Development Watch – Week #3 October ’23

Development News

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NHAI upgrades Advanced Traffic Management System

NHAI has introduced an upgraded ATMS to enhance road safety and enforcement on National Highways. The new system includes installation of Video Incident Detection and Enforcement System (VIDES) cameras every 10 km along the highways and at integrated command and control centres every 100 km. The ATMS can identify 14 distinct incidents and will alert patrol vehicles, generate e-challans, and send notifications to nearby travelers. This move is aimed at enhancing road safety, reducing incidence response time, and digital enforcement on national highways and expressways. The updated policy also provides for implementation of digital highways by developing integrated utility corridors along national highways to develop optical fibre cables (OFC) infrastructure.

Rs. 20 lakh Crores investment in Maritime India

India is aiming to attract an investment of Rs. 20 lakh crores for its maritime sector under vision 2047. The investment will be used to increase port handling capacity and develop maritime clusters. This would also be used for establishing hubs for bunkering, ship repair and vessel spares and stores. The Prime Minister unveiled the vision document and inaugurated projects worth Rs. 23,000 Crores for the country’s maritime blue economy at the Global Maritime India Summit 2023. The PM also highlighted the importance of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor during the G20 summit in boosting a global trade and reducing business costs. The corridor will reduce business costs increase logistical efficiency, and also reduce environmental damage. A cargo handling capacity of 10,000 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) would be required at major and non-major ports to cater to projected traffic in 2047.

Navratna status granted to RITES Ltd.

RITES is a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under Ministry of Railways and a leading transport infrastructure consultancy and engineering firm in India. The government (Ministry of Finance) has granted ‘Navratna’ status to RITES Ltd. The organization is entering its 50th year of incorporation. It provides services in the diverse sectors of transportation, railways, export of rolling stock, highways, airports, metros, urban engineering and sustainability, ports and waterways, and energy management. The company now joins the Top-29 CPSEs of the country.

Construction equipment sector to have 14% growth in revenues

The revenue for domestic construction construction equipment sector is expected to grow by 14-15% in FY24 as per Crisil Ratings. This comes on the back of the government’s focus on infrastructure development, including projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline. Construction activity across the real estate and mining sectors will also play a supportive role. There is greater focus on infrastructure build-out, especially roads, metros, and railways. The increased pace of road construction, which accounts for 40% of demand for construction equipment, is a boost for the sector’s growth. There is robust demand also from contractors of bridge, airport and metro corridors. Pre-buying of equipments would also occur towards last quarter of the fiscal. The sector would be migrating to CEV Stage V2 emission norms from April 1, 2024. This would increase the equipment prices. In terms of volume, the sector is projected to achieve an all-time high sales of 1.2 lakh in FY24. Earthmoving equipment accounted for 70% of sales volumes last fiscal (FY23). Material handling and concrete equipment 22%, while material processing equipment comprised the rest.

Investment of over $10 billion in Data Centres

Data Centres are likely to see investments of $10 billion over the next 3 years, as per a report by CII-Colliers, titled “India Data Centres: Entering Quantum Growth Phase”. The Indian data centre industry is likely to double in size to 23 million sq ft and attract investment within the next 3 years. Factors driving this growth include increased data consumption, a favorable regulatory framework, and significant investments in the sector. The passage of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023, is set to further fuel this success story. Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad with their robust infrastructure and supportive regulations are poised for substantial growth. A multi-fold economic expansion will boost demand across all asset classes like residential, commercial, warehousing, industrial land developments, will grow at a multiplier rate to accommodate growing needs of the economy.

Blackstone’s GIFT City tower leases office space to Google

Google has leased office space in the ‘Fintech One’ tower at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar to establish its first global fintech center. The lease is for 10 years, with an option to extend for an additional 5 years. During a virtual meeting, Indian PM welcomes Google’s plans to open the center and discussed the company’s commitment to strengthening financial inclusion in India. The Fintech One tower is a 20-storey, 22,000 sq ft commercial office space which already houses companies like IBM. Currently, Google has 5 offices in India. It’s country headquarters are located in Hyderabad with other offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurgaon. The Pune office is spread over 1,00,000 sq ft at a co-working center in Mundhwa.

Hydrogen Equipment a $50 billion market by 2030

The India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) predicts that the domestic hydrogen equipment manufacturing and services market will reach $45-50 billions by 2030. This includes all equipment for hydrogen production plants that can be used in India and exported to other countries. IH2A believes this will help establish India as a supply chain hub for future green hydrogen projects. The report also forecasts a regional exports market worth $36 billions, and a domestic market size of $9-13.5 billion over the next seven years. Electrolysers stacks will account for 34% of the market, balance-of-plant equipment for 62% and specialist engineering services for 4%.

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