India's pride:10 outstanding infrastructure projects

Major infrastructure projects including swanky airports are changing India’s profile as an attractive and enterprising destination.

A welcome gift to air travellers is the new integrated terminal at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. Opened in January 2013, the state-of-the-art integrated terminal has been built at a cost of Rs 2,325 crore (Rs 23.25 billion) by a Thai-Indian consortium, Italian-Thai Development Public Co -ITD Cementation.

The new terminal can handle 25 million passengers annually.

Another impressive project is the swanky Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai is all set to open in September this year. 

The Terminal 2, or T2 has been built with a state-of-the-art four-level terminal with an area of over 4,39,000 sq. mts.

The new terminal built by Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (MIAL), a joint venture between the GVK led consortium (74%) and Airports Authority of India (26%), will have new taxiways and apron areas for aircraft parking designed to cater to 40 million passengers annually.

Take at look at some of the most outstanding projects in India as listed by The Economic Times…

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Metro Rail

While a rise in population in cities and towns, India is developing its transport infrastructure with metro and monorail systems connecting various parts of the city. 

Kolkata Metro, which started operations in 1984, was the first metro rail in India. This was followed by successful operations in Delhi Metro.

While Bangalore has started metro services, other cities like Hyderabad, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Chennai, Mumbai, Kochi and Mumbai are likely to introduce metro trains soon. 

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Mumbai's Eastern Freeway

Built to reduce travel time between South Mumbai and the Eastern suburbs, the Eastern Freeway, once complete will connect P D'Mello Road to the Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar.

At the moment, a 13.59 km stretch from Orange Gate on P D'Mello Road (South Mumbai) to Panjarpol, Chembur is open.

Built by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore (Rs 12.50 billion), it covers a  distance of 16.8 km. 

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Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS)

Built at a cost of Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion), the Indore Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) with swanky air-conditioned buses covers a distance of 11.7 km.

The entire stretch of BRTS in Indore will cover 106 km, connecting all major corridors in Indore.

The other operational BRTS are in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Vijayawada, Rajkot.

BRTS are under construction in Mumbai, Kolkata, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Surat Visakapatnam,  Bhopal and Indore.  

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Chenab bridge

One of India’s biggest engineering marvels, the Indian Railways plans to complete the Chenab bridge in Jammu and Kashmir by 2016

At a height of 1,053 feet, India will have the highest railway bridge in the world by 2016.

The 1.3-km-long bridge is a part of the 73-km-long Katra-Dharam section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project being executed to provide rail connectivity to the Kashmir valley.

The arch-shaped bridge across Chenab river-bed in Reasi district will connect Baramulla and Srinagar to Jammu via Udhampur-Katra-Qazigund covering the entire route in about seven hours.

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New swanky trains

With the introduction of the Howrah-Dhanbad double decker express train in 2011, India joined the big league of European countries that run air-conditioned double decker trains. 

Its average operating speed is 62 km/hr and the maximum limit is 110 km/hr.

Currently, there are 4 double decker express trains in India. The Indian Railways started its services between Delhi and Jaipur, followed by a double decker service in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. 

The most recent addition is the Chennai-Bangalore air-conditioned double decker train. The Railways plans to launch the train in the Indore-Bhopal route in next few months.

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Yamuna Expressway

Yamuna Expressway is a 6-lane, 165 km long, controlled-access expressway, connecting Greater Noida with Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

Built at a cost of Rs 12,839 crore (Rs 128.39 billion), it is India's longest six-laned controlled-access expressway stretch.

Several residential, commercial, industrial and recreational developments have been planned on either sides of the Expressway.

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Banihal-Qazigund tunnel 

India's longest railway tunnel covers a distance of 11.215 km connecting connecting Bichleri Valley of Banihal with Qazigund area of Kashmir Valley. 

Also called the Pir Panjal railway tunnel, it is 8.40 metre wide and 7.39 metres high.

Commercial operations started from 27 June 2013 reducing the distance between Quazigund and Banihal by 17 km.

Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel is also Asia's third longest railway tunnel.

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GIFT City, Gujarat

Gujarat International Finance Tech-City or GIFT is designed to provide high quality physical infrastructure for tech and finance companies looking for an ideal base in India.

Spread across an area of 986 acres, the Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) project will have special economic zones (SEZ), international education zone, integrated townships, an entertainment zone, hotels, a convention center, an international techno park, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) units, shopping malls, stock exchanges and service units.

The project is undertaken by a Joint Venture company formed by Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company and Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS). 

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Biggest Solar Park

Betting big on non-conventional resources like solar energy, India has planned a group of solar parks in Gujarat, India.

Charanka Solar Park is the biggest solar park with a group of 17 thin-film photovoltaic (PV) power systems, on a 4,900-acre area in Patan.

The solar park is expected to save around 900,000 tonnes of natural gas annually.