Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Monday 14 August 2017

Metro in the Ditch ?



DNA ( 14 Aug ) reports :


In 3 years ( between June 2014 and June 2017 ) Mumbai’s METRO 1 has ,


·         Earned….. Rs 664 crores

·         Spent……  Rs 1572 crores



Construction of this 11.4 km line was started in 2007 and got completed in 2014


Original estimated cost of Rs 2356 Cr ballooned to Rs 4321 Cr


Metro 1 is jointly owned by Reliance Infrastructure and Maharashtra Govt company , MMRDA ( 26 % )



Reason advanced for this loss :


·         Was expected to carry 4.3 lakh commuters per day


·         Is actually carrying only 3.8 lakh commuters per day



There is a court case going on between the Govt and MMOPL ( owner of Metro 1 ) re the fare structure, with Reliance Infra claiming it has all the legal rights to fix the fares



All of this must provide INPUTS to the following MASS RAPID TRANSPORTATION proposals just cleared by Niti Aayog :



6 proposals involving Mass Rapid Transportation Technologies , such as Hyperloop , Metrino, Pod Taxies , Stadler buses , Hybrid buses and Freight Rail Road, with a condition that the Transport Ministry conducts trial run of all these technologies ( - under experimentation even in advanced economies )



From where will Transport Ministry find funds for these “ Unproven “ systems , requiring thousands of crores of rupees , and little assurance for “ Profits “ ?



Then there are NPAs ( valued at Rs 10 lakh*crore , in Coal based power plants / Telecom etc ), haunting the banks !



Banks reeling under these NPAs , are unwilling to lend for :


·         Untried / Untested / Un-proven technologies ( even in other countries )


·         Restarting of hundreds of “ Stalled “ projects


·         Take over by the private sector of Govt projects ( divestment ) , with accumulated losses of thousands of crores , making “ Reverse BOT “ , a difficult proposition ( even if government writes off debt and give VRS to employees )


No wonder , Shri Arun Jaitleyji is complaining that the Private Sector is not investing enough in the Infrastructure Projects


14  Aug  2017






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