Getting Back on Track

GST rate reduction from 28 per cent to 18 per cent has provided a breather to the construction equipment industry. Although 15 per cent of items would still be at 28 per cent, the major grouse has been addressed. That said, as many as 42,710 units were sold between January and September this year, against […]

Stage Set for Revival?

As the GDP figures of 5.7 per cent appeared in the press, the murmurs began. GST was already making lives difficult for the traders and businessmen, and the ghosts of demonetisation had not completely vanished yet. The evidence of the economy sputtering emboldened the critics and turned the loyalists into skeptics. The government too moved […]

Can India bite into the $ 680-billion EPC market?

The Government has recognised that the economy is suffering and needs a strong booster dose – placebos just won’t work. Today, all the ministers are brainstorming over revitalising the economy. For our part, CONSTRUCTION WORLD, along with Foundation of Infrastructure Research Studies Training (FIRST), took up the challenge and presented Union Minister of Commerce & […]

The construction ban is justified

The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for July was at its lowest in the past eight years and demand took a deep dive owing to GST adjustments. By the deadline of August 25, over 36 lakh businesses had filed their GST returns. The overall impact is indicated to be an upswing of 16.6 per […]

PRIME THE PUMP

Earlier in May, when I had asked Sajjan Jindal, chief of JSW – the group with the best appetite for capital investment – when the private sector would begin investing, he had replied that we were poised for an imminent renewal in sentiment for private investment. Recently, Ajay Piramal, head of Piramal Group and Shriram […]

Brace for impact!

Nagpur has been in the news ever since the political capital shifted under the current regime. All roads now lead to this ‘orange’ city which has always been a ‘capital in waiting’. The 710-km road that recently invited controversy was the Rs 46,000-crore Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, which revised its invitation for bids with a supplementary advertisement […]

Don’t stymie equipment & technology

The recent inauguration of the 9.15-km Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, India’s longest bridge above water, by Prime Minister Modi coincided with the completion of three years of his government in office. Apart from underscoring the government’s emphasis on infrastructure, it also reaffirmed its resolve in improving connectivity to the Northeastern region. Built at Rs 1,000 crore under […]

We are getting there

NITI Aayog has put forth a plan to turn India’s economy to reach a size of $7.5 trillion, (though targeting $10 trillion) or more than three times of what it is today, at $2 trillion. Implementation of GST, tax reform and ease of doing business (read the Cover Story) are all parts of the building […]

Is the economic miracle a mirage

In the December quarter, the construction sector took a hit. The average net revenue of 156 firms in the mid and large-sized category, excluding L&T, fell by 9 per cent YoY. Road developers took a hit on account of toll collections, which were suspended for three weeks. Orders across infrastructure sector slid several notches. The […]

When will the good times roll in?

India is on a path of deep-rooted reform. Many initiatives have been triggered that will see fruition this year: Implementation of RERA (with a deadline of May 17), appointment of a Real-Estate Regulator, credit ratings of municipal corporations, issuance of municipal bonds by cities, introduction of GST, and much more. While these shifts do cause […]