From yanivbin at gmail.com Wed Jan 3 14:27:52 2018 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2018 10:57:52 +0530 Subject: [sustran] A tale of two P P Project Metro rails Hyderabad and Delhi Airport Message-ID: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-tale-of-two- metro-rails/article21615853.ece A tale of two Metro rails Gajendra Haldea DECEMBER 13, 2017 23:00 IST A comparison of two projects with opposite outcomes has many lessons to offer for the infrastructure road map The Prime Minister inaugurated a 30 km section of the 72-kilometre-long Hyderabad Metro Rail Project on November 28. There was much fanfare, and justifiably so. After all, it is a state-of-the-art metro system, superior to any other in India. Its technology is the latest, the stations and structures are innovative and elegant, the trains are driver-less and sleek, to count a few of its features. Private enterprise Hyderabad Metro is primarily financed through private investment, unlike other metro projects that are entirely funded by the public exchequer. It is also the largest PPP (public-private partnership) investment in India, and one of the largest in the world. The total investment could well be about ?20,000 crore, if around 10% is assigned for real estate development. Other than a viability gap grant of ? 1,458 crore from the Central government, the rest will be private investment. Besides assigning the right of way for the elevated metro tracks and stations, the State government is only required to provide the land for three maintenance depots where real estate development can be undertaken above the ground floor. Some small plots of land have also been added for parking and shopping purposes. In particular, the fare structure laid down in the Concession Agreement will always remain affordable on account of greater efficiencies as well as the cross-subsidisation from real estate development. The credit for this ambitious project largely belongs to the late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, who pushed for an innovative PPP approach. Evidently, he did not wish to allocate the scare budgetary resources for this capital-intensive project, as he was pursuing several social sector initiatives, such as ?Arogyashree? for universal health care. He gave me the mandate and a free hand to conceptualise the model, write the concession agreement and supervise the bid process. There have been some defaults in discharging contractual obligations. The spirit of partnership has also been a bit wanting. In particular, construction was stalled at numerous locations because of inordinate delays by the government in providing the right of way and depot land. This delayed the project by over two years, thus causing a significant increase in costs, which would have to be borne by whoever is adjudged as the defaulter under the prescribed dispute resolution mechanism. There will surely be some problems, especially on account of the scant regard for sanctity of contracts. However, the accountability framework laid down in the Concession Agreement is clear and precise as it can identify and address any defaults or malfeasance. ?Flawed? project The other PPP project in question is the Airport Metro Line project of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which was terminated by the concessionaire, Reliance Infrastructure, with an arbitration award of about ?5,000 crore [interest included] against the former, primarily on account of a flawed concession agreement that enabled inflated costs and claims. Notably, the arbitration panel comprising three engineers, empanelled by DMRC itself, held that the construction works suffered from serious defects, including over 1,500 cracks in concrete structures. Separately, the Commissioner for Railway Safety reduced the stipulated train speed due to safety concerns. The project is now being run by DMRC consequent upon the demise of PPP. In sum, public interest has been ripped apart by means of a huge termination payment as well as large recurring losses in the years ahead. The Hyderabad Metro is entirely based on the model concession agreement (MCA) of the erstwhile Planning Commission whereas DMRC?s Metro Line is based on a distorted version of the same MCA. Their comparison will clearly reveal how critical the underlying contractual framework is. This is akin to the software which determines the success of a satellite. This tale reflects two extremes in the same sector, during the same period and in the same country. Would NITI Aayog or any other think tank study the two closely and draw lessons for the benefit of the government and the people? The lessons learnt would be invaluable for accelerating the much-needed infrastructure investment in India. Gajendra Haldea was Principal Adviser, Infrastructure in the erstwhile Planning Commission From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon Jan 22 14:10:56 2018 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2018 10:40:56 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Bus fare hike sets off a chain of protests across T.N Message-ID: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/bus-fare-hike-sets-off-a-chain-of-protests-across-tn/article22483462.ece Bus fare hike sets off a chain of protests across T.N. R Srikanth CHENNAI, JANUARY 21, 2018 00:02 IST UPDATED: JANUARY 21, 2018 00:02 IST People take to the streets in many cities; any comparison with other States unfair given the poor condition of the buses, say commuters The bus fare hike announced by the Transport Department on Friday night seems to have provoked anger among people across the State. Even before the announcement could sink in, commuters in Chennai had a further shock in store on Saturday with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) coming out with a detailed fare card for the different types of services operated by them. While officials of the State Transport Corporations (STCs) claim the ticket fare hike was a pending for long, commuters say the sudden, unannounced hike will force them to pay through the nose for public transport. In several parts of the State, including Coimbatore, Tiruchi, and Tiruvarur districts, commuters took to the streets in protest. While residents organised a road roko in Shoolagiri town in Coimbatore district, members of the Students? Federation of India carried out a demonstration in Tiruvarur district. A large number of people staged a road roko in front of the bus stand in Shoolagiri demanding that the State government take back the price hike. There were scenes of passengers, who had booked tickets online before the fare revision, arguing with bus crew members at the Central Bus Stand in Tiruchi when they were asked to pay the difference. S. Subban, who travels to Namakkal from Erode regularly, said he earned ?250 a day and hereafter, he would have to spend ?100 for bus tickets daily, which meant spending 40% of his earnings on travel. Severe hardship Joseph, a resident of Nettukuppam in Ennore, said the hike is bound to cause severe hardship to daily wage earners, who depend on buses to commute to their workplace. He said that in several routes, the fare had been increased by 100%. He referred to the 56N bus route operated from Ennore to High Court where the charge before the hike was ?8. Now, the fare has been fixed at ?16. The MTC, having more than 3,500 buses in its fleet, operates only 50% of the buses under the ordinary service, with the remaining operated under Express and Deluxe categories. Poorly maintained While discussing the theory of government officials comparing the ticket fares prevailing in other southern States, commuters questioned the deficiencies in the public buses being run here. Poor maintenance, leaking roofs during rain, irregular schedule, cramped and broken seats, and, above all, abusive bus crew who harass the commuters by not returning change were some of the issues listed. Commuters were also angry that MTC buses operated as Express or Deluxe services do not differ in any way from the ordinary bus services except for the colour on the name board, thus not justifying differential fares. Social activists from the city and nearby districts like Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram pointed out the hike is bound to put more pressure on the suburban train services, which are the only transport facility operated on an economic scale. A senior official of the State Transport Department said the fare hike was the first step towards making public transport in the State financially sustainable. He said a lot of research was undertaken into the situation in neighbouring States before going for the ticket hike across the board. He said that while in Tamil Nadu, fares had been hiked only twice since 2001, in Karnataka the ticket fares have been hiked 16 times. In a State where 50% of the routes are socially obligatory routes and the eight transport corporations were sustaining ?9 crore of losses per day, there was no other go but hike the ticket fares, he added. The official also cited the thousands of crores in losses accumulated over a period of 15 years and the present situation where the transport corporations have been able to meet the basic needs of keeping pace with the price of diesel, operational expenditures and payment of salary. Stagnant fleet strength While new buses were purchased thanks to Central government funding through the JNNURM, the State has not been able to increase its fleet as the Central government has completely withdrawn from funding of transport departments. The Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers, in a letter to the Chief Minister, has requested the government to extend the concessional fare of 75% in all the State Transport Corporation buses. *(With inputs from T. Madhavan, C. Jaisankar, Syed Muthahar Saqaf, S.P. Saravanan, and R. Arivanantham)* From yanivbin at gmail.com Tue Jan 23 15:13:28 2018 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:43:28 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Experts, opposition slam Bengaluru's pod taxi project, question bid Message-ID: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/experts-opposition-slam-bengalurus-pod-taxi-project-question-bid-74835 The fact that one of the companies in the consortium that made the bid has worked with minister KJ George in the past has raised eyebrows. - Soumya Chatterjee - Tuesday, January 16, 2018 - 16:20 *Share @Facebook* *Share @twitter* *Share @Email* *Share @google+* *Share @reddit* Representational image: YouTube screengrab Bengaluru?s Development Minister KJ George announced on November 10, 2017, that global tenders had been issued for the installation of pod taxis in the city, which would be done under the public-private partnership model. Curiously enough, two months (January 10, 2018) later, the BBMP has received a single bid for the project by a company owned by Minister George?s business associate. The consortium of companies bidding for the project includes Embassy Property Developments Private Limited. Minister KJ George is a director at Embassy Golf Links, a subsidiary of Embassy Property Developments. His wife is a full-time director. Documents accessed by TNM from the MInistry of Corporate Affairs, show that Minister George also owns 33% of Embassy Golf Links till the end of financial year 2015-16. This involvement raises serious questions of a potential conflict of interest on the part of Minister George. Reacting to this allegation, Embassy Group chairman and managing director Jitu Virwani said , "Mr George being a partner has become a liability to the firm even when they are trying to help the city." Speaking to Times of India, KJ George said that he agrees with Virwani's views. Later, speaking with news agency ANI, Minister George claimed there is nothing wrong in the process. ?Some firm approached me to get this pod. There is no investment for this from BBMP or state govt. I directed them to BBMP commissioner who sent proposal to verify things and called for a tender. Nothing wrong in it. I have nothing to do with Embassy group,? he told ANI. Since there is a single bid, according to state law, the bid has to be cancelled and now the BBMP has to re-issue tenders. ?When there is a single bidder for a project, Section 4 of Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act dictates that it has to be sent for re-bidding. If for the second time also, there is a single bidder, the project can go on,? Ashwin Mahesh, former NASA scientist, and urban expert told TNM. The only exception to the rule is if the bidder is a government body. But he is essentially of the opinion that opposing the project on the issue of a single bidder or Minister George?s potential conflict of interest, is secondary. ?If the bid is re-issued and there is again the same result or a different company, then it will see that there is nothing wrong with the project. But I think this is an unnecessary project which will not add any value for transport and it should not be done. With this money, you can build good footpaths all around the city or buy buses or even expand the metro,? he added. He called for a mass opposition to the project, on the scale of anti-steel flyover protests. ?I would rather seek better governance framework and policy environment where good decisions are taken. There is an increased focus on infrastructure and insufficient focus on mobility,? he further added. Another urban mobility expert Sanjeev Dymanavar is also opposed to the project citing its cost-ineffectiveness. ?The government is not focussing on the mass urban transport. The BMTC is not able to procure buses on time as the government is not giving them funds.The basic amenities of public transport, the ability to walk on footpaths is not there in the city. These are the priority. If a private party is doing it (pod taxis), then it?s fine but here the government is providing so much concession,? he said. ?There is also lack of transparency, which suggests that the government is favouring the private company more than the people. If there is a politician involved with the company, the government should make it clear. If the government is keeping quiet, it raises suspicion,? he added. The cost for building the pod taxi project was pegged at Rs 50 crore for every kilometre. The cost of Phase-1 of Bengaluru's Namma Metro was Rs 340 crore per kilometre. While the metro can transport thousands of people at the same time, pod taxis can only carry six to seven people in one trip. *BJP asks questions* The opposition BJP has attacked the Congress for going ahead with the project just before the elections. ?What is the hurry in pushing this proposal during election time when we know this government can do no more than sign the deal? Are pod taxis the vehicle for election fund for the Congress?? asked BJP spokesperson Malavika Avinash. ?The BJP is not opposed to pod taxis in principle. But aren?t there more pressing issues like pothole-ridden roads to be fixed before we venture into a lofty futuristic project?? she asked. Malavika also alleged that there was ?corruption? on BBMP's part. ?For the minister?s associate company to be the sole bidder, smacks of corruption and is a clear case of conflict of interest,? she said. Speaking to TNM, Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj said that he was not aware of the specifics about the tendering process as he was abroad, but assured that all tender clauses will be followed.