Construction & Infra's Newfound Momentum

An engineering marvel taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Chenab Bridge in Jammu & Kashmir (a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link project) has started trials this week, marking the successful completion of what has been billed as the biggest civil-engineering challenge by any railway project in India’s recent history. Sanctioned in 2003 and contracted in 2008, amidst concerns regarding its safety and stability, the single-arch Chenab Rail Bridge in Jammu & Kashmir has successfully cleared all requisite tests. It is poised to become a historic landmark in India's railroad chronicles. It is quite clear that the Indian engineering realm is making the most out of the make-in-India momentum.

Things are happening quick and fast in road infrastructure as well. According to the data divulged by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the annual average construction of national highways has recorded an 83 percent spike compared to the pace of highway construction before the current minister, Nitin Gadkari’s time. His third term is good news for the segment. The NHAI has now identified 19 projects that will help it step up the Centre's efforts to revive private investment in the highways sector. These projects will involve a cumulative investment of around Rs 56,000 crore to offer them in build-operate-transfer (BOT-toll) mode. These highway projects, covering around 900 km, are spread across several states, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana. On the other hand, the Indian Railways’ first indigenous semi-high-speed train, Vande Bharat Express, has taken the country by storm. The Indian engineering segment is having the time of its life, and it is getting transformed into something bigger in the form of opportunities. We think it is the right time to delve deeper into the Indian construction and infrastructure segment.
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