Development Watch – Week #4 September ’23
Development News
Upstarts challenging OLA and Uber
Th mobility aggregator business is seeing an accelerated turnaround after 2 years of slowdown caused by Covid. The revival is being driven by new entrants who are challenging the dominance of Uber and Ola ride-hailing platforms. The new players including Rapido, Blu Smart, Drife and Shoffr, are gaining traction by offering attractive packages for drivers, lower prices, more convenient booking options. They also offer advanced features such as AI and block-chain based business models.
41 MW captive solar plant for TP Solar
Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) will construct a 41 MW captive solar plant in Tamil Nadu to supply electricity to TP Solar’s new solar cell and module manufacturing facility. The plant will generate 101 million units of electricity and offset 72,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The project is expected to be completed within a year. The captive solar plant will be set up at Thoothukudi, for TP Solar’s new greenfield 4.3 GW facility at Tirunelveli, TN. The project will be commissioned 12 months from signing of the Project Development Agreement (PDA).
500 GW renewables target for 2030 in India
Addressing FICCI’s India Energy Transition Summit 2023, the Union Power Minister said that had India not lost 2 years due to covid, the nation would have achieved 50% of its power generation capacity from renewable energy non-fossil fuels. India has 424 GW of power generation capacity. This includes 180 GW from non-fossil fuels and another 88 GW in the works. The country has a target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. 50 GW of RE projects would go for bidding annually from this year onwards. Despite constituting 17% of the world’s population, India contributes only 4% to the global carbon dioxide load.
EV Charger demand to grow 65% CAGR
The demand for electric vehicle (EV) chargers in India is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65% and reach 3 million units by 2030. This is according to a report by Customized Energy Solutions and India Energy Storage Alliance. The growth in demand will be driven by government initiatives and private investments. Several public sector undertakings (PSUs) have also announced tenders for charging stations. This would further boost the demand for EV chargers. In 2022, EV chargers in India witnessed higher demands, owing to tenders announced by PSUs, like Convergence Energy Services Ltd. (CESL), NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd., IOCL and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). They are expected to add around 6,000 charging stations by 2023.
JSW Infra to bid for port terminals
JSW Infrastructure will bid for multiple terminals that are being offered by the government as part of privatization drive under the public-private-partnership model. The company is currently participating in tenders for terminals in Goa, Haldia, Kandla, Ennore and Vizag. It would be prioritizing container, liquid and gas terminals as it looks to focus on connectivity and value addition for customers. They are also looking at container freight station and multi-modal logistics parks. JWS Infra currently has a capacity of 158 metric tonnes and plans to increase that to 300 mt by 2030.
New airport terminal inaugurated in Arunachal Pradesh
Union Minister for Civil Aviation recently inaugurated the new terminal building at Tezu Airport in Arunachal Pradesh. He described AP as the land of the rising sun, and future Gateway of Bharat, where horticultural exports are poised to flourish. Presently the region’s fruits are reaching destinations as far as Germany, London and Singapore. The Tezu Terminal Building has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 170 Crores on 212 acres of land. It has a 1,500 metres runway, and is fully equipped to handle aircrafts of ATR-72 type. Arunachal PRadesh now has a total of 4 airports: Tezu, Zero, Hollongi, and Pasighat. Tezu is presently connected to Imphal, Dibrugarh, and Guwahati. Just 40 km from Tezu lies the famous ‘Swrna Bodh Temple’, renowned for religious tourism.
New Vande Bharat trains connecting 11 states
The Indian prime minister inaugurated 9 Vande Bharat trains that will improve rail connectivity to religious and tourist destinations across 11 Indian states. These trains, equipped with world-class amenities and advanced safety features will be fastest on their respective routes. This would significantly reduce travel times between 2 to 2.5 hrs. The routes include Udaipur-Jaipur, Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai, Hyderbad-Bengaluru, Vijayawada-Chennai, Patna-Howrah, Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram, Rourkela-Bhubaneshwar-Puri, Ranchi-Howrah, and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad
BKC Land in Mumbai leased for 80 years
Sumimoto Corporation Group of Japan has conducted a long-term lease agreement for a 3-acres land parcel in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) with MMRDA for Rs. 2,067 Crores. Goisu Realty, a subsidiary of Sumimoto Realty, has ipcked up the land parcel through an 80-year lease agreement. It has emerged as the highest bidder for the plot in 2019, but the deal concluded more than 4 years later. MMRDA is engaged in long-term planning and implementation of strategic projects and financing of infrastructure development in Mumbai metropolitan region. This was the first land parcel auctioned by the authority after a gap of over 12 years since 2007. MMRDA is looking to raise additional Rs. 3,000 crores through monetization of its land parcels in BKC in next few months.
Local Feedback
LocalFeedback.org aims to track and document actionable parameters that help improve urban and rural infrastructure. The founder, Susmita, has juggled diverse roles in real estate, project budgeting, valuation and execution on construction sites. Having traveled to more than 20 countries, she has worked across 4 regions in India. Her areas of interest include sustainable buildings, electric mobility and urban development. She visited top-ranking cities on livability indices and has presented published papers at international conferences.