National
Multiple development initiatives in Mumbai
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Karnataka and Maharashtra on 19th January, 2023.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated, dedicated and laid the foundation stone of multiple development initiatives worth around Rs 38,800 crores in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 19 January 2023.
- The Prime Minister also initiated the transfer of approved loans of over one lakh beneficiaries under PM SVAnidhi Yojana.
Multiple development initiatives:
Mumbai Metro Rail Lines 2A & 7:
- Providing seamless urban mobility has been one of the key focus areas of the Prime Minister and in line with this, he dedicated to the nation Mumbai Metro Rail Lines 2A & 7, worth around Rs 12,600 crores.
- The metro line 2A connecting Dahisar E and DN Nagar (yellow line) is around 18.6 Km long, while metro line 7 connecting Andheri E – Dahisar E (red line) is around 16.5 Km long.
Seven sewage treatment plants:
- The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of seven sewage treatment plants, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 17,200 crores.
- These sewage treatment plants will be set up in Malad, Bhandup, Versova, Ghatkopar, Bandra, Dharavi and Worli. They will have a combined capacity of around 2,460 MLD.
Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana:
- In an effort to strengthen health care infrastructure in Mumbai, the Prime Minister inaugurated 20 Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana.
- This novel initiative provides essential medical services like health checkups, medicines, investigations and diagnostics completely free, to the people.
Redevelopment of three hospitals:
- The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of three hospitals in Mumbai viz. 360-bedded Bhandup Multispeciality Municipal Hospital, 306-bedded Siddharth Nagar Hospital, Goregaon (West) and 152-bedded Oshiwara Maternity Home.
Road concretisation project:
- The Prime Minister also started the road concretisation project for around 400 kilometres of roads in Mumbai.
- This project will be developed at a cost of about Rs 6,100 crore. Of the total roads extending to around 2050 kilometres in Mumbai, more than 1200 kilometres of roads are either concretized or are in the process of being concretized.
- However, the remaining roads of about 850 Km in length face challenges of potholes which severely impact transportation.
Redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus:
- PM also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.
- The project will be done at a cost of over Rs 1,800 crores.
MUMBAI 1 Mobile App and National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1)
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi took a metro ride from Gundavali Metro Station to Mogra in Mumbai on 19 January 2023.
He also launched MUMBAI 1 Mobile App and National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1) and undertook a walkthrough of the Metro Photo Exhibition and 3D Model on the occasion.
MUMBAI 1 Mobile App and National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1):
- The app will facilitate ease of travel, can be shown on the entry gates of Metro Stations and supports digital payment to buy tickets through UPI.
- The National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1) will initially be used in metro corridors and can be extended to other modes of mass public transit including local trains and buses as well.
- Commuters will not need to carry multiple cards or cash; the NCMC card will enable quick, contactless, digital transactions, thereby easing the process with a seamless experience.
International
First G-20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting
⇒ The first G-20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under G20 India Presidency was held during 16th-17th January 2023 in Pune, Maharashtra.
The G20 Infrastructure Working Group deliberates on various aspects of infrastructure investments, including developing infrastructure as an asset class; promoting quality infrastructure investment; and identifying innovative instruments for mobilizing financial resources for infrastructure investment. The outcomes of the Infrastructure Working Group feed into the G20 Finance Track priorities and promote Infrastructure Development.
- The forum brought together the IWG member countries, guest countries and international organisations invited by India to discuss the 2023 Infrastructure Agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency.
- The meeting was attended 64 delegates from by 18 member countries, 8 guest countries and 8 international organisations.
- The G20 IWG discussed the 2023 Infrastructure Agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency.
Host:
The meeting was hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India along with Australia and Brazil as the co- chairs.
Discussion:
The Indian G20 Presidency’s theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ set the tone for the 2023 Infrastructure Agenda under the 2023 Indian G-20 Presidency.
Theme:
The two-day meeting, discussed the flagship theme of “Financing Cities of Tomorrow- Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable”, amongst others.
- The meeting included discussions on various facets of making cities economic centres of growth, financing urban infrastructure, building future-ready urban infrastructure, the role of cities in meeting sustainability targets, directing fiscal investments for unlocking private financing for energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable infrastructure and mitigating social imbalances.
- The meeting also discussed other important themes, such as exploring ways to collate the data on Infrastructure spending and make the data useful for the private sector.
High-Level Workshop:
» On the side-lines, the Pune meeting was also complemented by a High-Level Workshop on “Financing of Cities of Tomorrow” wherein over 15 international experts discussed the issues related to financing of the cities.
- The Workshop discussed how the cities of tomorrow must tie together their key administrative functions – their planning, funding, and financing – to increase private sector participation.
- Divided into three inter-related sessions, the workshop focused on the infrastructure, and related technical and managerial capacity needs to build the Cities of Tomorrow.
- The Workshop also discussed how cities and higher governments could prepare themselves to increase private financing for Cities of Tomorrow.
Second G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting
⇒ The second G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under G20 Indian Presidency was held in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on 28th and 29th March 2023.
Co-chair:
The two-day meeting was co-chaired by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, along with Australia and Brazil.
- 57 delegates from 14 G20 member countries, 8 invitees, and 10 international organizations attended the meeting physically.
- The agenda for the meeting involved discussions on the ways to augment financing in cities of tomorrow, along with other priorities outlined in the 2023 Infrastructure Agenda.
Discussion:
» During the discussion, members discussed and agreed on the way forward for important deliverables for the year, including the flagship theme of “Financing Cities of Tomorrow- Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable”.
- On this agenda, members discussed various facets of making cities economic centres of growth, financing urban infrastructure, building future-ready urban infrastructure etc.
» Members also discussed other important themes, such as innovative financing models to scale up private sector investment to address the infrastructure financing gap for creating future cities, and exploring potential application of the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) indicators across the infrastructure projects.
- The meeting also discussed ways to collate the data on Infrastructure spending and make the data useful for the private sector.
Roundtable discussion on infrastructure taxonomies:
» On the side-lines of the IWG meeting, a Roundtable of International Organizations to discuss infrastructure taxonomies was also organised.
- The roundtable discussion was organized in partnership with the Global Infrastructure Hub.
- Over 13 international experts discussed the role of infrastructure definitions and taxonomies in making better data-driven decisions.
- The side event witnessed the participation of experts from key International Organizations such as UNDP, OECD, IMF, ADB and EBRD. Representatives from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Mexico and the Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom, presented case studies on improving national infrastructure spending.
Capacity Building Workshop:
» On the sidelines of the 2nd IWG meeting, the Indian G20 Presidency and Asian Development Bank jointly organized a Capacity Building Workshop for the G20 delegates on 30th March 2023.
- The workshop aimed to discuss the international best practices of urban infrastructure development and financing.
- The workshop highlighted the capacity prerequisites for local governments to finance urban infrastructure for inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities.
- This workshop comprised classroom sessions and field visits to enable effective cross-learning.
- The field visit endeavoured to strengthen the understanding of innovative features of urban infrastructure projects and various financing schemes.
- In the first half of the workshop, experts from Singapore, South Korea, Russia, China, European Commission, and India presented the best practices being adopted in their countries for enhancing infrastructure financing for the cities.
- In the last session, delegates from China, Russia, European Commission and India presented specific case studies to highlight various measures adopted to increase the financing of urban infrastructure.
The classroom sessions were complemented by field visits to showcase three successful projects viz.
- VCICDP, to display sustainable and inclusive water supply improvement with smart water management,
- Mudarsalova Lake to showcase lake rejuvenation and 2 MW floating solar for strengthened climate resiliency, and
- Jindal Waste to Energy Plant to highlight private sector participation for effective solid waste management.
Next meeting:
The next meeting of the Group is scheduled on 26th – 28th June 2023 in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.