— Y.R. Nagaraja, Managing Director, Ramky Infrastructure Ltd
Ramky
Infrastructure Ltd is a
Hyderabad-based integrated
construction and
infrastructure development
and management company
that has executed projects
across all the key sectors
including transportation.
Y.R. Nagaraja, in an
email interaction with
Jibran Buchh, shares his
outlook on road and
highway development
in India.
What are the main challenges
while implementing road projects
in India?
Road engineering has become a
complex discipline and the entire
execution process faces severe
roadblocks. Around 70 per cent of
the infrastructure projects are
delayed because of these predicaments:
a) Delay in land acquisition,
b) Delay in forest and environment
clearances, c) Delay in
statutory clearances, d) Shortage
of skilled and unskilled labour, e)
Climatic conditions, f) Political
interference, g) Slow approvals
from government department,
and h) Sanctity of funds.
As per the new Model Concession
Agreement (MCA), the pace
of land acquisition should be
improved so that at least 80 per
cent of the land should be
acquired before the project is
awarded. The above list of challenges
can be eliminated by taking
right steps in the right direction
and can be organised
through the core competency of
the nodal agency.
Road projects are capital intensive
with long gestation period.
How can long-term funding be
made easier for road developers?
Yes, road projects are high capital
intensive and the gestation period
for recouping the investments is
very long. Long-term funding can
be made easier for road developers
by government interventions
like initiating tax-free bonds,
framing transparent and profitable
policy to attract private
investors, and setting right the
existing policy paralysis in terms
of regulatory framework.
Initiatives such as Infrastructure
Debt Fund, to enhance the flow of
much-needed long-term debt for
infrastructure projects and considering
relaxation of external
commercial borrowing norms or
utilisation of ECB to repay high
cost working capital debts, will
also ease long-term funding for
road developers.
Land acquisition has been a
major hurdle in highway development
across India.
Land acquisition is not only a
major hurdle in highway development
across India but has also
proved to be relevant for all infra
projects. The Land acquisition
(Amendment) Bill, which has
been recently finalised along
with the Rehabilitation & Resettlement
Bill, has yet to bear fruit
on the ground.
However, by providing the
landowners with suitable compensation
and resettlement, by
making them a stakeholder in
the project and by providing
some form of temporary welfare
payments (and job training)
would not only be a key in
solving the land acquisition
hurdle but can also decrease
delays in projects.
Tell us about some of the projects
Ramky is executing.
We are currently executing 32
road projects out of which nine
are PPP nature projects. These
projects include:
- Construction of eight-lane
access controlled expressway
as Outer Ring Road to Hyderabad
city in the stretches
Patancheru-Shamirpet from km
23+700 to km 35+000
Patancheru-Mallampet on BOT
(Annuity) basis
- Design, construction, finance,
operation and maintenance of
four laning of Narketpalli-
Addanki-Medarametla Road
(SH-2) from km 0.000 to km
212.500 in Andhra Pradesh
under PPP on BOT (Toll) basis.
- Design, construction, development,
finance, operation and
maintenance of new four-lane
Gwalior Bypass road of length
42.033 km from km 103.00 of
NH-3 to km 16.00 on NH-75 on
DBFOT (Annuity) basis, in
Madhya Pradesh.
- Rehabilitation, strengthening
and four laning of Srinagar to
Banihal section of NH-1A, from
km 187.00 to km 189.350 (Banihal
Bypass) and km 220.70 to
km 286.11 on DBFOT (Annuity)
basis in Jammu & Kashmir.
- Four laning of Jorabat-Shillong
(Barapani) section of NH-40
from km 0.000 to km 61.800 in
Assam and Meghalaya on
DBFOT pattern under SARDPNE
on BOT (Annuity) basis.
- Strengthening, widening,
maintaining and operating of
two-lane Sehore-Icchapur-
Kosmi Road of 50-km stretch on
BOT (Toll + Annuity) basis.
- Four laning of Hospet-Chitradurga
section of NH-13 from
km 299.000 to km 418.600 in
Karnataka under NHDP-Phase
III on DBFOT/BOT basis in
BOT (Toll) mode.
- Six laning of Agra-Etawah
Bypass section from km 199.600
to km 323.525 of NH-2 in Uttar
Pradesh under NHDP-Phase V
to be executed on BOT (Toll)
basis on DBFOT pattern.
- Regrading, strengthening,
widening, maintaining and
operating of two-lane Jabalpur-
Patan-Shahpura Road of 38.84
km stretch on BOT (Toll +
Annuity) basis.
What is your strategy for the
12th Five-Year Plan?
The 12th Five-Year Plan envisages
large private sector participation
in overall infrastructure
spend of $1 trillion which
gives us a road map and capability
to generate the development
of infrastructure. We will
try to capitalise on the plethora
of opportunities and explore
our entry into various sectors
such as railways, oil and gas,
and mining.
Our objective is to be one of
the top five leading engineering
and construction companies
in India in the next five
years and we will try to achieve
this objective by an inclusive
approach and to the stakeholders'
expectations.