deconstructing delhi metro

There is a new vigour to Delhi’s urban culture and it’s literally subaltern. It is fuelled by the speed, efficiency and a quite wondrous pride in the metro train line that is transforming the commuting culture of this ancient city.
The pride part is imperative. For too long the capital and its inhabitants have had much too blasé an attitude about the city they call home. This was captured memorably by Naipaul in India: An Area Of Darkness — the shocking apathy of spiting without looking, peeing at every available lamppost, and driving down the wrong side of the road without a care. Now, this has been replaced by a collective restraint and admirable dignity and a strange sense of ownership.
It is this sense of ownership, which the Metro has uniquely succeeded in inculcating in Delhi’s citizens. They see in it a symbol of an emerging India and they want to preserve its purity.
On the Metro it appears that there is citizen schizophrenia. On the road the old rage still dominates, with every kind of vehicle jostling for space in the most chaotic manner possible. In the Metro, the same citizen turns respectful of public convenience and decency.
What explains this dichotomy? I think it is because Delhi has never before seen the like of the Metro —efficient, cool and modern — and likes what it now sees.
The subway offers a forty-kilometer ride in 25 minutes flat, with none of the jerks associated with surface travel. What is more, thanks to the air-conditioning, the whole ride is easy — literally no sweat. And with the punctuality on which you can set your clock, the Metro is now the ultimate arbiter of time and space in a city that expands in all directions, way beyond the 80-kilometre ring road. Page 2 of 2 (Jump to page 1)A facility so perfect can be almost frightening for a citizenry used to terrible rickety buses and quarrelling drivers. It seems Delhi’s denizens believe they don’t deserve such superb service; that if they spoil it, the metro train will somehow disappear just as magically as it made its miraculous appearance.
It took me just one commute from the poor district of Seelampur in the east of Delhi to Pragati Maidan, to become a fully paid-up fan. That day 265,000 people reportedly travelled on the commuter line between 9 am and 9 pm. And yet the platforms were clean, there was no half-finished burger lying about, nor were there any paan stains. Also, unlike Mumbai’s suburban local train, the pushing and shoving were absent.
Here’s another unexplained miracle: the Delhiwallah, ever callous towards the fairer sex, has seemingly reformed on the Metro. Ever since it started there has not been one single reported incident of offensive behaviour against women on the Metro. While the close circuit cameras may have played their part, the body language is decidedly different, too.
My high point of the discovery of the Metro Republic came when I came across a rich dude with a gold chain on his broad chest and the keys to his Ford Ikon dangling casually on his belt, board the train at Chandni Chowk and calmly hanging around with co-passengers who had never owned a car but had now a billion-rupee publicly owned train to cart them around.
Mumbai locals are said to be great levellers because they crush them all in the morning Churchgate fast. But thats not funny. When Mumbai gets its own Metro — it will be another republic.

boom town jalandhar

A city going hammer and tongs
Jalandhar, for long the poor cousin of Ludhiana, is fast coming into its own. The city is a case study for globalisation at work. Its growth story is unique in two respects: it’s exports-led and manufacture-driven; and it lies in the Doaba area of Punjab, home to a staggering 6 million non-resident Indians—a population equal to that of New Zealand’s.
A major trigger for growth is a property boom, which appears speculative. Says real estate consultant Arjit Kapooria, “On the Grand Trunk Road that flanks the city, the government-auctioned price for an acre of land three years ago was Rs 50 lakh. Today, in the smae area, it’s a staggering Rs 4 crore.
A large part of this growth is fuelled by the buying spree of NRIs.”
Land authorities estimate that NRIs have ploughed Rs 300 crore into buying property in the doaba in the last five years. Add to that the industrial growth, and the exuberance in the property market appears rational. Reliance and DLF are looking for large plots. Fourteen malls are under construction in the Jalandhar area and Radisson has set up a 5-star hotel in the heart of the city.
The driver for this growth is connectivity between Jalandhar and nearby towns. As one approaches Jalandhar, one can see work along the highways for miles around. The Ambala-Jalandhar road is being six-laned; so’s the one connecting the city with Ludhiana.
Exports are where Jalandhar really shines. With Indian exports growing 27% in 2006, these are good times for the city. It leads India in the exports of hand tools, Sports goods and leather. Says Surjit Jolly of the Sports Goods Manufacturing Association, “Sports goods are a true free-market story.
We get no sops from the governm-ent, yet we export Rs 600-crore worth of goods.
If, like Pakistan, we get non-duty imports for raw material, this industry can become a Rs 5,000-crore business within five years.”
Jalandhar is also a focal point for leather with estimated exports of Rs 300 crore last year. However, like elsewhere, globalisation and competition have also brought pain to the city. It is consolidation time, and smaller units are finding survival difficult. The high duty on machinery that the industry needs is also an impediment to growth.
Since Jalandhar is a manufacture-driven growth story, it has created enormous employment opportunities. With an estimated 3.5 lakh migrant workers from eastern UP, Bihar and Orissa, social tension is also growing. Locals can’t do without the labour and yet there is an undercurrent of resentment. I decide to visit a local liquor shop at the eastern edge of the city. It is a tough and dangerous place. Fights break out without warning over trivial issues.
I am sitting next to Hamid Rahim from Barabanki in UP. He and his friends work at a foreign Sports goods manufacturer’s outlet. The working conditions, they tell me over packs of country liquor, are as bad as before but the pay is better.
Semi-skilled labour gets about Rs 2,000 a month plus overtime. Even then there is shortage of labour. Says Rahim: “The real issue is lack of proper places to stay. If we had hygienic dormitories, we could save so much more money.” Is Jalandhar Inc listening?
On my last day in town, I meet the perfect example of the change that in engulfing this city. In Model Town, the downtown shopping arcade, I walk into a very busy shop swarming with youth. It’s a tattoo shop. I chat up Pammi Ahuja, 23, who is looking for a new kind of globalisation-induced opportunity. Having finished her airline course and English diction course, she has recently been hired by a foreign airline. She is morose though as she can’t have a tattoo (the airline forbids them). Globalisation, however, is leaving a mark on her life perhaps without her even realising it in this bustling city of Punjab notorious for female foeticide.
In Jalandhar, you realise that for India to sustain job growth, industrial production and manufacture hold the key. A recent Cap Gemini report hinted that India might yet become a manufacturing hub of the world to compete with China. For that to happen, a thousand Jalandhars will need to boom.

Singur: More Than A Nano Problem

"The word is about, there's something evolving, whatever may come, the world keeps revolving They say the next big thing is here, that the revolution's near, but to me it seems quite clear that it's all just a little bit of history repeating "
—Propellerheads
Walking down Shakespeare Sarani the irony is unmistakable. On the one hand is the obvious bustle of the city of joy. A new excitement is palpable — there is more traffic on the road then ever, pubs are busy, at the addas the bard’s old question is the topic of discussion — its all about the stark ‘to be or not to be’. West Bengal, unlike the $1-trillion Economy that is India, is still grappling with this one.
In his simple office off Park Road former SBI and Peerless chairman DN Ghosh who is a veteran watcher of the West Bengal Economy has this to say: “Look it’s quite simple — industrialisation is needed but how do the communists commutate it to the cadre? How do you change track? These things are difficult. Everywhere in West Bengal it is a Herculean U-turn.”
Cut for a minute to the trade fair in Delhi where the Tata Nano car is being showcased. A total of 3,50,000 of these little beauties will roll out of the plant that the Tatas have controversially acquired in Singur. There are a bunch of English-speaking protestors crying for blood. The reason is an old one. An agrarian Economy is industrialising and pain is likely. According to government estimates, 70% of the state’s population depends on agriculture while the all- India average is 56%. They have never seen any other way of life. Agriculture is now, industrialisation is in the future. But will a successful industrial hub change all that? Says auto analyst Murad Ali Baig, “A thriving plant will likely change the mindset. It is not rocket science. When Escorts came with their plant in the late 80’s in Faridbabd there was opposition. Soon ancillaries came in and so did property development. The same thing happened with Maruti in Gurgaon. When Maruti came, Gurgaon was drab and underdeveloped. Maruti’s success was the forebearer of the MNC boom that followed. I am totally convinced that many of the fence sitters will come around with progress. West Bengal needs the plant to show what industrialisation can do.”
In Bengal however, the difference is Politics. The Left Front’s coalition partners as well as Mamata Banerjee have served notice and even issued ultimatums against this flagship project. It is a dangerous time and there is tension in the air. The site of the factory is picketed by police and private security. Says a labour contractor on the site, “We have 3,500 unskilled labourers working here and 80% of them are from Bengal itself. However, we are afraid that things could spiral out of control. Daily the agitators are instigating people and I fear that any thing can happen.” At the site itself, work is on at a furious pace and two large factory yards have already been constructed. No official is available for comments but clearly the locals are polarised. At a nearby school a teacher says on the condition of anonymity, “When students ask me if this plant is good I am at a loss to give an answer. Some of those who have lost land will suffer but the bigger impact will certainly be positive and allow Singur to move away from the land. We have to wait and watch, I tell my students.”
A lot hangs in the balance beyond the Tata car investment. If the Singur project produces results, a lot many others could follow suit. According to the finance ministry estimates, West Bengal received 12% of total investment proposal in India in 2007. The West Bengal government figures indicate that during January-June 2007, some 127 letters of intent were issued for setting up projects in the state involving an investment of Rs 49,128 crore, and also ensuring additional employment to 77,071 persons.
This is a significant development since in Bengal as much as 80% of industry is in the small-scale sector. Big ticket investment is likely to lead to greater employment mobilisation. Over the last 10 years only 2,00,000 people were added by industry in the state.
Says Sujit Poddar, a senior Peerless official, “Singur is a litmus test but even beyond Singur, after long years there is a revival of interest. However the state needs to articulate a clear policy to sustain this interest. On the ground level too there needs to be a change in the attitude of the cadre. Till then it will be a difficult investment destination. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s assertions are a welcome step. He needs to hold on to them and guide the state through the current period.”
Besides the industrial development proposals which are obviously set for the big league, the state’s strength in information technology cannot be ignored. A visit to the Sector-5 area of Salt Lake City is an eye-opener. For one thing all majors are already here. Says Amit Data Ray, a Salt Lake City-based IT workforce consultant, “Bengal has three advantages — firstly the English-educated workforce is large and young. Secondly, they work on 20% lower salaries and the cost of doing business is also less in the state and finally the instability and turnover of jobs you see elsewhere is also comparatively less here, there is the culture of sticking to a job.” Add to that the falling dollar and cost pressures and the sector is likely to see sustained infotech investments.
Though West Bengal is finely poised, like elsewhere in India it has to sort out critical issues of governance to make its promise into a reality.
Samiran Gupta, managing director of investment advisory Access India, sums it up: “Over the last decade, the services sector has grown in West Bengal to offer more opportunities to the youth. Re-industrialisation or bringing West Bengal back to the industrial mainstream in the country got a boost when the Tatas chose Singur as their home for the Nano. So a transformation has already begun. But questions remain as to the speed of the transformation process. The answer to this lies squarely in the hands of the people of the state. The people of West Bengal need to be the change for it to happen.” Like the teacher in Singur said, it’s wait and watch time. And time is running out.

the ambassador turns fifty in style

It's been the iconic workhorse of the Indian roads for decades, the favourite of cabbies and government babus alike (it's the only Indian-made vehicle that can be upgraded to a bullet-proof version). And this year, the Ambassador car celebrates its golden jubilee with new models to reinforce its cult following, both in India and abroad.
Originally based on the 1948 Morris Oxford and, subsequently, the Land Master, the Ambassador was born in 1957 and lorded over India's modest car market for decades. In its heyday, the 1970s, the CK Birla-owned Hindustan Motors sold 15,000 of these clunky machines every month.
Of course, the advent of a whole new generation of vehicles has seen Ambassador sales dwindle to less than a tenth of that number, with central and state governments, as well as the tourism sector, still its most loyal customers. Says Hindustan Motors managing director Ravi Santhanam: "In its golden jubilee year, we plan to leverage both the great legacy and robust brand recall and will be introducing a new model every year."
The new models will be run on all four fuel types-LPG, CNG, petrol and diesel-will come with a sunroof and better styling.
The car's iconic stature was underlined by the Smithsonian museum, which held an exhibition of the Ambassador a few years ago. And if further proof were needed of the Ambassador's brand power, Richard Branson provided it in plenty when he rode atop one when he launched Virgin Airlines in India. Recently, a British firm even started a luxury taxi service in London with a fleet of exclusively Ambassador cars, charging £40 an hour.
Clearly, in its 50th year, the Ambassador is all set to spread its irresistible charms worldwide!
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soft power india

India's soft power
An economic growth rate of nearly eight per cent, a robust military infrastructure and the nuclear weapon capability have come together to define India’s search for security and status in the emerging world order. However, little attention is paid to a completely different set of sources that can be leveraged by India to consolidate its place in the global scheme of things. This influence becomes visible, from the capability to nurture and leverage, as, in the words of Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye, "soft power". Soft power has many sources. It is derived from the openness and attractiveness of the cultural aspects of a country that hold an abiding appeal to the international community. It encompasses the allure of its political system, the spiritual foundations on which the country has based its founding ideas and the robustness of its popular culture. On all three counts, India is almost uniquely placed. Our ability to manage such plurality and mind boggling differences within a widespread and deep rooted democratic polity is of interest to the world. This appeal is enhanced by the fact that India is in a tough neighborhood. India has on its periphery, a non-democratic, nuclear-armed Islamic republic in Pakistan, and a totalitarian regime in China that has a particularly nasty human rights record — not to mention a rabid Bangladesh and a despotic Nepal.
Democracy is the master weapon in India’s soft culture arsenal. This is not just a vague notion of goodness but a very real tool in international affairs and of interest to like-minded powerful democracies like the USA and Japan. To nurture this power, India has already taken a step by participating in the UN Democracy Fund with a large role for itself. This should help the world in finding alternatives to despotism and look at strengthening democratic institutions from around the world. The second consideration of soft power, is in the spiritual ideas that inform a nation’s history. India can, and indeed does, lead the world in this. From interest in Japan and China in Buddhism, to India’s historic role as a soft power in places as far as Indonesia—the country is well placed to leverage the spiritual advantage. With Germany, we have historic roots of language and culture, while with the UK there is the colonial connection—and with America, it’s democracy. The consumer dimension of this spiritual power should not be underestimated. Every time a future leader of the outside world comes to India as a backpacker, or a star like Madonna takes up yoga, this soft power permeates their inner space of a foreign constituency. Such bonding is all the more powerful given its voluntary nature.
The third leg of the soft power triad is the power of our popular culture. The fact that Indian movies are now screened in places as diverse as Afghanistan, Egypt and Leicester Square is proof of India’s appeal to the world. Indian movies are shown in scores of countries and have an estimated market of US$2 billion. The fact that Pakistan refuses to allow Indian movies, is proof of the fear that closed societies have of soft power. India must leverage this advantage with the systematic aim of deepening and enlarging this constituency in Pakistan. These are the opportunities, but what is the reality? On the world scene India has failed to really put soft power into practice. The vibrancy of such assets as Indian food in Britain or yoga in the USA has developed largely by default and by the initiatives of the private sector rather than by a concerted diplomatic effort. Institutions such as the ICCR have understood the need to go beyond our ancient traditions and move into the present day and age of popular culture, but they need to do more. India has the enormous advantage of a wide spread—and increasingly affluent—diaspora. With the exception of China, the country has the world’s largest non-resident community. The role of this group of 20 million people in spreading India and what it stands for, cannot be underestimated. With overseas people of Indian origin, the country has an embedded advantage.
In places like Mauritius their political presence is significant. In the United States and in Europe, Indians are affluent and slowly moving into the political arena. In the Arab world, the Indian diaspora is the only plurality on offer. The triad of soft power thus gets a leg up through this incredibly powerful overseas community. As India makes its play in the global empire of ideas, it is discovering that it has a very good hand. When played in synch with the country’s emerging economic might and military capability, soft power could be an ace in our pack. It is both a multi billion dollar marketing opportunity, and in the context of countries like Pakistan, is a diplomatic tool of increasing utility which will pay huge dividends in the future.

indian airports are a shame

. The state of major airports in India is nothing short of a scandal. Near miss collisions, congestion lasting over three quarters of an hour, fatal accidents on the tarmac and traffic jams at the approach is all in a day’s flight at India’s airports. The airports are disasters waiting to happen.

A while back the aircraft carrying Sonia Gandhi came too close for comfort with another commercial flight. If this can happen on VVIP flights the layman is surly a sitting - or rather flying duck.
At the heart of the problem is the gap between the growth in the air traffic in India the infrastructure that ought to go with it. Currently 19 million people fly the Indian skies every year and this is going up at a staggering five million people per year. Of this growth 46 per cent has come from non-metro airports, which while not getting much publicity, are similarly constrained by infrastructure concerns.

The air traffic control links in India is poor both in numbers on the ground and the technology that they work with. Experts believe that the best way to ensure the position of an aircraft approach and departure position is the secondary surveillance radar. Shockingly many airports, including bangalore, are not equipped with this technology, likewise many airlines are not spending money to train their pilots in category III landing systems that allow for fog landing thereby throwing schedules off gear.

The second major concern is the unsustainable model of budget airline. Contrary to impression food and beverage costs are a tiny fraction of operating expenses. For both the full fare and budget airlines it is the fuel, maintenance, parking and crew costs that make up the large percentage of expenses. Thus temptations to cut costs are high a routine maintenance missed could lead to a catastrophic crash.

The bad news is that the scene at the Indian airports is likely top get worse before it gets better. Sure privatization at Delhi and Mumbai will help. It will create better utilization of resources and more comfortable transit. However till the airport authorities of India and the ministry of civil aviation comes in line with the urgent need for upgrading airport infrastructure today’s air traveler will have to contend with the fear of flying.

free the business of inteernet commerce inindia

Scrap B2C curbs
The proposed curbs on business to consumer firms that sell goods through the Internet are a retrograde idea. Anything that the Internet firms sell from abroad has to go through the tariff and duty regimes of the Indian government. That ensures the government revenue. Currently it is a 2500 crore market and growing at robust clip.

Unwarranted curbs on this growing business could lead to constriction of revenues and loss of jobs. At the heart of the issue is the fact that selling though Internet is not a vending matter but that of commerce. Put differently, it is in the realm of tariff and not retail policy.


What is more, the move could lead to retaliation from foreign countries and impact sourcing of goods from India thought the internet - which is a far larger business.
In fact the government would do well to encourage this business by simplifying norms for warehousing, logistics and the cold chain since. It should be borne in mind that the “at the door step” industry globally generates a substantial number of jobs and in time could compare with the growth of pure play retail. The potential for business to customer industry is enormous given the increase in broadband connections and greater online security in commercial transactions.

There is need for the government to allow greater equity in e commerce ventures that are pegged at 51 per cent and to libralise the current regime that does not allow any equity in foreign firms wanting to business to customer e commerce in India.

This is not to say that the Internet based businesses do not need regulation. There are cases of fraudulent and late delivery and also of banned goods making there way into India through the Internet based e commerce model. These should be regulated and not the system of supply and selling.

Internet based business to customer model is good for another reason. It is at the cutting edge of information driven business and add to the competitive capabilities of an economy. An Internet based model cuts waste and inventories and invests in technology for speedy delivery. This is turn ensures that even off line firms become leaner and more competitive. It is an industry that needs to be encouraged and not – as the proposed measures could – nipped in the bud.

small time india now in big league

The cheer is strange for this frontline town. Frontline that is on of the Naxal war that rages like a red blister across much of central India. Says a wireless telecom sales manager, plucked out of a management school in Delhi and placed here, " The truth is that while business is surprisingly good with people sick of land lines, I cant venture out worried sick as I am of land mines. Ranchi has no suburbs. Twenty miles out and you are in naxal cross hairs. I can't believe how much time I spend at the bar these days - there is just nothing else to do around here." He may have a point. While cell phones have boomed and Sunil Mittal said at a recent conference that the opportunity in Ranchi was spotted late, even most cell phones don't connect.

The real estate market though has boomed, regardless. Partly because Jharkhand became a state and expectations of a growth of the sort witnessed by Deharadoon propelled investor sentiments. The real action however is in the natural resources sector. You have a queue here for investing in mining in power and coal. Says Tanmay Priadarshini of Jindal Steel "Things take time here, but make no mistake, once you realize the sort of resources the state has you will appreciate that there are few better alternatives than Jharkhand. Sure law and order can be tough but the mining sector overall has the capacity to be a transforming agent in this state. We are very bullish about Ranchi."

This being Ranchi the main road is called simply that – main road. And here stands a five star hotel in white marble, its called Capitol Hill. It houses another giant potential investor - Arcelor Mittal. Currently playing the waiting game the steel giant has eyes firmly on the state. So do about 40 other steel and coal companies of various sizes who have signed MOU's. However says a senior Indian Steel firm CEO on the condition of anonymity “ The only problem is that the after the MOUs nothing has moved. And some of the MOU’s have even lapsed since the time of reference is long over. There is also a lot of uncertainty since PSU firms corner mines so you are left groping in the dark in the middle of seemingly endless opportunity.” Transparency is alien in these parts. What you see is never what you get. This is India inc. as it used to be.
\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>The malls bandwagon so conspicuous ion other growth towns is absent in Ranch – so far. However both the pantloon group and the future group have plans lines up with the later likely to start operation here early next year. So the mall going Indian will soon have its fist cousin in Ranchi. Says local businessman Aditya prasad " Reality as a trigger for growth has been slow in coming but its now firmly here. We also ready have an top-notch Apollo hospital and a seven star hotel is planned. It may not look like much but this lace is catching up – and fast.'\n\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\u003cp style\u003d\"margin:0in 0in 0pt\"\>\u003cfont face\u003d\"Times New Roman\"\>The youth are hopeful too. Some kids on motorbikes restless like the rest of India are eating at a popular Kebab joint on main road. I join the feast to see what the youth are humming. The ambitions seem modest a couple are preparing to go to Delhi to take the IAS exam two others work for telecom franchises and all of them are unanimous in one thing – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. If ever there was a motivational guru who could motivate enter peoples and give them hope this is it. Says Sarawak \n\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n",0]
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The malls bandwagon, so conspicuous in other growth towns , is absent in Ranchi – so far. Pantaloon though has a big mall lined up. So the mall going Indian will soon have a first cousin in Ranchi. So while reality as a trigger for growth has been slow in coming its now a reality. Apollo has set up the first real multi facility hospital and a seven star hotel is also in the works.
The youth are hopeful too. Some kids on motorbikes- restless like the rest of India are eating at a popular Kebab joint on the main road. I join the feast to see what the youth are humming. It’s a modest hum - almost a whisper. A couple of them are preparing to go to Delhi to take the IAS exam, two others work for telecom franchises and all of them are unanimous in one thing – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. If ever there was a motivational guru who could motivate an entire people he is it. Says Sarawak gonda, 22 “ look we have to aim at the top and if we have it in us it is possible. If he can be a one of just eleven in a billion we are only looking to join the workforce.” Way to go mate! The odds are indeed in his favor.

infrastrucre delays cause pain to india

Arrest crippling delay
The delay in completing public infrastructure projects in India is nothing new. What is new is the staggering scale of the delay as well as the fact that with the recent increase in commodity prices the cost of these delays are piling up too unsustainable levels. The delayed projects also come with a huge opportunity cost. A delayed port or a highway programme can put breaks on economic growth and cause the economy to overheat.
According to a recent report ministry of statistics and program implementation Out of these 605 projects, around 248 projects are way behind schedule. Another 149 projects, though approved, have not even been commissioned, and 46 other projects are waiting for the updating of their completion schedule. Merely 22 projects are ahead of schedule, while 14 are on schedule. A staggering 105,000 crore has already been spent on these projects and the delays cost an average of The overall cost overrun with respect to original cost is calculated on an average to be 21.5 per cent.
The worst performers are sectors such as nuclear energy, Hydropower generation, Indian railways and ministry of health and family welfare. The delays are a symptom of comprehensive governance failure. The political structure of a parliamentary democracy in India also leads to many pork barrel projects where costs are exaggerated from the inception stage. Powerful MP’s often insists on mega projects n the vicinity of their power base irrespective of the feasibility of the project. There is urgent need to tighten the feasibility study criteria for government-funded projects.
Lessons also need to be learned by the babu’s from the private sector in project execution. Whether it is the Reliance refinery at Jamnagar or the Delhi metro port large time bound project are now being executed with much greater efficiency by the private sector.
A public private partnership model for project execution ought to be a top governmental priority. A vast engineering pool needs to be created for flexible project management. Some of these ideas have been mooted by the planning commission in the past but never taken forward in a concrete executable format. India can ill afford ignoring such an initiative
division has 605 projects worth Rs 267,815 crore (Rs 2,678.15 billion) on the monitoring system on which Rs 105,146 crore (Rs 1,051.46 billion) have already been spent.
Out of these 605 projects, around 248 projects are way behind schedule. Another 149 projects, though approved, have not even been commissioned, and 46 other projects are waiting for the updating of their completion schedule.
Merely 22 projects are ahead of schedule, while 14 are on schedule.
The overall cost overrun with respect to original cost is 21.5 per cent, mainly because of delays, which range from one month to 13 years!

meglev mumbai?

Maglev is a bad idea
Any one who has done the airport to downtown hop on the Mumbai locals knows that Mumbai needs massive transport solutions. However the proposal to set up a magnetic levitation train at the reported initial cost of 30,000 crore is a white elephant in the making. Maglev is a prestige statute not a utility project that can take the load of the harried commuters of the great metropolis. And it is not coming any time soon. From the feasibility to the first ride downtown is a good 15 years away. As for the cost it is estimated that the Shanghai train cost 320 coroe a kilometer. The real problem with a Meglev is that it is not compatible with existing infrastructure. You have to create a total new set of tracks for this train to run along with fencing and other perihenrialiia - and in Mumbai this could well be a costly logistical nightmare.
The Maglev technology involves magnetic lavation transportation that can do 600 kilometers per hour. That is like traveling the 25 kilometers from the airport to church gate in five minutes flat. The technology uses the magnates beneath railcar to lift up and forwards the vehicle and very fast speed over short distances. However the reason why this incredible and admirable technological wonder has not found too many converts in the cost. The upfront cost tool the 80 kilometer metro line in Shanghai is a staggering $12 billion the maintenance costs per year i estimated to be upward of 80 million of dollars. A ticket on this costly wonder is 600 rupees a ride one way. While this may look expensive a taxi in mumbai already costs 275 rupees and takes one and a half hour to reach where as for 600 rupees you will be alighting at the church gate station in five minutes.It can be argued that a combination of Bangkok style monorail and Delhi style metro can take the load of f mumbai at a much cheaper ate. What is more the tried and tested combination of metro and monorail are far more readily mountable. It is important when considering a project do this size e the maximum number of people that will benefit. The economics of scale on pricing issue therefore factor mass transit systems and rule the magnetic lavation option put Indian in infrastructure will do well to stick to