Hosted by the FIRST Construction Council in partnership with CW, the 9th India Construction Festival (ICF) brought together the top industry heads of the construction industry in Delhi on October 12, 2023. This landmark event united industry stakeholders for star-studded events: The 13th India Roads Conference and the 21st CONSTRUCTION WORLD Global Awards.“Most newspapers talk about happenings connected to our industry and we’ve seen evidence of this,” stated Pratap Padode, Founder and President, First Construction Council, setting the tone for the proceedings. “Our website traffic in the last six months has just exploded. We were doing about 200,000 unique visitors a month; now, it has crossed around 800,000. India is not talking about roads unnecessarily. Our road network is second only to the USA in the whole world. It is way ahead of China’s. No wonder several road asset funds are looking towards NHAI and India’s asset monetisation plan.”Remarking on the pace of highway construction, he said, “We created a record in 2021 that we still have to beat, and I think this year we have set a record of that sort. Rural roads have been another interesting story. A total of 742,398 km road length was constructed at the rate of 91 km per day as in July 2023 at an expenditure of Rs 3.6 trillion, compared to 381,393 km at the rate of 80 km per day as in March 2014 with an expenditure of Rs. 1.11 trillion. A concern area is the debt. NHAI’s total outstanding debt till March 2022 was Rs 3.48 trillion.” Apart from monetisation, he added. “Another way of bringing down debt could be that, maybe, the land acquisition strategy has caused this kind of inflation,” he said. “In China, all land, including agricultural, is owned by the state.” Also commenting on the Indian road network, Dr Manoranjan Parida, Director, CSIR- Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Deputy Director, IIT Roorkee, said, “We also have concerns from a financial perspective as also on the quality of roads.” Addressing technologies that fit into the ideas of ‘Waste to Wealth’, he spoke on the benefits of steel slag and waste plastic for road construction, and the use of AI, through Intelligent Solutions for Road Safety through Technology and Engineering (iRASTE), to cut down accidents.And highlighting the green side of the off-highway tyre industry, Ashok Chhajer, Senior GM - OE Sales, Domestic Market, BKT, said, “We focus on our planet because we know sustainability is key for healthy growth. Our first windmill was set up in 2004 and now 50 per cent of the production plant’s electricity needs in North India have been met by green energy generated in our own wind park.”Panel discussion: Policy: Shaping Regulations for Safe and Sustainable RoadsThe discussion was moderated by Dibyendu Sengupta, Director, PwC. The participants were Ajay Kumar Mishra, President, Dilip Buildcon; Akhilesh Srivastava, Road Safety Ambassador - International Roads Federation; Indrabhushan Gokhale, Country Manager, TEREX India; Nikhil Bagalkotkar, Head of AEC Technical Sales - APAC, Autodesk; SK Nirmal, Secretary General, India Roads Congress (IRC); and Satish Pandey, Principal Scientist, CRRI. Considering India leads the world in fatalities from road accidents, mainly owing to over-speeding, the panel shared insights in developing effective policies to prioritise road safety. Solutions offered ranged from policy intervention to the role of technologies like AI for collision prevention to compensate for driver behaviour, and preventive maintenance technology to construct roads better. Keynote Address: Tunnelling Technology Speaker Colonel Parikshit Mehra, Indian Army, Corps of Engineers, who has received the Sena Medal for his engineering expertise that spans diverse terrains, including the Siachen Glacier and Rohtang Tunnel, discussed the challenges tunnelling faces today. Addressing the factors behind errors, he pointed out that there is a different science behind constructing shallow tunnels (for metros, subways, road and rail in urban areas) and deep tunnels (for road and rail or hydroelectric projects), but we tend to put them all in the same shell and end up going wrong in initial estimation and project planning. We need the right technology and detailed project reports (DPRs) that are at least 10 years ahead of projects.Panel Discussion: Revolutionising Road Project Management through TechnologyThe moderator was Gaurav Chawla, Founder and CEO, GKC Consultants. The participants were Kasturi Srinivas, Industry Sales Director, Transportation, Bentley Systems; Manideep Saha, Consultant - Digital Transformation, Project Management; PK Mathur, Vice President - Techno Marketing and OTR Product Development, BKT; Dr Smruti Ranjan Parida, DGM - System & IT Automation, Adani Road Transport; Sunil Desai, Director, Dextra India; and Thumu Karthik, CEO, LivSYT.Showcasing case studies and highlighting emerging technologies, the panel provided insight into the implementation of technology-driven solutions, data analytics, real-time monitoring and the transition into ‘digital trends’ for construction planning and project management that integrate processes and standardise workflows in sync with all stakeholders in a connected environment. The need for continuous innovation and improvement even after construction is over was also expressed.Panel Discussion: Accelerating Road Infra with Better Monetisation and Financing OpportunitiesThe moderator was Suneet Maheshwari, Udvik Infra. The participants included Ashish Kumar Singh, Chief General Manager (Finance), NHAI; Abhishek Mukherjee, Senior Infrastructure Specialist and Freelance Consultant, ADB; Harsh Singhal, Founding Partner, Edhina Capital; Neeraj Sanghi, CEO, Highway Concessions; Palash Srivastava, CEO, IIFCL Projects; Pawan Kant, CEO, LTIDPL IndVIT Services (IM to IndInfraVIT Trust); and Satyan Kumar, Head - Project Finance & Treasury, Sekura India Management.The discussion shed light on various financial mechanisms to fuel growth of road infrastructure and foster collaboration between the public and private sectors. There are considerable monetisation opportunities with infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and real-estate investment trusts (REITs). The Government, too, is playing its part with its dedicated efforts and financial support to develop infrastructure and promote sustainable development – for example, leading public-sector enterprise REC’s entry into the infrastructure sector, with funding to several large-scale projects.Panel Discussion: EPC, HAM, BOT - The Right Ratio for Business?The moderator was Suneet Maheshwari, Udvik Infra. The participants were Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director, BL Kashyap and Sons; Hardik Agrawal, Director, DRAIPL; Mandeep Singh, COO - Engineering and Contracting Division, Casagrand; RK Pandey, Former Member - Projects, NHAI, and Former ADG, MoRTH; Rajesh Chaabra, President - Management Assurance, Welspun Enterprises; and TR Rao, Director (Infra), PNC Infratech.Discussing the pros and cons of various financing models – engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), hybrid annuity model (HAM) and build, operate, transfer (BOT) – the discussion offered a better understanding into the thought process behind the selection of the right model for road projects, practical implications for project execution and strategies employed by industry leaders to strike an optimal balance. This gave rise to a query among the audience: BOT returns?  Valuable takeawaysAll the above power-packed panel discussions on topics ranging from road safety and technology to finance, especially the financing models, were well-paced and gave the audience a better understanding into the intricacies involved in road infrastructure development and management.