Finance & Funding

India’s ministry of transport and highways is seeking an additional US$1.17 billion on top of a record spend for road construction and maintenance. The ministry has already earmarked nearly $11 billion for the year 2015/16. The government recently announced plans to build a new 600km highway connecting Katra with New Delhi. The route, costing around $2.25 billion, will run through Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir states. A consultant is being selected to carry out a feasibility study for the project

A series of road projects in Uganda will benefit from funding supplied by Japan. Around US$168 million in loans from the Japanese Government will be used to improve the roads in and around Uganda’s capital Kampala. The Japanese Government has pledged to assist the Ugandan Government in developing its economy, with road infrastructure improvements seen as a major step along this path. The next Tokyo International Conference on African Development will be held in Kenya in 2016. The two countries have also agr

Major highway projects are commencing in Indonesia at present. One of the most important is for the Trans-Papua Highway. Work on this is being carried out by the Papua and West Papua Highway Centre. The new highway will be able to link key urban areas including Wondama, Sorong, Manokwari and Enarotali in Pania, Elelim, Jayapura, Ilu, Sinak and Karubaga in Tolikara, Ilaga, Sugapa, Bioga, Nabire and Mulia in Pucak Jaya. Some 827km of the 4,325km highway will pass through jungle area. The construction team has

A series of major highway infrastructure projects are planned for the Philippines. Plans are in hand for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project, with MPCALA Holdings calling on the authorities to give final approval so that construction can commence before 2017. MPCALA Holdings is a subsidiary of conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments (MPIC) and won the 35-year contract to build, operate and maintain the CALAX in June 2015. The CALAX project is worth US$754.6 million. At present, the company is lookin

The Polish government will spend around US$28.3 billion over the next eight years in one on the country’s largest new-road investment programmes. Nearly 4,000km of motorways and dual carriageways will be constructed as well as 50 ring roads around urban centres. More than 1,000 sections of roads deemed dangerous will be rebuilt, according to a report in the Polish newspaper Gazeta Prawna. The announcement comes after the Poland’s road and motorways authority GDDKiA said in June that it plans to awa

A two-day unreserved public auction in Dubai set a record for number of bidders, according to the auction organisers by Ritchie Brothers. More than US$42 million worth of construction equipment including trucks went under the hammer on September 8 and 9 in the United Arab Emirate member state. Eduard Faig, regional sales manager for Ritchie Brothers, said the event set new Dubai records for the total number of on-site bidders, reaching just over 920, and for the number of online bidders, more than 400

A novel tunnel project has been proposed in Brazil. The local infrastructure group Contern has suggested building a tunnel underneath the Serra do Mar nature reserve along the coast of Sao Paulo. The new link would improve access to the southern coastal area of that state, including to Santos port and the industrial area known as Baixada Santista. The project would be carried out under the PPP model so as to provide the necessary funding. The tunnel would have to be 21-23km long and would feature twin tubes

Engineering services provider UGL has signed a four-year deal with the Lend Lease Bouygues joint venture that is building the NorthConnex motorway in Sydney, Australia. The US$329 million contract is for the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the electrical, mechanical, communication, fire and control systems needed for the project’s 9km twinned tolled tunnel. UGL provides outsourced engineering, asset management and maintenance services to rail, transport, power, resources, water an

The Indian Government plans to build a new highway connecting Katra with New Delhi. The route will be some 600km long, running through Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir. A consultant is being selected to carry out a feasibility study for the project. The project will cost in the order of US$2.25 billion and will be of importance as Katra is where the Vaishno Devi holy shrine is located. The new link will reduce travel time on the route from 11-12 hours at present to five-six hours when the work is complete