Development Watch – Week #4 Jan’26

Development News

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Rankings of DPR consultants by NHAI

In a first of its kind rating of consultants, NHAI has rated 56 DPR consultants and rated them on a scale of 100 with the top-rated consultant having a score of 80.75 while the lowest rated consultant has a score of 23.33. This rating is expected to become a deciding factor for awarding DPR contracts so as to ensure best DPRs are made for all future national highway projects. NHAI has undertaken an exercise for performance evaluation and rating of DPR consultants, based on approved criteria and assessment parameters, with the objective of ensuring transparency, quality and continuous improvement in consulting services. Chaitanya Project Consultancy, Pentacle Consultant, L&T Infrastructure Engineering, MSV International Technology and Transys Consulting have emerged as top 5 rated consultants for DPRs.

Cochin Shipyard delivers vessel to German entity

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has delivered the first of HS EcoFreighter series of Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs) to Germany’s HS Schiffahrts. A CSL statement said the vessel has been designed by Groot Ship Design, Netherlands, and constructed at CSL. Officials said there are eight vessels worth around Rs 110 crore each in this order. Steel cutting ceremony for these vessels, marking the start of construction, took place in March 2023. The 7,000 Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) MPV is capable of carrying project cargo, heavy cargo, steel coils, containers, timber, paper, dry bulk cargoes such as coal and grain, as well as dangerous goods, for worldwide trading. CSL is the country’s largest central public sector enterprise (CPSE) shipyard. Its orderbook stood at Rs 21,100 crore as on June 30, 2025, with the Indian Navy comprising roughly 66% of the overall order book, down from around 88% earlier.

India to have 350 airports by 2047

Minister of Civil Aviation, while speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, highlighted that India aims to build nearly 350 airports by 2047. India plans to build 50 airports in the next 5 years. By Viksit Bharat 2047 India aims to have up to 350 airports. From 74 airports in 2014, India now has 164 airports today. India also has almost 1700 aircraft orders, and no other country has this kind of order. Every year, in civil aviation itself, we are growing at a growth rate of over 10-12%. At the WEF, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam government among others, have been actively engaging with global leaders to discuss various opportunities.

EIL contract for Africa’s Dangote refinery

Engineers India Ltd (EIL) has secured a pivotal contract exceeding USD 350 million for the extensive expansion of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Nigeria. EIL is set to deliver comprehensive Project Management and Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) consultancy services. This significant enhancement will vastly amplify the refinery’s operational capacity, bolstering Nigeria’s stature as a vital energy center in the region. The Dangote Group, Nigeria’s largest conglomerate headquartered in Lagos, plans to significantly scale up the facility under Train 2. It will expand its crude processing capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day. EIL had earlier acted as PMC and EPCM consultant for the 650,000 barrels-per-day integrated refinery and petrochemical complex at the Lekki Free Zone, which was commissioned in 2024.

Budget 2026 focus on Housing

India’s upcoming budget could prove a turning point for India’s housing market as policymakers grapple with a deepening affordability crisis masked by booming luxury home sales. While the total value of homes sold rose 6% to about Rs 6 lakh crore in 2025, the number of housing units sold fell 14%. This underscores what real estate consultancy Anarock calls a structural shift towards high-end housing at the cost of mass-market supply. Affordable housing’s share of total residential sales has dropped sharply from 38% in 2019 to just 18% in 2025. The consultancy estimates India’s urban housing shortage at 94 lakh units, warning it could rise to 3 crores by 2030 without policy intervention. Affordable housing projects offer margins of just 10–12%, compared with 25–30% or more for premium developments, as land prices, construction costs and approval delays erode viability. As a result, developers have increasingly shifted towards higher-priced projects. Budget 2026 must address outdated policy definitions that no longer reflect urban realities. The current Rs 45 lakh price cap for affordable housing, set in 2017, excludes most viable urban projects.

Data Centre investment of Rs. 1 Crore in Maharashtra

Lodha Group has signed a new agreement with the Maharashtra government to invest over Rs 1 lakh crore in data centres, taking its total planned investment in the state to Rs 1.3 lakh crore. The latest memorandum adds to a Rs 30,000 crore commitment made four months ago under the state’s Green Integrated Data Centre Park policy. Over and above the Rs 30,000 crores commitment last year to develop the data centre park, Lodha group has signed another agreement with Government of Maharashtra to invest additional Rs 1 lakh crore. With the total investment of Rs 1.3 lakh crores on around 2.5 Gigawatt data centre park, it is slated to be the largest in the country. Lodha signed the agreement with the government of Maharashtra in the backdrop of World Economic Forum at Davos.

Railways shift towards battery engines and green fuel

India is scaling up adoption of battery and alternative fuel-powered train engines to replace diesel fired ones for short to medium runs. Almost complete electrification with just 405 route kilometres (rkm) is left of the national transporter’s entire 70,117 rkm track network. Officials aware of the move said the national transporter’s focus is now weaning the remaining around 2,500 diesel locomotives by retrofitting or replacing them with clean fuel powered ones. The first step will be replacing the diesel locomotives in yard operations, shunting services and last-mile freight connectivity. Concord Control Systems has successfully retrofitted a 700-horsepower (HP) diesel locomotive to be powered by a lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) battery. It is developing the world’s largest 3100 HP hydrogen-fuelled locomotive propulsion system. The 3100 HP locomotive is for NTPC to haul coal for its power plants.