Development Watch – Week #3 December ’23
Development News
India’s need for 1,000 Scrapping Centres
According to Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, the country needs 1,000 vehicle scrapping centres and 400 automated fitness test centres in accordance with the National Vehicle Scrappage Policy. The Road Ministry has so far approved 85 vehicle scrapping facilities across India. DigiELV is a trading platform for End of Life Vehicle Certificate of Deposit. Anyone who currently owns a Certificate of Deposit (CD) can sell the CD through the platform. A CD is issued when a user submits a vehicle for scrapping at an RVSF
20-lakh Crores plan for doubling Highway travel speed
The Ministry of Road transport has put forth an extensive program for constructing and expanding approximately 41,000 km of National Highways. This includes 15,000 km of high-speed, access controlled corridors. It would be ready by the fiscal year 2031-32. Under the proposed plan for highway development, the initial phase projects are scheduled for bidding by 2028-29. The implementation of this visionary plan is estimated to necessitate an investment of Rs. 19.5 lakh crores. This initiative is poised to nearly double the average travel speed on the National Highway (NH) network from the existing 47 kmph to an impressive 85 kmph. It would also reduce the logistics costs to 9-10% of the GDP, from the current 18%.
30% rise in Shipping Costs due to Red Sea mayhem
The shipping industry is bracing for 30% rise in freight and insurance costs. Roughly 12% of global trade through 30% of all containers in the world move through the Suez Canal. There would be delays of around 15 days for consignments to reach Europe as global shipping companies avoid Red Sea and Suez Canal. The alternate route between Europe and Asia through Cape of Good Hope would take 2-3 weeks more. Hence, containers would be held up in transit for longer times. This was in outcome of attacks on commercial ships by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.
Flexible Airspace to save Rs. 1,000 Crores Annually
To address the issue of congestion at airports, the Civil Aviation Ministry has said that additional space has been created at various airports by restructuring the available terminal infrastructure to augment capacity at several passenger touch points. Flexible use of airspace helps in reducing flight time, fuel usage and carbon emissions. Earlier, about 40% of airspace was unavailable for civilian use, resulting in aircrafts adopting circuitous routes to reach their destinations. The Indian Air Force controls 30% of national airspace, and of this, 30% has been released as upper airspace. As part of atmanirbhar Bharat, IAF has agreed to release these portions of airspace.
Rs. 1.28 Lakh Crores savings through Rail Cargo
India can save Rs. 1.28 Lakh Crores annually (as diesel costs) in 2031, if it ferries 1,500 million tonnes additional cargo through trains. Another 3,000 million tonnes of additional cargo is expected to move in the country by 2031 at the current economic growth rate. Addressing the 68th National Railways Awards, the Railways Minister said the same. The Railways is well on path to corner 1,500 Metric Tonnes of this incremental cargo growth. This will also help save 16,000 Crore litres of diesel every year. The railways ferried a record high of 1,512 MT cargo during 2022-23, which is up from 1418 MT in 2021-22.
World Bank project for affordable cooling devices
The Indian government and the World Bank are collaborating on a comprehensive project to promote the manufacturing and availability of cooling devices in the domestic market. The project will focus on capacity building, introducing or disseminating better technologies for super efficient air-conditioners, and addressing the increasing demand for these products due to the intensifying intensity and frequency of severe heat waves in the country. The project will cover areas such as capacity building, introducing or disseminating better technologies for super efficient air-conditioners.
2 lakh homebuyers in UP to benefit from Amitabh Kant committee recommendations
The UP Cabinet has given approval to the recommendations submitted by the Amitabh Kant committee. It was formed by the central government to examine the issues related to legacy stalled real estate projects. It will help revive over 2,00,000 stuck flats in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway. All stakeholders, including financial institutions, authorities, state exchequers and developers stand to gain with the move. According to CREDAI, 1,90,000 units worth Rs. 1 lakh crores are stuck in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
Sustained office space demand despite global sluggishness
The net office space absorption in India is seen at par with 2022 closing at 37-39 million sq ft. With leasing activity expected to further pick up pace in the last quarter of 2023. This year is expected to surpass the 2017-2019 average, according to a JLL India analysis. A trend of flight to quality is creating demand polarization towards properties owned and operated by institutional owners and established developers. India’s biggest office landlord, Blackstone Nucleus’s office Parks has seen high demand across all its 16 grade A assets in 5 cities. Majority of the demand was driven by domestic companies including entities like Viacom18, HDFC, Hindalco, Citibank, Capgemini and Google.
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.