Reliance Infrastructure, led by Anil Ambani, has defaulted seven times since February 1, 2020, in making payments for loans given by Yes bank, as per different disclosures made to the stock exchanges by the company. Similarly, the company had defaulted four times in making payments to Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) and SREI Equipment […]
Category: Roads
Now, China out of India’s road projects as well! Gadkari bars Chinese companies from building highways
Now, China out of India’s road projects as well! Amid the ongoing border standoff with China, India will not allow Chinese companies to participate in highway projects, including those through joint ventures. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that the Modi government will make sure that investors from China are not entertained in various sectors like […]
COVID-19 lockdown impact: Highway construction halves to just 847 kms in April-May!
An acute labour shortage has hit highway construction in April-May. Just 847 km of highways were constructed in the country during the first two months of this fiscal, compared with 1,692 km in the year-ago period. A total of 10,237 km highways were constructed in the whole of 2019-20. The year 2018-19 was the best […]
Rural development ministry presents funds requirement for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
In a meeting with the 15th Finance Commission on Friday, the rural development ministry projected requirement of Rs 82,946 crore for six years through FY26 for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and another Rs 1.3-lakh-crore maintenance of the PMGSY roads during the period. Rural roads are recognised as catalysts to rural development and […]
Toll suspension: Highway developers to seek arbitration to recover around Rs 650 crore from NHAI
Most of the 162 build-operate-transfer (toll) concessionaires, including private equity players, have decided to take the arbitration route to recover around Rs 650 crore as interest and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the 25-day toll collection suspension period. Sources said the concessionaires are upset with the […]
Road EPC companies’ revenue to contract 8-10% in FY21 due to Covid-19: Crisil Ratings
Labour shortage, slowdown in execution of road projects due to lockdown may cause revenue growth of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms to fall into the low, double-digit negative territory, rating agency Crisil said on Tuesday. “Revenue of road-building EPC companies is expected to de-grow 8-10% this fiscal with the Covid-19 pandemic-driven lockdowns severely curtailing […]
Gorakhpur Link Expressway: Faster connectivity from Lucknow, Agra & Delhi with 6-lane 91.3 km long expressway
Gorakhpur Link Expressway: In a major boost to roadways infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh, Gorakhpur Link Expressway will be ready for the operation soon at a cost of over Rs 5,876.68 crore. The expressway will ensure hasslefree movement of vehicular traffic from Delhi, Lucknow and Agra, Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) stated, as per […]
Ashoka Buildcon rating: Buy — Covid hit execution in Q4
Ashoka Buildcon (ABL) reported 4% y-o-y contraction in Q4FY20 revenue as COVID-19 adversely impacted execution. Ebitda margin surged 440bps y-o-y to 18.2% aided by one-offs; consequently, adjusted profit rose 56% y-o-y. Toll revenue remained weak with traffic declining y-o-y across all projects. Order book fell to ~ Rs 90 bn (book-to-bill of 2.4x). Incremental order […]
Pure PPP projects in highways seem to attract interest again
The highway sector seems to witness investor interest in pure public-private-partnership (PPP) projects, the share of which in new awards has declined precipitously for nearly a decade and drawn a blank in the last two financial years. At least five firms — IRB Infrastructure, Ashoka Buildcon, Adani Road Transport, Oriental Structural Engineers and PNC Infratech […]
Now, smaller highway assets too on offer under TOT model
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will now offer smaller bundles of operational assets worth Rs 500 crore and above, under its asset monetisation programme through the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model. Talking to members of the industry body Assocham, minister for road transport and highways and MSME Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday that the proposal […]
Revenue, profitability to take hit due to COVID-19, ops at standstill: SPML Infra
SPML Infra on Monday said the COVID-19 pandemic has hit its operations hard, and revenue and profitability are likely to be adversely impacted as all projects have come to a standstill. The infrastructure firm said normalisation of operations will take time as it is also facing shortage of labour. “April-June 2020 being lockdown months, the […]
Going PPP way: BharatNet project to get a private sector connection
The department of telecommunications (DoT) is soon going to invite the private sector in implementing the BharatNet project, which has already seen several delays and cost escalation. Through the project, originally conceived in 2011, the government wants to provide high-speed broadband connectivity through optic fibre to all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country. Due […]