Thursday, February 13, 2014

Hubli-Dharwad set to get BRTS in 16 months

Hubli-Dharwad set to get BRTS in 16 months

Land losers demand more compensation; acquisition delayed

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Hubli-Dharwad BRTS Floats Fresh Tender to Buy 130 Buses

Hubli-Dharwad BRTS Floats Fresh Tender to Buy 130 Buses

Published: 10th February 2014 09:01 AM
Following a lukewarm response to the global expression of interest (EOI) invited for procuring 130 premium quality buses for the Hubli-Dharwad Bus Rapid Transit System (HDBRTS) corridor project, the HDBRTS Company has floated fresh tenders.
In December 2013, HDBRTS had invited an EOI to procure 30 premium quality articulated and 100 premium standard length BRTS buses for the BRTS project being implemented under sustainable transport urban project of Central government.
However, barring Volvo, none showed interest.
Since buses are being acquired under the JNNURM project, only four global companies - Tata Motors, Volvo, Scania and another automobile company based in China - are matching the technical specifications.
The reason for the poor interest was attributed by HDBRTS authorities to stringent bidding conditions. However in the fresh tenders no condition was relaxed. In fact one or two new conditions were added, said HDBRTS officials.
“Earlier we had thought of finalising one of the companies that bid for the EOI. Since only one company showed interest, we decided to call a full-fledged tender rather than going through the EOI route once again”, HDBRTS managing director C M Noormansoor told Express. Noormansoor clarified that no condition was relaxed as demanded by the companies in the fresh tenders. On the contrary two other conditions such as installing intelligent transport system (ITS) applications and to comply with Urban Bus Specification-II issued by the Ministry of Urban Transport have been included, he said.
As the project is being implemented under the World Bank sponsored sustainable urban transport project, the norms laid down needed to be adhered strictly. So, a fresh tender has been floated hoping that more companies would take part in the process. Project specifications have been stated in the tender to avoid any further confusion.
Noormansoor said the technical bid of the tender would be opened on Thursday and financial bids of eligible bidders would be opened later. “We want to wind this tender process at the earliest”, he said.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

Air Pegasus - 1 more airline to fly you to Hubli


1 more airline to fly you to Hubli

Saturday, January 25, 2014 - 14:00 IST | Place: Hubli | Agency: DNA


In a couple of months, a domestic airline will be starting a daily flight between Bangalore and Hubli. 

Bangalore-based Air Pegasus is aiming to start Bangalore-Hubli flight by March. The company’s director, Asswin, said they are planning to operate two flights between the two cities every day. He said they are looking at starting flights between Mangalore and Hubli too.


Asswin said the company is gearing up to serve commuters in tier-II and tier-III cities in South India. Besides the abovesaid cities, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Hyderabad and Chennai are on its radar. To start with, Air Pegasus will use 72-seater aircraft. By next year, it expects to acquire six wide-bodied aircraft.


Currently, Spice Jet is the only airline operating in Hubli, since September 2012. It operates two flights from Hubli—to Chennai via Bangalore, and to Delhi via Mumbai and Jabalpur.


Air Pegasus has been floated by Decor Aviation, one of the largest domestic airport ground-handling companies in the country. The company claimed its fare will be cheaper than its rivals’ due to a couple of advantages it enjoys: the task of managing the airport will be given to its parent company (Decor Aviation) and a fuel-efficient equipment. Asswin claimed that their fare will be comparable to trains’ AC fare.


He added that after a year, the company would expand its reach to Northern, Eastern and Western parts of the country. He said they are studying the possibility of connecting Delhi with cities like Hubli and Mangalore.


Hubli airport controller KM Basavaraj confirmed that Air Pegasus has approached the Airport Authority of India and that official discussions are on. He said the airline should be able to start operations in a couple of months.

Friday, February 07, 2014

New development plan for Hubli-Dharwad soon

New development plan for Hubli-Dharwad soon

Arunkumar Huralimath, TNN Feb 6, 2014, 05.08AM IST
HUBLI: The twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad will soon get a new City Development Plan (CDP) within a couple of months. Hyderabad-based CRISIL consulting company is preparing it under the direction of the government of India's ministry of urban development as part of the Capacity Building for Urban Development project for twin cities.
About 30 urban local bodies have been selected for this project, and Hubli-Dharwad is the only one from Karnataka to get the new CDP.
The ministry has assigned the work to CRISIL, a global analytics company providing ratings, research and risk and policy advisory services. The company has studied the twin cities' base roots and its problems since September 2013. According to its study, the draft CDP copy is ready and it'll be unveiled on February 12in Hubli and the preliminary discussions on it will be held.
Ramandeep Choudhary, commissioner, HDMC, told TOI that the discussion will be at the Kannada Bhavan, where elected representatives, various department officials, and others will take part.
A secondary discussion will be held in March and the CDP will be finalized and the company will submit the final report to the ministry, he added.
The Capacity Building for Urban Development project has been with financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank. Already underground drainage and 24x7 water projects of the ADB are under progress in the twin cities, and the new CDP is the third project for their development. After the CDP is approved, the twin cities will get better amenities, and existing problems related to road, water, traffic, and other amenities and infrastructures will be tackled, said SH Naregal, special officer, HDMC.
Preliminary discussion
On February 12, elected representatives, corporators, NGOs, BVB college SDM college and other educational institutions, pollution control board, water board, KUIDFC, Hescom, airport authorities, Karnataka housing board, PWD, HDUDA, citizens, and other line departments will take part
Grand plan
According to MOUD, capacity building activities in ULBs in states and Union Territories would be approved till March 31, 2014. The CDP of the twin cities will be submitted to the ministry before March 31, and within three years, plan will be approved by the ADB.
Earlier strategy
In 2006, Hyderabad-based Administrative Staff College of India prepared a City Development Strategy for the twin cities. HDMC submitted that report to the central government, but no action was taken.