A plan for projects to be awarded in the year 2010-11 is to be launched soon. If there is one thing that makes India’s growth story patchy, it is its infrastructure. Within the infrastructure deficit, the lack of roads remains the greatest challenge. Although India currently has 3.3 million kilometres of roads — the second largest such network in the world — the shortage of highways has been a major hurdle for attracting foreign investment. Join discussion...

To give more comfort to lending agencies for road projects, the government is considering a proposal to give ownership of highway projects to the National Highways Authority of India, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said. "We are trying to devise a framework for NHAI which will help raise funds more easily for projects," Nath told NewsWire18 on sidelines of a private event on Sunday. The existing concession agreement does not provide for any recourse to lending agencies, in case a builder defaults on loans Join discussion...

Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Wednesday said the government is ready to offer 20 percent of the cost of mega development projects if taken up as a public-private partnership (PPP). Join discussion...

RECENTLY, there has been a slate of reports by various investment banking research houses criticising proposed plans to buy back the highways from concessionaires — a proposal that has been criticised by the concessionaires themselves. The DAP has suggested that the government buy back all shares of PLUS Expressways Bhd that it does not already own, and take over its existing asset-backed liabilities for the approximate amount of RM15 billion. This amount and more would be recovered from motorists using the North-South Highway by maintaining the existing toll rates for six years. Should PLUS be acquired this year, by 2016, toll collection would no longer be required on PLUS-owned highways. Join discussion...

The Portuguese government will likely only take a final decision on advancing with planned high-speed rail links to Spain in October, after scheduled legislative elections, Public Works Minister Mário Lino said Tuesday. “The normal pace of things means that only in the next legislature, around October, will there be conditions, and not before, to sign the concession contract” for the first stretch of high-speed line from the Spanish border, Lino said. Join discussion...

This summer, California officials will be vying against other states to get funding for a planned high-speed rail corridor that would ferry passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in a 2-hour, 40-minute trip. Voters approved $9 billion in bonds for the project in November -- and promoters hope the federal government and the private sector will kick in enough money to help them complete the $34-billion first phase. Join discussion...

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Road Transport and National Highways Kamal Nath on Wednesday assured highway developers that the government would review policies and issues delaying the construction of national highways. Join discussion...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Chang Chiu-chun, vice minister of transportation and communications, denied yesterday the government will take over the High Speed Rail Corporation, which offers Taiwan's bullet train service. Join discussion...

The government may bring in major changes in road and highway sector policies deviating from its earlier stand that it would first test the market before pumping in public resources. While talking to ET, road transport and highway secretary Brahma Dutt said that the government may spend more resources on the sector, and could be less dependant on public private partnership (PPP) mode. Excerpts: Join discussion...

Three units of Obrascon Huarte Lain Brasil SA (OHLB3.SA), Brazil's second-largest toll-road operator, won a 792 million real ($378 million) loan from Brazil's government to fund investments in three highways in the nation's southeast and southern regions. Join discussion...