, president of the Builders Association of India (BAI), within the next ten years around 520 million Indians will be able to speak good English, making it the world's biggest English-speaking country. This he sees as a big plus in a nation where over the next 10-20 years 65% of the population will be aged between 20-60 years and they will be earning.
His organisation is a joint organiser of the new bC India 2011 international trade fair held in Mumbai, India's commercial capital (8-11 February), one of a number of major international trade events taking place in the country in 2011.
The bC India 2011 construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines and construction vehicles event is a
Many of the 400-plus exhibitors already supply those involved in India's huge infrastructure investment programme, which also involves upgrading the majority of its major airports to satisfy international standards. These include the largest, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, the country's largest city, and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Plans are also in hand to tackle some of the chronic traffic congestion problems in Mumbai with
Bhagwan Deokar said: "The economy at present spends 6% of GDP to improve infrastructure. India will spend a minimum of 8-10% GDP on infrastructure during the 2012-2030 period." And he emphasised that India is looking to the developed countries for contractors along with, among other things, the latest technology, modern equipment, machinery and expertise. Already many agreements have been signed by India on infrastructure development with countries including Canada, China, Malaysia, Italy and the UK, and the country is embracing the latest technology including the use of
Indeed, in an interview, Eugen Egetenmeir, member of the management board of Messe München, said: "India has developed into one of the largest economies in the world. Medium-term forecasts from the economic institutes even predict that India will be the third biggest economy in the world after China and the US.
Tunnel dream comes true
Work is underway on the Rohtang Tunnel project, which will give India its longest tunnel, and offer what has been described as an "engineering wonder." The 9km long, horse show-shaped tunnel, under the Rohtang Pass in the Leh-Manali Highway, will link the Lahaul-Spiti Valley with the tourist town of Manali in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. It forms part of an all-weather access route to the mountainous regions of Leh and Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, and will also improve India's transport connections to China.
The route is in the Himalayas, and at an altitude of over 3,000m, the existing overland links are closed for four months of the year, making the tunnel essential.
The 11m wide tunnel, which will reduce travel times, is being constructed at an expenditure of $3.2 billion under the aegis of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) by Strabag-Afcons (a joint venture between India's Afcons Infrastructure and Austria's Strabag) and is expected to be completed by February 2015.
The project also includes the construction of 292km long all-weather road through Nimu-Padam-Darcha via Shinkunla Pass, traversing the remote Zanskar region of Jammu and Kashmir, at an additional estimated cost of $600 million. This will ensure the two other snow-bound passes, Baralacha La and Thaglang La, do not prevent the Manali-Keylong-Leh highway from becoming an all-weather road.
The tunnel was first suggested in 1983 and was a dream of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi but it has taken until now for the work to start, with the foundation stone being laid by his wife Sonia."However, according to experts, the deficits in the country's infrastructure are reducing the sharp rise in economic growth by about 2% per year. So the fact that India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is allowing for over $1 trillion of investment in the country's infrastructure in the 12th five-year plan for the period from 2012 to 2017 is extremely welcome.
"Messe München has made strategic decisions to organise our successful trade fairs in countries where there is an appropriate demand. This has inevitably led the most successful construction machinery fair in the world [bauma] to the booming economic market of India. bC India provides the ideal platform for international exchange in everything to do with construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment." Exhibitor demand saw exhibition space increased by around 60% to 80,000m².
"With India, we have opened up precisely the right market for our construction machinery trade fair," added Egetenmeir.
At 3.4 million kilometres, India's road network is the largest in the world, although around half of it is not asphalted and is generally in a poor state. Such roads are unable to keep up with growing traffic volume, and that is putting a brake on India's economic development, although it is still the envy of many in the world.
However, the Golden Quadrilateral project, a highway network connecting India's four major cities, the capital Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), consists of building nearly 6,000km of four/six lane express highways.
According to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), to date 99.2% of construction work on the Golden Quadrilateral has been completed. Out of its total length of 5,846km, four-laning of 5,799km has been completed. The target date for completion of GQ is December 2011.
The bC India 2011 construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines and construction vehicles event is a
Many of the 400-plus exhibitors already supply those involved in India's huge infrastructure investment programme, which also involves upgrading the majority of its major airports to satisfy international standards. These include the largest, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, the country's largest city, and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Plans are also in hand to tackle some of the chronic traffic congestion problems in Mumbai with
Bhagwan Deokar said: "The economy at present spends 6% of GDP to improve infrastructure. India will spend a minimum of 8-10% GDP on infrastructure during the 2012-2030 period." And he emphasised that India is looking to the developed countries for contractors along with, among other things, the latest technology, modern equipment, machinery and expertise. Already many agreements have been signed by India on infrastructure development with countries including Canada, China, Malaysia, Italy and the UK, and the country is embracing the latest technology including the use of
Inaugural Intertraffic India
India manufactures about 12 million two and four-wheeled vehicles per year, and is the world's second largest producer of two-wheelers and seventh largest producer of passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
With 26% increase in car sales in 2009, India became the second fastest growing automobile market in the world, and German manufacturer BMW is said to be planning to launch a sport utility vehicle (SUV) X1 car with plans to assemble the car in Chennai.
Passenger and cargo traffic is estimated to grow at 12-15% and 15-18% annually respectively, and current road passenger traffic is estimated at about 6,000 billion passenger/km per year and cargo traffic at 1,150 billion tones/km per year.
It is against this backdrop that Intertraffic India 2011 will make its debut.
"With Intertraffic India, we are offering our clients an outstanding business opportunity. The Indian economy has been on the upswing. Moreover, the Indian government has recognised that road development and construction is essential to sustain India's economic growth resulting in a highly promising road and traffic development scenario," says Amsterdam RAI product manager Mariska Dreschler.
"The combination with the IRF Regional Conference on Road Safety and the involvement of local, regional and national authorities makes Intertraffic India an all-encompassing event." Vehicular growth requires equal provision for parking, and the all-round growth in the country calls for specific solutions of automated parking systems for airports, railway stations, shopping malls/markets, multiplexes, housing and office complexes, educational institutes and bus depots.
Apart from road infrastructure, Indian transportation operates 120 airports and 63,000km of railway tracks with 11,000 trains and about 6,900 railway stations.Indeed, in an interview, Eugen Egetenmeir, member of the management board of Messe München, said: "India has developed into one of the largest economies in the world. Medium-term forecasts from the economic institutes even predict that India will be the third biggest economy in the world after China and the US.
"However, according to experts, the deficits in the country's infrastructure are reducing the sharp rise in economic growth by about 2% per year. So the fact that India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is allowing for over $1 trillion of investment in the country's infrastructure in the 12th five-year plan for the period from 2012 to 2017 is extremely welcome.
"Messe München has made strategic decisions to organise our successful trade fairs in countries where there is an appropriate demand. This has inevitably led the most successful construction machinery fair in the world [bauma] to the booming economic market of India. bC India provides the ideal platform for international exchange in everything to do with construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment." Exhibitor demand saw exhibition space increased by around 60% to 80,000m².
"With India, we have opened up precisely the right market for our construction machinery trade fair," added Egetenmeir.
At 3.4 million kilometres, India's road network is the largest in the world, although around half of it is not asphalted and is generally in a poor state. Such roads are unable to keep up with growing traffic volume, and that is putting a brake on India's economic development, although it is still the envy of many in the world.
However, the Golden Quadrilateral project, a highway network connecting India's four major cities, the capital Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), consists of building nearly 6,000km of four/six lane express highways.
According to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), to date 99.2% of construction work on the Golden Quadrilateral has been completed. Out of its total length of 5,846km, four-laning of 5,799km has been completed. The target date for completion of GQ is December 2011.
"To speed up work on the project, where persistent non-performance of some contractors was established, the contracts were terminated and the balance of the work was re-awarded.
"Few contractors were placed in the list of non-performing contractors, although on some projects initial delay occurred due to necessities such as land acquisition [this can be a long process in India], utility shifting and tree cutting, issues that were resolved in coordination with the state government.
"Projects are closely monitored by regional offices established by the NHAI through periodic review for their early completion," says the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
NHAI has also completed 85% (2,693km) of the total length of 3,165km of National Highways under the NHDP targeted for completion in 2009-10, way higher than the achievement in 2008-09 (62.59%: target 3,519km, achieved 2,205km) and 2007-08(58.3%: 2,885km, 1,682km), while the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says it has constructed the highest length of National Highways in 2009-10 since the inception of NHDP. It has completed 5,010km at the rate of 13.81km per day.
While the Golden Quadrilateral makes up less than 2% of India's road network it carries about 40% of the country's traffic, and it is worrying to record that it accounts for an estimated one-third of India's 125,000-plus traffic deaths each year, the highest figure in the world.
The International Road Federation (IRF) and many other organisations, appalled by this loss of life, are looking at how safety on India's roads can be improved.
Kiran Kapila, chairman and managing director of ICT, one of India's leading infrastructure consultancy organisations, and the chairman of IRF Geneva, said in an interview (World Highways, July/August, 2010): "We would like to reduce road fatalities in India by 50% by 2012.
"A multi-faceted approach is essential. It requires a totally coordinated action plan involving all agencies and stakeholders at every phase, from road conception to operation. We are working to make this possible. For example, the government is actively considering our proposal for creating National and State level Road Safety Boards. The campaign and advocacy of IRF India is for a total solution and is not limited to merely raising awareness." A recent report from India's National Crime Records reveals that reported road accidents caused on average 56 injuries/hour and 14 deaths/hour during 2009, with the number of deaths rising from 118,000 in 2008 to 126,000 in 2009, of which 21% were two-wheeler riders.
Reported traffic accidents reached 421,000 in 2009, but as vehicle numbers continue to increase it is felt that large numbers of injuries and fatalities are not being recorded.
Serious issues include poor driving skills, vehicle condition, road condition and safety measures, and there is also an issue regarding mixed vehicle types on the nation's roads, with bicycles and carts hauled by animals using many of the same routes as trucks, cars and buses.
These matters will be discussed at the 6th IRF Regional on Road Safety, to be held in New Delhi from 3-6 October, 2011, which will be held alongside the debut Intertraffic India 2011 exhibition from 3-5 October, 2011.
Jointly organised by Amsterdam RAI and the IRF, the event will showcase products and services relating to infrastructure, ITS traffic management, parking, road safety and allied subjects.
Meanwhile, giving further details about the length of National Highways constructed during the last ten years, the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shri R.P.N Singh said that since 2000-2001 (to 2009-2010), 30,412km of National Highway have been constructed with the maximum length being constructed in the last financial year.
However, in order to complete work as quickly as possible it is hoped that the construction rate can be increased to 20km of road a day, and already many major routes four-laned under the previous plans are set to be increased to six lanes.
Indeed, six-laning of 6,500km of National Highways, including the entire Golden Quadrilateral and 800km of other high density traffic corridors are presently approved under NHDP Phase V with target for completion by December, 2012. These are being implemented predominantly on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.
For example, road travel time between Chennai and Bangalore will reduce significantly in the next couple of years as the NHAI widens the entire 350km stretch to six lanes.
The NHAI has already awarded two contracts, with Reliance Infrastructure constructing nearly 60km and Larsen & Toubro building over 148km on the stretch. The NHAI now plans to award a third contract for the widening of the 93km two-lane section between Poonamallee and Walajapet under a PPP.
At present it takes more than five hours to drive between Chennai and Bangalore, and Poonamallee is an extremely congested section due to the presence of various commercial establishments on the either side of the road.
Driverless taxis for Gurgaon?
The Indian government has appointed the UK-based Urban Light Transport PRT (ULTra PRT) to study the feasibility of operating driverless pod taxis at Gurgaon in Haryana state of India.
The city, 30km south of Delhi has the third highest per capita income in India, and the government is planning to build 143 stations along a 105km route with 3,150 pod taxis to provide its service initially. They will run on elevated tracks in the city and will be guided by laser.
ULTra PRT began developing the system in 1995 in association with the University of Bristol, and the system emerged from systematic engineering analysis as the optimum solution to urban transport problems.Reliance Infrastructure is also working on the new Delhi-Agra highway upgrade in India. The 180km link will be widened to six lanes at a cost of nearly US$499 million and is expected to take three years to complete. Traffic volumes are heavy at present on the existing route between India's capital and Agra, a heavily industrialised city as well as key stop on India's tourist trail [site of the Taj Mahal].
In another move, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has sought
There are also big plans to make the 500km NH-24 from Delhi to Lucknow four lanes by December, 2013 (some are already four lanes), and even bigger plans to construct a major new eight-lane expressway from Delhi to Uttarrakhand north-east of the city.
The proposed alignment follows the route of the Upper Ganga Canal, nearly 480km of canal originally built in the 1850s that provides irrigation for land across ten different districts.
The project will be developed under a PPP programme and will provide a new 147km expressway along with further link roads totalling over 50km, canal renovation and reclamation, hydro-electric power stations and 24 bridges to facilitate navigation, berthing and cargo facilities along the canal.
URS/Scott Wilson was appointed by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways and Industrial Development Authority to prepare a feasibility report to develop a financial model and provide a technically and financially viable solution that would incorporate all of the different elements of the project and address any environmental and social concerns.
