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Major Port Trusts of India: Growth and Performance
-- T Rajasekar and Malabika Deo
The role of ports in international trade of a country cannot be undermined as 90% of the international cargos are transported through sea route. Hence, infrastructural development of ports is of critical importance for a country in order to enhance foreign trade, which in turn contributes substantially to the economic growth of the nation. Thus, the performance of the ports is of critical importance for a country. This paper studies and compares the efficiency of major ports in India. It measures the efficiency in the form of cargo traffic, container vessels traffic, principal commodities trading and the performance of exports as well as imports. A case study methodology is followed in this paper. The growth of efficiency is analyzed through simple growth rate. It was observed that almost all the major ports handled the principal commodities in which, more than 60% were Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) products. The analysis shows that ports like Mormugoa and Kandla had performed well during the study period. Ports like Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Visakhapatnam also showed reasonably good efficiency in container vessels traffic and cargo traffic handling during the study period. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Rural Road Connectivity Through PMGSY: A Study in Karnataka
-- Yuvaraja U and B Jayarama Bhat
Amartya Sen has been talking about wide socioeconomic injustice particularly in developing countries. Unequal and unjust distribution of infrastructure has been the cause of socioeconomic imbalances in rural and urban areas. In India only 40% of the urban and semi-urban population is provided with good infrastructure. Rural India is largely deprived of adequate infrastructure. Despite continuous efforts at the center and state for providing infrastructure, the achievement has not been rewarding. It is high time to think over the Gandhian model of sustained rural economy and A P J Abdul Kalam’s model of Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), regarding the provision of infrastructure to achieve faster economic development. The Gandhian model stressed on rural development for which infrastructure is a must. Kalam’s model talks about physical, electronic, knowledge and economic connectivities, which go a long way in the development of Indian villages and unplanned cities. The present paper is an evaluation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Karnataka. The paper stresses more on physical connectivity and offers a few suggestions depending on the secondary sources. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Cost Analysis for Different Level of Service in Rural Water Supply System:
A Case Study
-- Arun Kumar Dwivedi and Sudhir Singh Bhadauria
As per the norms of funding, in the rural water supply programs of developing countries the choice of Level of Service (LOS) is incorporated at the stage of planning itself by the stakeholders. However, in most of the cases the stakeholders accept these programs with just the basic LOS in order to minimize their share of contribution, which is 10% of the total cost of infrastructure for basic LOS and 100% of the cost difference between the improved and the basic LOS, if improved LOS is so desired. Such Rural Water Supply Schemes (RWSS) with basic LOS although chosen by stakeholders do not attune with the philosophy of Demand Responsiveness (DR) leading to unsatisfactory, i.e., ‘virtually one low cost service to all’ approach, and thus their sustainability in course of time is always under threat. The cost of RWSS for a typical Indian village for various LOS, starting from basic service, i.e., Stand Post (SP) service, to Yard Tap (YT) service to all with a gradual increase in LOS is calculated and analyzed in this paper. It is inferred that the annual cost per kilo liters (kL) decreases with increase in LOS.
© 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Cost Escalation in Construction: An Alternative Approach
-- Smitha Yadav, Komal Shedabale, Sahil Suman and Darshan Tanga
Current approach to accommodate price variation in India is unrealistic and non-compensating. With the advent of contracting practices in the construction industry and the risk faced by contractors, reviewing the existing methodology of price variation and suggesting changes in the working process is of utmost importance. This paper attempts to lay down two alternatives for the traditional cost escalation formula for the Indian construction industry. While the traditional formulae in India and many other countries rely on the use of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate cost variation, the new approaches lay stress on the establishment of new indices known as construction cost indices, or using the market rate method for calculating escalation. This paper also tries to bring forth the various shortcomings in the existing methodology and suggests ways to avoid such inadequacies in the new approaches. The paper also emphasizes the use of these formulae in the international arena and provides a comparison of the methods to highlight the significance of new approaches. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Craft Skills Availability in the Nigerian Construction Industry:
Perception of Contractors and Consultants
-- Nasiru Idris Medugu, M Rafee Majid, Shehu Ahmadu Bustani,
Kabir Bala, Umar Abdullahi and I Mbamali
The research was aimed at examining the availability and quality of some crafts skills in the Nigerian construction industry. The perception of contractors and consultants was sought via a structured questionnaire. Findings from the study indicate shortages and poor quality of craftsmen. About 91.8% of the respondents believed that there is shortage of skilled craftsmen in the Nigerian construction industry. According to consultants, tilers, interior decorators, glaziers and electricians were ranked as the most affected trades. Contractors also perceived tilers, interior decorators, glaziers, and electricians as the least available trades in the industry. The study concluded by affirming that, the issue of crafts-skill shortage is a challenge in the construction sector requiring concerted efforts from all stakeholders. © 2011 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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