IDBI bank to launch India's first infrastructure fund - 10 Feb 2012 - Economic TimesPublished On :2012-02-10 11:43:00 NEW DELHI: State-run IDBI Bank will launch the country's
first infrastructure debt fund (IDF) to raise $5 billion for building roads,
ports and airports. Such debt funds, announced in the budget 2011-12, can be
floated through non-banking finance companies (NBFC) or as trusts. They were
proposed two years ago by a panel led by HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, which had
suggested an initial corpus of 50,000 crore.
IDBI Bank has sought
Reserve Bank of India's approval for an NBFC, which will have a capital base of
1,000 crore. The bank will hold 30% stake in the NBFC and the rest will be held
by some state-run banks and Life Insurance Corporation of India, said a top
banker involved in the process. The new entity under the relaxed norms can
provide long-term debt of over 25,000 crore in the infrastructure sector.
More.. News Courtesy
PPP draft rules to attract investments: Expert - 10 Feb 2012 - Business StandardPublished On :2012-02-10 11:42:00 India has reached the second stage of PPP
(public private partnership) maturity. The PPP
policy and draft rules, which are in place, would remove all uncertainties and
help attract a lot of investments of the proposed $500-billion in PPP projects, according to Ajay Saxena, PPP expert, Asian Development Bank. Only, there is a need
for active involvement of lenders and financiers at the time of structuring of
PPP projects so as to put mitigation tools in place,
he said on Thursday.
The expert was talking to Business Standard on the
sidelines of a conference on ‘Preparation of Bankable Projects’, organised by
the Indian Merchants’ Chamber.
About the draft rule on PPP projects on revenue support released by the Planning
Commission, Saxena said the government might consider providing soft loans to
project developers in the wake of a shortfall in revenue. “Revenue support can
be considered mostly for greenfield projects, where precedents or ground data
are minimal. Debt and operation and maintenance obligations should be covered
through a revenue shortfall loan,” he added.
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Give highest priority to Dedicated Freight Corridor project, PMO tells Ministries -09 Feb 2012 - Business LinePublished On :2012-02-09 11:46:00 New Delhi Feb 9: The Prime Minister, Dr
Manmohan Singh, has directed Central Ministries to accord highest priority to
the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project. The Rs 1 lakh crore project aims to
connect a land mass of 3,300 kilometers in the country.
Dr Singh
also urged the States to give the project highest priority. In a meeting held in
the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the States agreed to constitute a monitoring
committee, which will resolve issues related to the project, especially land
acquisition, in an expeditious manner, a statement issued by the PMO said.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Cooperation India Limited (DFCCIL), the
nodal authority, will be overseeing the progress of work with the targeted
project completion date being March 2017. The authority disclosed that 67 per
cent of the land acquisition has been completed through the Railway Amendment
Act 2008, and as of now, the project was, by and large, on target.
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Finance ministry questions delay in highway projects - 10 Jan 2012 - Times of IndiaPublished On :2012-01-10 16:11:00 NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab
Mukherjee has questioned delay in awarding of at least 4,000 km of
highway projects even after these works have got necessary
approvals. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has called for speeding up
the process, sources said.
Sources in the finance ministry said the issue was raised when highway
minister C P Joshi met Mukherjee on Tuesday, where Joshi pushed the proposal of
clearing more highway projects by Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee
(PPPAC).
The finance ministry handed over a list of 46 projects that are yet to be
awarded and called for speeding up the process, sources said. Of these, 28
projects are to be awarded by NHAI, while the highway ministry will award the
rest. Some of these projects were cleared by the PPPAC in 2008. The projects
include Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) around Delhi, Khagaria-Bakhtiarpur,
Ambala-Kaithal, Parwanoo-Solan, Trivandrum-Tamil Nadu border, Jabalpur-Bhopal
and Varanasi-Gorakhpur. More.. News Courtesy
NHAI says it can meet 20km a day target in next three years - 27 Dec 2011 - LiveMint.comPublished On :2011-12-27 16:10:00 The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said
it will achieve its target of building 20km of national
highways a day in the next three years, as contracts being awarded this
fiscal year will translate into that daily distance.
All these roads will be built as public-private
partnerships, J.N. Singh, member (finance) of NHAI, told reporters in
Mumbai on Monday.
“Out of a total 33 projects awarded, 20 fetched a premium” or higher than
the estimated cost, Singh said. Such contract winners haven’t faced any hurdles
in tying up funds, he said.
Set up in 1995, NHAI is an autonomous Union government agency responsible
for the development, maintenance and management of national highways. NHAI
awarded 3,360km of roads in 2009-10, 5,058km in 2010-11 and has more than
7,300km planned for this fiscal year.
NHAI is in the process of raising as much as Rs.10,000 crore by selling
tax-free bonds starting 28 December to meet some of its funding requirements.
SBI Capital Markets Ltd and AK Capital Services Ltd are managing the issue along
with ICICI Securities Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd.
“Last fiscal, we awarded 5,000km of roads and this year 7,300-7,500km. We
will be awarding at least 7,000km year-on-year starting from next fiscal. Though
we are seeing some delays due to land acquisition and a shortage of civil
engineers, there are no major concerns in executing national highway projects,”
Singh said. More.. News Courtesy
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