The year 2024 will see some of India’s most ambitious infrastructure projects start operations, but 2023 has raised some questions about the safety and quality of some of the new projects after train accidents and the collapse of roads and highways made headlines.
The unfortunate 2 June Balasore three-train accident and the 12 November Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel collapse were the lowest points for the highway and railway sectors in 2023.
This will be the year of the General Election, which may slow down the ordering process as the code of conduct gets implemented. But it is also likely to see ministries rush to complete projects and deliver on their targets ahead of the polls.
Here are the top things to watch out for in the infrastructure industry in 2024
New Expressways and Bharatmata Phase-l approvals: Five new major expressways, including the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, Dwarka Expressway, Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway are expected to be inaugurated in 2024. With a combined length of around 2,600 km the new expressways are expected to reduce travel time by a combined 35 hours across different journeys.
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) is also expected to approve the revised cost estimate for the Bharatmala Project. The cost of the project has ballooned to Rs 10.6 trillion from Rs 5.35 trillion when it was approved in October 2017.
Once the new estimates are approved, the project awarding by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India (MoRTH) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is expected to rise from the levels in 2023.
The government expects to award more road construction projects in FY24-25. This year, unpredictable weather and impending state elections have caused current and new projects to be delayed.
MoRTH will also launch its GPS-based toll collection by March to reduce traffic congestion and charge motorists for the exact distance travelled on the highways.
Better safety standards: MoRTH and NHAI are expected to make it mandatory for consultants working on road construction projects to enter into ‘integrity pacts’ in keeping with global best practices.
The move is expected to help reduce cases of corruption in the country and improve the implementation of quality standards across India.
New guidelines to improve road safety by rectifying accident-prone spots are also expected to be announced on all highways and roads across India.
The government is also carrying out a safety audit of all 29 under-construction tunnels across the country and will work with international experts to come up with new standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed in cases of tunnel collapse.
The Road Ministry's plans to award more projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model in 2024 are also expected to help improve quality standards in the construction of highways in the country.
New locomotive engine and wagon contracts: The Indian Railways (IR) is expected to come out with tenders for new train sets and wagons in 2024.
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in December said that the Railways is looking to acquire new trains with a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore over the next few years.
The goal is to replace ageing rolling stock, for which 7,000-8,000 new train sets will be needed. Tenders for the same will be called in the next four to five years.
The government is likely to come out with tenders to procure around 50,000 wagons in 2024 and 500 locomotive engines and train sets.
IR is also expected to come out with tenders for the manufacturing of Amrit Bharat trains.
Faster and safer train rollout: IR is expected to introduce the first Vande Bharat sleeper prototype by March 2024. Another 40 Vande Bharat sleeper trains are expected to be rolled out across the country in 2024.
IR is also set to introduce Vande Metro's new short-distance premium travel offering in early 2024.
Vande Metro will slowly be used as a replacement for the mainline electric multiple units (EMU) trains that serve short and medium-distance routes in India, travelling 250 to 300 km.
Both the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) — Eastern and Western Wings — are expected to be completed in 2024. So far, 100 percent or 1,337 km of the EDFC is “operational”, while around 70 percent of the WDFC is ready.
The total cost of the DFCs, including supporting infrastructure like multi-modal parks and train sidings, among others, is pegged at Rs 124,000 crore.
The government is also expected to invite tenders to cover 4,000-5,000 km of railway tracks with its collision prevention system, Kavach.
By June 2024, the IR plans to cover around 3,500 km of railway tracks and around 500 locomotives with Kavach.
Industry outlook
According to industry experts, IR needs to take certain steps to speed up growth. “For IR to double its freight traffic by 2030, it will have to come out with locomotive procurement orders in the next two to three years,” said Anil Saini, Managing Director, Rolling Stock & Components at Alstom India.
Asset monetisation and an increase in cargo volumes are other areas where action is needed, they felt. Davinder Sandhu, Co-founder and Chairman of consultancy firm Primus Partners pointed out that for better asset monetisation, IR could focus on land and related assets that could be better isolated as standalone profit centres.
As for higher cargo volumes, Sudhanshu Mani, chief architect of India’s first Vande Bharat project, said IR should allow shipping companies to book individual wagons and permit it to run a train to schedule even if it is not fully loaded.
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