The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will act as the principal adviser to the proposed Vizhinjam International Seaport, near Thiruvananthapuram. IFC will extend expertise to structure, market and implement the project and to attract serious investors through an open and competitive bidding process, said Lars Thunell, executive vice president and CEO of IFC. Join discussion...

The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has granted approval to eight more PPP projects, estimated to cost a total of around Rs10,883.89 crore. The 28th PPPAC meeting, chaired by finance secretary, on 16 October, granted approval to eight more projects of the ministry of road transport and highways, spread across three states. The projects included the following: Join discussion...

Most of the funds from the equity raising will be either for entering into the build-operate-transfer (BOT) space pan-India or we will look into acquisitions outside the country. We also are looking into capital investment in the country. Join discussion...

Engineering, procurement and construction company Punj Lloyd Ltd, which has interests in construction for the oil and gas, thermal power and civil infrastructure industries, wants to increase its highways portfolio in India, company chairman Atul Punj said. The company is looking to participate in projects covering 2,000-3,000km over the next six months, Punj said. Join discussion...

IRB Infrastructure Developers, the Mumbai-based highway builder, may raise up to Rs1,200 crore to fund its projects. Virendra D Mhaiskar, IRB's chaiman & managing director, said the company's board has passed an enabling resolution to raise Rs1,200 crore. "We have not decided how much we have to raise now or the instruments to be used," he said on a conference call on Tuesday. Join discussion...

CUPE Nova Scotia says it will fight any attempts by the provincial government to implement new public-private-partnerships - better known as P3's. CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, "We were quite surprised to read a newspaper story last week saying that the Dexter government would be asking Stephen Harper to help pay for two public-private partnership projects. Join discussion...

Thailand's Ministry of Transport is considering a plan to develop a THB30 billion ($898 million) motorway project to open a new transportation channel between central Thailand and the Northeastern region. The 196-kilometer road project, from Bang Pa In to the Northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, will be implemented under a public-private partnership scheme, Transport Minister Sophon Zaram told reporters. Join discussion...

In its latest attempt to fast-track clearance of the restructured highway projects, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) board in its meeting on Wednesday approved that all projects where the value change after restructuring was below 20% of the total project cost (TPC) would be cleared by the board. The ones with over 20% variation would be referred to the Cabinet for approval. Join discussion...

According to the new regulations, the successful bidder of a project at a particular port would be barred from bidding for the subsequent project at the same port. “We are revising the guidelines to prevent domination of a single private operator at a port. No changes are being made in the model concession agreement (MCA). We will issue the revised guidelines as policy directives to the major port trusts in the country,” said a senior official in the ministry. Join discussion...

The Centre has decided to develop on its own national highways that are outside the ambit of national highway development programme (NHDP) and other centrally-sponsored road projects, instead of relying on the Public Works Departments (PWDs) of the states, in a bid to speed up the development of road projects. Join discussion...