Miscellaneous

Some of the important government initiatives to augment the Infrastructure are as follows-

Central Motor Vehicles (First Amendment) Rules, 2018

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways vide notification dated 20th February, 2018 has further amended the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
• In the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, in rule 115, after sub-rule (20), the following sub-rule shall be inserted: (21) New motor vehicles conforming to Emission Standard BS-IV, manufacture before the 1st April, 2020 shall not be registered after the 30th June, 2020.

Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill 2017

• The Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill 2017 seeks to amend the Central Road Fund Act, 2000, through which the Cess taxed and collected on high speed petrol and diesel is dispersed for the development of rural roads, national highways, railways, state roads and border area roads.
• The present bill seeks to allocate two and a half per cent. Of the CRF generated to accelerate the development and maintenance of national waterways by reduction of an equal percentage from the share of national highways.
• This would tentatively generate about Rs. 2,300 crore revenue for national waterways. With the enactment of the National Waterways Act, 2016, the total number of national waterways has become 111. This has paved the way for better regulation and development of the national waterways in the country.
• However, infrastructure such as jetties, terminals, navigational channels, etc. for better shipping and commercial navigation continues to be a challenge. In order to suitably develop national waterways, sustainable source of funding is highly necessary as budgetary support and funds from multilateral institutions are inadequate.

Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM)

• Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) is a combination of two models i.e., the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) model and BOT - Annuity (Build, Operate, Transfer) model.
• Under the EPC model, the private players construct the road and have no role in the road’s ownership, toll collection or maintenance. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) pays private players for the construction of the road.
• The Government with full ownership of the road, takes care of toll collection and maintenance of the road.

Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS)

• The Government has taken up a new initiative, known as Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS), to inventorise all structures e.g. Bridges and culverts constructed on the National Highways.
• The consultants have completed their report and also undertaken the condition assessment of all the existing bridges on National Highways. As such, inventory for more than 1,62,000 bridges and culverts has been completed.
• A total of 147 Bridges have been identified as distressed structures which call for immediate restoration/ replacements.
• A time-bound action plan to undertake repairs and restoration or construction of new bridges in place of the decadent structures has been put in place.

Setu Bharatam Project

• The Setu Bharatam project was envisaged to ensure the safe and smooth flow of traffic by replacing all the Level Crossings on National Highways with ROBs/ RUBs (rail overbridges and underbridges) and replacement, widening and strengthening of weak and narrow bridges.
• Under this programme, construction of 208 RoBs/ RuBs on Level Crossings (which are not falling under any other programme like NHDP, etc.) at an estimated cost of Rs. 20,800 crore is envisaged.
• According to an official presentation on Setu Bharatam, 43 ROBs were dropped from the list of planned bridges, while nine other ROBs were added as on 8 March 2018. So, now 174 ROBs are being constructed now under Setu Bharatam.

National Transit Oriented Development Policy

• The Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a multi-pronged policy framework to promote living close to mass urban transit corridors.
• This new initiative seeks to promote ‘Transit Oriented Development (TOD)’ which enables people to live within walking or cycling distance from transit corridors like the Metros, Monorail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors, currently being taken up on a large scale.
• Under TOD, city densification will be promoted along mass transit corridors through vertical construction by substantially enhancing FARs (Floor Area Ratio) backed by promotion of Non-motorised Transport Infrastructure for walking and cycling to transport stations, development of street networks in the influence zone of transit corridors, multi-modal integration, effective first and last mile connectivity through feeder services to enable people access public transit in 5 to 10 minutes from home and work places.