India Infrastructure Research tracked a total of 568 ongoing projects across seven sectors – power, railways, water supply and sanitation, urban rail, airports, roads and ports. These projects are worth at least Rs 17.21 trillion. In terms of project cost, power projects at 31 per cent have the maximum share (Rs 5.4 trillion) which has been allocated for the execution of 73 projects. The railway sector (273 projects) has the second highest share of investment at 30 per cent (Rs 5.1 trillion).
Brownfield versus greenfield projects
With respect to the type of projects across the sectors under consideration, 56 per cent are brownfield expansion projects and the remaining 44 per cent are greenfield projects. In absolute numbers, the railway sector has 112 ongoing greenfield capacity additions, followed by the power sector with 53 ongoing greenfield projects. In the port sector, 36 greenfield projects are being developed. In the airport sector too several greenfield airport projects are being developed due to capacity being saturated at existing airports.
Sector-wise status
According to an analysis of ongoing power projects, about 63,592 MW of generation capacity will be added in the coming years. Of this, 8,866 MW will be added through large hydropower plants, while 54,726 MW of capacity will be added through thermal power projects (TPPs). In railways, 111 projects (worth Rs 1.87 trillion) involve 15,616 km of new line construction,
followed by 108 line doubling projects (Rs 1.54 trillion) for 16,661 km of rail network. Other projects being developed in the sector involve gauge conversion, electrification and station redevelopment. In the port sector, 76 ongoing projects have been tracked. These projects include the development of cargo berths and container terminals, among other projects, at an investment of Rs 2.16 trillion. The urban rail sector has 57 monorail and metro rail projects. Once completed these are expected to add a length of 635.55 km to the urban rail network at an investment of Rs 1.92 trillion.
In the road sector, about 3,337 km length is being developed under 58 projects with an investment of Rs 1 trillion. In the water supply and sanitation sector, 20 ongoing projects have been tracked, entailing an investment of Rs 1 trillion. Segment-wise, 11 projects pertain to the expansion of water supply capacity, seven projects involve the setting up of additional sewerage treatment capacity and two projects involve the laying of stormwater drains. Overall, these projects are expected to create over 3,500 million litres per day of capacity and around 1,359 km of pipelines.
The aviation sector, another key sector, has about 11 projects under construction. These projects are being developed at an investment of Rs 517 billion.
Further, with respect to the road sector, 26 projects involving 423 km of four-laning works are ongoing, followed by 22 projects for developing 419 km of flyovers.
Big-ticket projects
Across sectors, many big-ticket projects are being developed. The 3,600 MW Akaltara (Nariyara) TPP in Chhattisgarh is one of the biggest projects in the power sector. It is being developed by KSK Energy Ventures Limited and IFCI Limited at a cost of over Rs 270 billion. In the large hydro segment, the Sawalkote hydroelectric project, worth Rs 180 billion, is being developed in Jammu & Kashmir. The key projects being developed in the railway sector include the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project (Rs 1.11 trillion), the Bengaluru-Satyamangalam new line project (Rs 139.72) and Indore-Manmad via Malegaon new line project (over Rs 99 billion), among others.
With increasing traffic congestion, the urban rail sector has experienced increasing uptake of projects under the metro rail and monorail sub-segments. Some of the big-ticket projects are the Delhi Metro Project, Phase III (Rs 352.42 billion), under which 109 km of metro lines are being laid and the Mumbai Metro, Phase I, Line 3 (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ), project being developed in Maharashtra, at an investment of Rs 290 billion.
The existing airports in the country are reaching saturation point, and this calls for the development of new airports. The biggest project currently under construction in the sector is the Navi Mumbai International Airport Project. It is being developed in Maharashtra at an investment of Rs 167.04 billion. In the water supply and sewage sector, the Mission Bhagiratha Water Grid Project entailing an investment of Rs 428.53 billion is currently ongoing.
In the road sector, the Greater Hyderabad Strategic Road Development Plan Project worth Rs 192.22 billion is the biggest project being developed, by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
State-wise analysis
State-wise, the maximum power capacity is being added in Telangana at 8,180 MW, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at 7,260 MW and 6,785 MW respectively. In the urban rail sector, stretches will be added across 10 states – Delhi (109 km – includes the 9 km Dilshad Garden-Ghaziabad stretch in Delhi/ Uttar Pradesh), Gujarat (112.3 km), Haryana (3.2 km), Karnataka (53.53 km), Maharashtra (161 km), Rajasthan (2.35 km), Tamil Nadu (21 km), Telangana (74.66 km) Uttar Pradesh (49.24 km) and West Bengal (103 km).
Railway projects with length of 5,569.71 km are being developed by South Central Railway, the maximum length among the railways. To facilitate the transportation of cargo, the maximum capacity of 84 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) is being developed at ports in Gujarat (Kandla, Mundra, Dahej). It is followed by ports in Maharashtra (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Dighi and JSW Jaigarh) with 75 mtpa capacity. These projects are likely to be completed during the 2018-21. The total pipeline of port projects is expected to add at least 362 mtpa of cargo carrying capacity.
In terms of air passenger handling capacity, the highest capacity expansion is being undertaken at Bengaluru airport under the Bengaluru International Airport Expansion Project, Phase II. Once expanded, it will have the capacity to handle 35 million passengers per annum (mppa). It is followed by the Bhogupuram greenfield airport in Andhra Pradesh with 24.3 mppa capacity. Meanwhile, the road network will see an addition of over 6,675 km of quality roads across 17 states, the major addition being in Odisha with 1,944 km of road length.
Public-private partnerships
Most of the under-construction private sector projects are in the port sector followed by roads. About 41 per cent of the 76 port projects and about 48 per cent of the total 58 road projects are being developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The biggest PPP project in the port sector is the Smart Port City Project at Paradip worth Rs 400 billion, while in the road sector, the Rajauli-Bakhtiyarpur Road Project worth Rs 107.15 billion is being developed in Bihar. Further, in the aviation sector, seven projects including the Navi Mumbai International Airport Project, Bengaluru International Airport Expansion Project, Phase II, Mumbai Airport T2 Terminal Upgradation Project and the Mopa International Airport Project in Goa, among others, are being developed on a PPP basis. Meanwhile, the power sector currently has two PPP projects under construction.
The way forward
To conclude, the pipeline of projects being executed shows a very positive picture. However, during implementation, issues related to clearances, policy hurdles and lack of funding have to be tackled in a systematic manner to ensure smooth completion of projects.
