Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

'\ drawing board with the last quarter of200 1-02 seeing visible action and tangible signs of growth offtake in related sectors like steel, cement, building materials and construction. Says PlanningCommission Advisor Pronab Sen: "The last quarter of 2001-02 has seen the momentum in the roads sector progressively pick up. Thi s kind of a pace in this sector has not happened in the Indi an economy." In fact, till the late 90s, it was the Rai lways, which was a pampered mode of transport. And , it is only after the Prime Minister' s grandiose Rs60,000- crore National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) that this surface transport sector sprang to spotlight. Road s are the largest consumers of steel and building material, while culverts and bridges wou ld also mean high intake of cement concrete. At present, the national highway programme is not going high on use of concrete as the per-km cost of construction goes up ~s compared to black-surface roads, industry experts said. However, even \Nith the existing configuration of bridges and culverts, the cement industry has started witnessing signs of growth. According to National lli ghway Authority of Indi a's estimates, consumption of cement (structure) is pegged at 1,700 metric tonnes/km while steel (structures) consumption is at I00 metric tonn es/km . The ann ua l average requirement for the hi ghway programme is estimated at 4m metric tonnes of cement and 3 lakh metric tonnes of steel. The NHDP entails four- Ianing and widening ofa length L4,000 km. It has two phases: the Go lden Quadrilateral which links the four metro cities, and the North-East– South- West corr idors which conn ect the diagonals of the quadrilateral. ln the last quarter of 200 1-02, construction sector grew by 7.5 percent against a negative 1.2 per cent in the same period last year. Experts said that a pickup in road construction activities and housing could explain the sudden spurt towards the fourth quarter last year. And, the cascading good ·effect of this growth cou ld be seen in the current fiscal too. Besides, a multiplier effect on related sectors, highway construction is also seen as giving a boost to employment oppoTtuniti es. As a thumb-ru le, there is a requirement of 40 persons per km per day. So, the total requirement of labour fo r the ongo ing Golden Quadrilateral project is estimated at 180 million mandays. Tho ugh the highway revolution may have kick-started much later in India's economic time zone, it is poised to stay active for at least the next five years, which is the deadli~e for the completion of the mammoth Rs 60,000-crore programme. So, this sector will continue to be a source ofeconomic stimulus for the next five years after whic h time the fo rward linkages would start shaping up like reduction in freight costs and easier flow of goods and services. Courte:,y: Cement News Digest, 13-19 Jul 02 Email: cmabb@bom3vsnl.ne / Web: II'II 'W.cmaindia.org TECHNOLOGY FUNDING -MORE R&D FUNDS FOR 2002 The total R&D expenditure in the United States is expected to increase by abo ut 3. 5 per cent making it to $285.6 billion in the year 2002. Three factors, change in Presidential adl)"linist ration, faltering economy and events and aftermath of Sept II terrorist attack have influenced the state of R&D funding for the upcoming year. The highl ights from the forecast include: (i) A 4.7 percent increase over prior yea r in federa l gove rnment expend iture on R&D in 2002 is expected which is $75.5 billion; (ii) Industry funding on R&D ·would be $ 195 billion which is 3.2 percent increa se; (iii) A $ 15.4 billion expend iture on Academia and non– profits, which is 3 percent more over 200 I, is expected. Courtesy: WISTA Innovation, Jul 02, P- 17 Fax: 9/-11-46/9083 Email: Jllitt@nde.vsnl.net.in Web: JI'JI 'W.witts.org BUILDING THE TOWERS OF OPPORTlJNITY K. P. Singh, DLF Universal As a nation at the crossroads of history, India has a long way to go to realise the dream of becoming a prosperous country, free from hu nge r, disease, ignorance and homelessness. Undoubtedly, there have been man y outstanding achievements in the past 55 years, notably the Green revolution, White revolution, and lately, the telecom revolution. State-controlled urban development is largely characterised by almost wil ful ignorance of the social dynamics that forge a direct cause-and-effect linkage between bui lding homes, schools, factories and bu ilding character. Urban development has to be seen as an instrument to he lp build the character of our nation by offering its young c itizens a healthy environment to grow up in. As fa r as the housing and infrastructure sector is concerned, we need to shed the baggage of old ideas and myths. Bui lding cities isn' t just about bricks and mortar. It is about understanding the needs and aspi rations of the people and creating an enabl ing environment for good citizenship . It is about nation building. One ca nno t overemphasise the role of real estate development in the econom ic growth of a country. ln Britain, in the mid-80s, Margaret Thatcher gave a major thrust to housing on