Visakhapatnam, May 14 (EPC News): Leighton Welspun will soon complete the construction of its Vizag Port Project. The company has already completed construction of the berth, almost 3 months ahead of schedule and will also wind up the remaining activities ahead of the plan, informed an official from the industry.

The work allotted under the project comprised of civil, mechanical and electrical works for installation of a suitably designed system for unloading of coal at the rate of 70,000 TPD via 3 ship un-loaders. It also involved the installation of 200 cast in situ piles, casting and installation of 850 precast concrete elements and pouring of approximately 19,000 m3 of concrete. The 356 m long berth is constructed to support 3 ship unloading cranes, enabling the mechanization of coal handling facility. The work was executed on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. 

The coal terminal is expected to cater the increasing demands from power and steel industries. 

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, May 14 (EPC News): Construction of the five-star Shangri-La hotel at Lower Parel is executed without an environment clearance, informs an appraisal committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The committee which recently visited the construction site found the construction of hotel illegal as it failed to attain environment clearance. 

However the project promoter, Phoenix Mills, upholds a different perspective and informed that the company had earlier attained a no-objection certificate from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to execute the project. Neither the committee members nor the environment department has confirmed on MPCB’s authority to permit such no-objection certificates to exempt the project. 

The company has been asked to submit documents regarding mandatory clearances before the committee at its next meeting. The next meeting is anticipated to be held later this month. 

“Any delay in getting MoEF clearance will hinder the project completion. The project worth Rs773 crore if fails to attain the clearance, will bring negative results for Phoneix Mills,” said an analyst from Sharekhan. 

EPC News Bureau

Bangalore, May 11 (EPC News): Infosys and Wipro, the country’s IT majors, will soon receive land from the Karnataka government to develop their IT centers in the city. “'By month-end, we will clear all hurdles in handing over the land to the concerned IT companies,” informed the Karnataka Industries minister, Murugesh Nirani. 

Issues like opposition from farmers and fake land documents, delayed the land allotment process, added the minister. However, Nirani assures in clearing all such hurdles and expects to start the work on infrastructure from next month. 

Infosys had signed a Rs2,950 crore MoU to set up a software development centre on Sarjapur Road and Wipro inked a Rs537 crore MoU for a software export hub at its Sarjapur facility. 

EPC News Bureau

Kolkata, May 11 (EPC News): In a move to increase its market share in heavy commercial vehicles segment, Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) has outlined Rs288 crore investment at its Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh. 

The company is planning to garner 15% market share in the country in the next four years and would enhance its engine capacity from current 60,000 units to 1.60 lakh units by 2016.

This investment would give the group a complete facility in India for manufacturing and assembling the new medium duty engine which would be introduced in Volvo group's trucks and buses worldwide over the years, VECV Chief Executive Vinod Aggarwal said.

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, May 09 (EPC News): ReNew Wind Power Pvt Ltd plans to make an investment of Rs6,000 crore (approximately) for the development of 15 wind power projects in the next couple of years. The company through its recent plan expects to generate an aggregate of 1,000 MW of wind power from Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. 

The company has recently commissioned its first wind farm project (25.2 MW) at Jasdan in Rajkot, Gujarat, wherein Goldman Sachs invested Rs140 crore. The project was financed in a 70:30 debt-equity ratio by PTC India Financial Services Ltd. 

“Currently, the cost of installation of wind power equipment is Rs6 crore/ MW, while per unit of electricity would cost, on an average, Rs4.50 to the customer, which is far cheaper than solar energy at Rs8 to Rs9 an unit (kilowatt hour),” says an official from the company. 

EPC News Bureau

Belgrade, May 09 (EPC News): The Serbian government will soon build the world’s largest solar park in the southeast European nation. The project at an estimated cost of €2 billion, spread over 3,000 hectares of land, will have an estimated capacity of 1,000 MWp (Mega Watt-peak). 

The government entered into a deal with the Luxembourg based firm, Securum Equity Partners for executing the project. “The park's construction could take up to five years and would involve about 3,000 workers to build it. Serbia has agreed to lease the land free of charge to Securum, but expects to generate €750 million through the taxation process,” said Oliver Dulic, Serbian Minister for Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning. 

Construction of the project will be commenced from the beginning of next year and will be executed in a full-fledged process after the final acquisition of the land, informed an official from Securum.

EPC News Bureau

Jamnagar, May, 08 (EPC News): Suzlon Energy, a largest wind turbine manufacturer has signed a 50 MW project with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) for Rs305.32 crore.

As per the contract, the company will supply of 24 units of Suzlon’s S95 – 2.1 MW wind turbines featuring DFIG technology. The project is set to be commissioned in Jamnagar district of Gujarat by third quarter of FY13.

With this order, GMDC’s total installed capacity rises to 150.50 MW from 100 MW.

EPC News Bureau

Mumbai, May, 07 (EPC News): Marg Karaikal, a major among the private ports in India, plans to develop a dedicated container terminal with state-of-the-art facilities.

“The terminal will be equipped with ship-to-shore quay cranes, rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTG) and other latest technologies to support the expected increase in container volumes,” informs MLN Acharyulu, Executive Director (Marine Infrastructure), Karikal Port Pvt Ltd. in an exclusive interview with Projects World.

The company however did not disclose any additional details on the terminal development plan. “The plan is still at a very nascent stage, even the bidding process has not been initiated,” said an official from KPPL. 

Karaikal which currently completed its third anniversary also plans to shed huge investments for increasing the capacity and capability of the port to handle diverse range of commodities. Commenting on the company’s future plans, Acharyulu says, “Our focus now will be on moving forward towards becoming the preferred alternative on the South East Coast of the country for maritime trade.”

The port which is currently concluding its Phase IIA developments also plans to make capacity additions from its planned 21MTPA to 28MTPA in the near future. The port developed by Chennai based Marg, has already received its third private equity infusion to partially fund its expansion plans. Private equity major, Jacob Ballas India shedding an investment of `200 crore (through primary and secondary investments) recently acquired a minority share in the port. The port also raised `150 crore from IDFC Project Equity and `200 crore from Ascent Capital. The funds raised will be used to accomplish the expansion plan aimed on increasing the port capacity. 

Opining on the government initiatives proposed for the betterment of the ports in India, Acharyulu expressed, “Without a supportive policy framework, the much-needed development initiatives cannot progress much further. However, there is still scope for further improvements in the existing policy framework regarding development of ports and other marine infrastructure projects.” He also highlighted the issues of project approvals and clearances as a major hurdle faced today by the Indian port segment. 

Reviewing the regulatory changes promoting PPP participation in the Indian port segment he further adds, “The policy of promoting PPP-based privatization has certainly attracted a lot of interest from private players over the recent past but due to various reasons, the actual execution on the ground has not lived upto the expectations.” He also upheld the need for an immediate refinement in tariff regulations and revenue share models, which can contribute immensely for the development of the country’s ports and port infrastructures. 

The port also marked a 26% growth in its cargo volumes reaching 6.01 million tonne in 2011-12 as compared to 4.75 million tonne handled during 2010-11. The port further expanded its cargo mix by adding number of new commodities including containers and liquid cargo. Karaikal Port being developed in over three phases is envisaged to have a total of nine berths, capable of handling up to 47 MMTPA by 2017. 

By Veena Kurup