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DELHI-MUMbAI EXPrESSWAY TO FETCH `1,000 TO 1,500 AVIGNA INDUSTrIAL & LOGISTICS PArK TO DEVELOP
Cr rEVENUES EVErY MONTH WArEHOUSING FACILITY IN KArNATAKA
The Centre will get toll revenues worth `1,000 to 1,500 crore Avigna Industrial & Logistics Park, part of Chennai-based Avigna
every month once the much-awaited Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Group will invest `500-600 crore in developing 4 million sq ft inFraStrUctUre
becomes operational in 2023. Steering the ambitious drive Grade A warehousing facility at Karnataka’s Hoskote. The industrial
to expand the country’s road infrastructure for the past seven park will have a Grade A warehousing capacity, to cater to the
years, the national Highways Authority of India (nHAI) will rake in most technologically advanced requirement for the supply chain
annual toll income to the tune of `1.40 lakh crore in the next five management. Avigna plans to hand over the first 1 million sq.ft
years from the current level of `40,000 crore. Gadkari, who just at the Hoskote Industrial Park in 2022-23. The company recently
completed a whirlwind tour to assess the progress of the Delhi- leased out their first 1 million sq. ft space of industrial warehouse
Mumbai Expressway that will pass through four states apart from at Hosur Park in Tamil nadu to marquee brands such as Whirlpool
the national capital, said the national highways infrastructure is Wakefit and Stellar Value Chain and is looking forward to achieve
a world-class success story. similar success with the Hoskote Industrial Park. The project is a
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is likely to be completed by part of Avigna’s `2000 crore expansion plan to have a footprint
March 2023 and is being built as part of the first phase of the of 10 million sq ft warehouse space over the next three years.
‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’. The eight-lane expressway, covering Besides warehouses in Hosur (Tn), Chennai (Tn) and nellore
Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, is (Andhra Pradesh), Avigna is also looking at a PAn India expansion
expected to halve the commute time between the national establishing its presence in the Western (Bhiwandi, Jaipur),
capital and the country’s financial hub from nearly 24 hours northern (Farrukhnagar, Haryana) and Eastern India (Patna,
to 12 hours. Against the backdrop of concerns being flagged Guwahati, Kolkata) to name a few.
about nHAI being saddled with high level of debt, the union
Road Transport and Highways Minister pointed out that the nodal 40 PErCENT WOrK OF MUMbAI COASTAL rOAD
agency has received ‘AAA’ rating and all its road projects are PrOJECT COMPLETE
productive. ‘AAA’ is one of the highest credit ratings and indicate The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has completed 40
robust financial position. per cent physical work of the `12,000 crore-worth coastal road
“nHAI was not in a debt trap, and it will never be in debt trap in project from Marine Drive to Worli, including a one-km-long
future. It is a gold mine, and is on strong footing in the next five tunnel. The project will be completed in november 2023. The
years, nHAI’s toll income will rise to `1.40 lakh crore per year from work completed so far includes a tunnel of one-km length and
current toll income of `40,000 crore,” Gadkari noted. In March, 40-feet diameter under the Malabar Hill in south Mumbai. Only
the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on work on 900 metres of the tunnel is remaining now. It is the “first-
Transport, Tourism and Culture had expressed its displeasure over of-its kind” under-sea tunnel project of 40-feet diameter executed
a whopping `97,115 crore-debt servicing liability on nHAI. in the country.
Recently, the minister informed Rajya Sabha that total borrowings The coastal road project being executed by the civic body
of nHAI increased to `3,06,704 crore at the end of March this year between Marine Drive and Worli is 27-km-long and includes
from `74,742 crore in March 2017.While noting that investments in 16-km-long interchanges.The project also includes a 125-acre
the infrastructure sector will create employment and accelerate garden on the reclaimed land abutting the coastal road with an
the country’s economic growth, Gadkari said, “We (nHAI and the underground parking facility for 1,852 cars. The work is going on
ministry) are working on projects worth lakhs of crores”. When the round-the-clock in three shifts and the project will be completed
economy is on a decline, “then economics tells us that there in november 2023.
is a need to increase investments in infrastructure”, he added. As per BMC’s website, the civic body has envisaged the Mumbai
The country’s economy has been adversely impacted by the coastal road project-south (MCRP) along the western seafront
coronavirus pandemic and is slowly on the recovery path. of the city to de-congest the existing roads.In the first phase,
this ambitious eight-lane project intends to connect Shamaldas
HEAVY INDUSTrIES MINISTEr MAHENDrA NATH PANDEY Gandhi Marg (Princess Street Flyover, Marine Drive) in south
INAUGUrATES STATE-OF-THE-ArT DATA CENTrE AT bHEL Mumbai to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli sealink, comprising
FACILITY IN bENGALUrU a combination of coastal road based on reclamation, tunnels,
union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra nath Pandey has flyovers, elevated roads, interchanges and sea wall/break wall.
inaugurated a modern, state-of-the-art data centre at BHEL As per the website, India’s largest 12.19-metre-diameter tunnel
Electronics Division in Bengaluru. Established to commemorate is being constructed 20 metres below the shore of the Arabian
India’s celebration of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and as a step in Sea and 70 metres below the Malabar Hill and has three lanes
BHEL’s digital transformation journey, the data centre at Electronics for transportation for south and north bound traffic. One of the
Division (EDn) encompasses the data centres of all the three lanes is proposed to be reserved for emergency transport. The
Bengaluru-based units of BHEL, namely Solar Business Division objective of this project is to provide an alternate north-South
(SBD), Industrial Systems Group (ISG), as well as EDn. The facilities Trunk route for the people of Mumbai which provides improved
at these three units have been brought together and co-located mobility to relieve the traffic congestion in Mumbai, enhances
in one place leading to optimisation of IT infrastructure, better environment and leads to sustainable development of much
data security and reduction in operating cost. needed recreational public open spaces.

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