Delhi govt appoints PWD nodal officer to fast-track 5G, broadband infra rollout
This move comes after a meeting held last year where central authorities asked departments like the PWD to designate officials responsible for handling connectivity-related clearances. 'The newly appointed nodal officer will focus on clearing pending permissions related to Right of Way (RoW)' a key requirement for laying underground optical fibre and erecting telecom towers,' officials said.
To streamline infrastructure, the committee has directed the Urban Development Department to ensure that all agencies planning excavation work inform the relevant authorities beforehand.
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Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
CM approves revised policy for land compensation to farmers
1 2 Jaipur: Chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma Wednesday approved the revised policy for compensating farmers for land affected by the Right of Way (ROW) in the construction of new transmission lines of 400 kV or more capacity in Rajasthan. With the CM's decision towards farmers, additional compensation will now be provided for the construction of transmission lines of 400kV and above. He accepted the long-standing demand of farmers, ensuring that in the future, farmers will receive appropriate compensation for land used in the Right of Way and tower areas of transmission lines. A partial amendment was made to the compensation policy for land affected by the ROW for the construction of new transmission lines of 132kV or more capacity, effective from Nov 8, 2024, in Rajasthan, specifically for transmission lines of 400kV and above. Energy minister Heeralal Nagar said that the revised policy will greatly benefit farmers, allowing for proper compensation for losses incurred during the construction of transmission lines of 400kV and above on their fields. This will expedite the construction of high-capacity transmission lines in the state, benefiting common consumers with high-quality electricity. ROW is a strip of land where the construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of transmission lines take place. ROW is the centre of the transmission line. It removes all trees, structures, and constructions that obstruct power lines. According to this revised policy, an additional 200% compensation will now be provided on top of the previously payable 200% of the land value according to DLC rates for the tower base area of these lines. The tower base area will be the area enclosed by the four legs of the tower at ground level, with an additional one-metre extension on each side. Additionally, for ROW corridor, 30% of the land value will be payable in rural areas, 45% in municipal and other urban planning areas, and 60% in municipal corporations and metropolitan areas. This revised ROW compensation policy will apply to all implementing agencies (transmission licensees), Power Grid Corporation, and all private companies involved in the construction of transmission lines of 400 kV and above capacity.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Sangli contractor found dead; kin say he was under financial stress due to unpaid govt bills & debts
Kolhapur: A 35-year-old govt contractor from Tandulwadi village in Sangli's Islampur taluka was found dead on his farm on Wednesday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Harshal Patil, who worked on pipe-laying and tank-contruction projects of the Jal Jeevan Mission (a rural water supply scheme). Harshal's cousin Akshay told the police that the contractor was under immense financial strain because of bills of Rs 1.4 crore pending clearance with govt, and debt of Rs 65 lakh with banks and private lenders. Many contractors across the state are awaiting govt bill payments. On July 4, the contractors held a statewide strike demanding immediate clearance of dues. Since Jan 2025, contractors have also held at least five protests in different districts. Milind Bhosale, the state president of the contractors' association, said he has written at least 25 letters to govt to hold a meeting over Rs 90,000 crore dues. "Across the state, govt's Jal Jeevan Mission department alone has pending bills of Rs 12,000 crore. The public works department also has Rs 46,000 crore dues. In March, we met PWD minister Shivendraraje Bhosale. There are pending bills of Rs 8,500 crore with the rural department and Rs 20,000 crore with the water resources department. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like $30K Goes a Long Way in This Clementi Condo squarerooms Read More Undo We met Girish Mahajan, who assured us of a meeting with CM Devendra Fadnavis during the assembly session, but the session has ended, and there is no word from govt's side yet," he said. Sangli ZP chief executive officer Trupti Dhodmise told TOI: "The deceased contractor was not registered with us. Some big contractor may have leased out works to him, which we need to find out." On Tuesday, at 7pm, Harshal Patil left home. When he did not return even late in the night, his relatives went looking for him in Satara and Pune. They also registered a missing complaint at the Kurlap police station on Tuesday night. However, on Wednesday afternoon, Harshal's family members found him dead on the farm. Assistant inspector Vikram Patil said, "We have not found any suicide note. We are, however, getting the statements of the deceased man's relatives. We have registered the death as a suicide." Akshay said Harshal did not want his father, who is a farmer, to know about his financial troubles. "Harshal was of a quiet nature. He used to tell such things to our common friends," said another relative. Harshal is survived by his wife, parents, two younger brothers and a four-year-old daughter. His family was financially dependent on him. Jayant Patil, senior NCP (SP) politician and local MLA, said, "Fed up with the govt's false promises of employment, the children of ordinary farmers had turned to contracting. Govt has dashed the dreams of these youths who were striving to build their world through hard work. State govt is distributing contracts to win elections despite having no funds in the treasury. Today, contractors across the state are forced to beg and protest at the govt's doorstep to recover their pending dues. This is not the situation of just one department, but of all departments. Contractor don't just support their households; many workers' families also depend on them, but govt seems to have no regard for this. Just as we see farmer suicides, I fear a wave of contractor suicides may begin."
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Tower growth may hit a plateau as 5G nears completion
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Mumbai: As telecom companies such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel near completion of 5G network expansion and curtail capital expenditure and tower rentals fall, tower companies are likely to see flattish growth in the next five years, with Vodafone Idea 's 5G rollouts and 4G coverage expansion likely to offer short-term support, according to new tower additions fell to 25,000 in 2024-25, the lowest since 2017-18, and are expected to dip further in this financial year, according to data from ICICI Securities. It comes after industry towers saw a deceleration in growth to 3.5% in the previous fiscal after a robust 8.1% annual expansion since additions of 5G BTS, or radios, which constitute a large part of network capex, also nosedived, to 8,000, just into the third year of 5G rollouts, from 141,000 in 2022-23. This indicates a conspicuous drop in 5G capex despite 5G BTS accounting for only 15.8% of the total. In contrast, 4G BTS' plunged after seven-eight years of analysts expect a lull for telecom tower companies in the next five years, as significant tower or BTS additions are likely only when telecom operators buy new spectrum bands to deploy 6G."5G is being deployed only on two spectrum bands - 700MHz and 3300MHz - implying industry BTS/tower should start stabilising," ICICI Securities said in a research report. "In the future, as 4G gets re-farmed, existing 4G spectrums and BTS would be deployed for 5G; therefore, keeping BTS/tower unchanged."Out of the nearly 800,000 telecom towers in India - the second largest in the world after China - about 275,000 are run by Brookfield-backed Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust (formerly Data Infrastructure Trust), which counts telecom market leader Reliance Jio as its largest tenant. Around 250,000 are run by Indus Towers , which is majority owned by the country's second-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, while other major tower companies include GTL Infrastructure , with 26,000 towers, and Ascend Telecom, with about 18,600 telecom sector capex has materially declined since 2022-23, when 5G rollouts started. While Reliance Jio was most aggressive in the first two years of rollout, Bharti Airtel's capex was calibrated over four years. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea, which has just started its 5G rollout and 5G network expansion, is unlikely to move the needle on tower additions to that extent."After a good rollout by Bharti (Airtel) in last couple of years, we expect Bharti's tower adds to be in the range of 5-8K (down from an estimated 15,000-20,000 in the past two years)," BofA Securities said in a recent report. "We also expect industry tower adds to slow as 5G would require lesser traditional towers/more small cells, even as business from Vodafone Idea will remain strong for next 2-4 quarters."Credit research firm India Ratings has given a weak outlook for tower companies in this fiscal, as tenancies have continued to decline and margins have remained flat. Tower rentals fell sharply to '69,000 per tower per month in 2024-25 from '85,000 in 2021-22, data showed.
