The second most populous country in the world, India makes most people think of crowded streets full of noise and commerce. Economists see it as a wealthy nation ripe for trade deals. Most tunnellers probably think of the incredible rates of infrastructure construction to meet demand.
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India has barely got going. Out of the developing powerhouse ‘BRIC’ nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), India has the lowest urbanisation rate at 30 per cent. This is the level the UK was at in the mid 1950s, but with a population some 24 times larger.
This means not just enormous infrastructure demand, but a sustainable one for many years to come. Seen in this context, confidence in a phase five or further of the Delhi Metro and other projects does not seem overly optimistic, but a conservative realism.
The underdeveloped infrastructure is seen as one of the major dampers on growth by the government, which may allow tunnelling to be ring-fenced against slowing GDP growth in the country.
Budgets and bureaucracy
In the 2012/13 budget statement, India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said that one of government’s strategies was to increase investment in infrastructure through a combination of public investment and PPPs. And in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) infrastructure spending is planned to rise to the equivalent of nine per cent of GDP, with half of this spending coming from the private sector.
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By GlobalDataMuch still needs to be done to improve the regulatory environment relating to construction projects to facilitate faster growth and development.
According to the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ survey, India ranked 181st out of 183 countries in the category of dealing with construction permits. In total there are 34 procedures that take a cumulative 227 days to complete, compared with an average of just 14 procedures and 152 days in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. It tops only Albania and Eritrea.
The costs involved are also relatively high; on average the equivalent of 1,631 per cent of income per capita compared with an OECD average of 46 per cent.
Drinking money
The Indus River flows from the Tibetan Plateau to the Arabian Sea. Though largely in Pakistan, which depends on the river for water, part of the ‘Father of Rivers’ runs through the Jammu and Kashmir region of India. This is a boon for energy-hungry India, and hydropower development on this stretch of water is extensive.
Not so for underdeveloped Pakistan. Tibetan glaciers are melting quickly, and while in the short-term this can mean increased water levels and increase the risk of floods, the semi-arid country is highly protective of its liquid lifeline.
Even the lighest research into the many hydro projects in this region highlights the many controversies: Climatologist warnings, arguments and citings of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty on both sides.
For tunnellers, job security is the issue here. Projects such as the approximately USD 1bn Kishanganga hydropower project, which has already had over half that figure spent on it as T&TI goes to press, faces a fight for its survival in front of the International Court of Arbitration. The Hindustan Times reports that this dispute is actually over disruption of water supplies to a Pakistani hydro plant further downriver.
Risky business
Mohan Gupta, Mott MacDonald divisional director of metro and civil geotechnical works tells T&TI that risk is a key factor in delivering the Delhi Metro at least, on time. "The works are all built in small packages. This minimises the risk and gives a small focus. All types of tunnelling are available in each package, for example cut and cover stations and TBM-driven running tunnels.
"The issue is that in India risk is distributed unusually compared to the rest of the world. The contractor is commonly asked by the client to carry all of the risk. This has meant that contractors in India have been unable to make large profits and is a risk to the Indian tunnelling business. India is a harder place to do business than many other countries in the world, though of course nowhere is easy enough."
India is listed as a highly competitive environment with many contractors across all sectors of industry as a barrier to entry. Gupta says, "I was here from 2001 until 2004 when I came to the UK to learn about underground construction in detail. Around 90 per cent, or even more of the local tunnellers at one point or other worked for Mott MacDonald. We have a very large local presence and flexible expertise. We try to use locals where we can but international skills have been key to our progress and where we are today.
"[Delhi Metro Rail Corporation MD until December 2011, Elattuvalapil] Sreedharan has been vital in bringing international professionals in where needed."
In this report
In its 2012 India focus, T&TI revisits the Pir Panjal railway tunnel far in India’s north. The project faces unpredictable ground and difficult accessibility, as well as the associated challenges of building India’s longest (11.2km) railway tunnel for contractor HCC and consultant/designer Geoconsult.
Finally a summary of the scope of works on the Delhi Metro, which aims to see 400km of line in its network by 2025 and a place among the most extensive metro systems in the world.
The project recently lost its MD to partial retirement. Described by many as visionary, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan was with the project from the beginning and is known as ‘Metro Man’.
