Related Links: China and India Vie For Work in Surrounding Nations India Unveils Annual Budget to Skittish Infra Investors Chinese firms are eyeing construction projects in India for future revenue growth but already are beginning to see the constraints of doing business there. Long waits for visas, clearance issues and other factors stand in the way. Still, many industry experts expect the list of Sino-Indian projects to expand soon.Trade between the once warring neighbors exceeded $66 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $100 billion by 2015, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Geopolitics also is playing a
AP Indo-Tibetan border police use a rope to rescue stranded pilgrims on June 20. Ministry of Defense Many roads were damaged by landslides, cutting off access for residents and tourists. Rescue and restoration efforts are still under way. Related Links: India Unveils Annual Budget to Skittish Infra Investors Growth in India's Infrastructure Markets Projected In India, heavy June rains have killed more than 5,000 and stranded more than 19,000 people in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as landslides and flooded rivers cut off major routes and devastated the area's Himalayan foothills. The torrents washed away more than
Photo by Nural Alam, ADPC The eight-story reinforced-concrete building near Dhaka had three illegal floors and a fourth on the way; further, it was built for a commercial occupancy but used as a factory. A rapid structural assessment of the fatal collapse of an eight-story reinforced-concrete building near Dhaka, Bangladesh, uncovered major flaws in the building’s construction and multiple causes for the April 24 disaster. The building in Savar had been turned into a garment factory. To date, there have been more than 700 fatalities. The death toll is expected to rise to 1,000.The tragedy has triggered a review of
Courtesy of Mass Rapid Transit Corp. Kuala Lumpur's mass rapid-transit line, now under construction, is worth more than $10 billion. Related Links: Viewpoint: Vietnam, Indonesia Hold Opportunity for U.S. Firms Kuala Lumpur's MRT Line Economic growth in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia will remain strong at an average 6% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The countries represent the top five economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.While China’s recovery is “foggy,” with a growth rate of 7.8% last year to a forecasted 8.2% in 2013 and 8% in 2014, “ASEAN’s economy is
AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool Rescue workers look for trapped people after a residential building collapsed in Thane, Mumbai, India, on April 4. Related Links: BBC: Indian Police Arrest Nine in Mumbai Building Collapse Reuters: Death Toll Rises to 72 in Mumbai Building Bollapse An eight-story apartment building that collapsed and killed more than 70 people in Mumbai has exposed India's illegal housing sector, corruption among builders and a lack of policy in place to keep the public safe. Before it toppled, the building had been under construction for about five weeks, sources familiar with the accident say.As developing cities expand, the
AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade Indian laborers use machinery to dig at a construction site in Mumbai. India's economic growth slowed to a 5.3% annual rate in last year's first quarter, the lowest in nine years. Meanwhile, inflation has averaged 9.2% a year since the start of 2010. Related Links: Growth in India's Infrastructure Markets Projected Amid PPP Slowdown, India Turns to Cash Contracts Corruption, regulatory bottlenecks and other hurdles have slowed down the pace of infrastructure development in India. Having just released their current budget, however, lawmakers in India are making a strong effort to reach out to investors to help
Photo courtesy of Ministry of Transport and Communications The first phase will include nine freight yards along the rail network, which will extend from Sohar to Duqm, the two largest yards with ports. Related Links: International Contractors Grab Oman Transport Work Oman, Egypt Lead Middle Eastern Push To Upgrade Airports Oman has released a tender for the preliminary-design consulting-engineer contract for the first phase of the Oman national railway network.The bid package, issued under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, is for nine freight yards, which will be key junctions along the initial 1,061-kilometer length of the rail network. The
Rendering courtesy of Sembawang Work on the station is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2013. Related Links: MTR Project Homepage Hong Kongs Booming Top 10 (requires ENR login) A subsidiary of India's Punj Lloyd Group has won its first order in Hong Kong to construct MTR Corp.'s Shatin to Central Link Diamond Hill Extension Station, located in northern Kowloon. The firm's Hong Kong-based unit, Sembawang Engineers and Constructors, has won the $212-million job with consortium partner Leader Civil Engineering Corp. Ltd.The 17-kilometer Shatin to Central Link (SCL) is part of Hong Kong's strategic infrastructure plan to develop
Even as the world economy shows strains, India’s construction equipment industry is looking at signs of revival in its roadbuilding segment. As an indication that foreign investment is returning to the subcontinent, Swiss buildings equipment company, Ammann Group is planning to acquire a 70% share in Gujarat Apollo Industries Ltd., a leading Indian manufacturer of road construction equipment and materials plants. SchneiderAmmann Group will invest $51 million in Apollo's core business of asphalt mixing plants, road pavers, bitumen sprayers and compaction machines. The transaction will create a new company, Ammann Apollo India Private Ltd., responsible for the sale of the Ammann
Participants in India's infrastructure construction sector are hopeful of market growth in the coming year and in 2014, as economic conditions recover and the government steps up efforts to remove bottlenecks that have deferred or delayed projects.Last October, the government announced it would set up a National Investment Board, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to fast-track execution of approved projects by obtaining all regulatory clearances. The Ministry of Railways is expediting its construction decision-making process, creating a separate holding company to free up resources and changing its concession cost-sharing model on projects.The ministry now will share 95% of net