作者： bharat.cn

Sunway Construction Group Bhd (SunCon) has bagged a RM508 milion contract from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

SunCon, in a statement today, said the project was awarded to Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd – RNS Infrastructure Ltd, a consortium formed by Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd and RNS Infrastructure Ltd.

The project consists of developing a new road and widening of the existing road to four lanes on a 36.75 kilometre highway stretch in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The project will be operated under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), where NHAI will pay 40 per cent of the project cost during the construction period.

The remaining 60 per cent will be paid over a period of 15 years as fixed annuity amount.

HAM is an initiative by the government of India, which was introduced to have a better financial mechanism for road development.

The project also includes a 15-year operations and maintenance contract which will bring about an additional RM4 million per annum.

“We are very pleased to clinch our first overseas project for the year as this is part of our plan for geographical diversification focused on Asean and India,” said SunCon managing director Chung Soo Kiong.

SunCon said the development and widening works of the highway stretches from the Thorapalli Agraharam to the Jittandahalli sections of national highway (NH) 844.

Work is expected to commence in October and to be completed in two years.

SunCon’s consortium partner for the project, RNS Infrastructure is an Indian company that provides a wide range of infrastructure construction services such as construction of dams, highways, bridges, tunnels, power houses and residential buildings.

SunCon previously partnered with RNS Infrastructure in June 2001 for its first two infrastructure projects.

Migrant workers stuck in Odisha capital Bhubaneswar due to the countrywide lockdown are facing a nightmarish situation, going without food for several days and left with no money in a place far away from home. About 50 migrant workers are sleeping in the open near the Nayapalli Durga Mandap waiting for food and cash aid from the authorities. With all forms of transport suspended, they are unable to return to their homes.

Odisha was already under lockdown before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day countrywide lockdown on March 25.

Most of these workers are from different parts of the state who had migrated to the capital in different points of time to do daily labour for their livelihood. One among them, who identified himself only as Rakesh, broke down as he begged for food and financial support. “I have not eaten for the last three days,” said Rakesh, who is from Ganjam district.

In normal days, they offer their labour in an informal market in the Crown Hotel-Durga Mandap service road. Even though some of them are working here for several years, they have preferred not to spend money on accommodation but to save for their families back in their villages. Thus they end up sleeping in the open.

As per the census 2011, the number of homeless in Bhubaneswar is 1,245. But this is a gross underestimation. A study conducted by the NGO, ActionAid, in 2017 puts the number at 6,559. The city is not equipped with enough night shelters to provide asylum to these people.

After the lockdown, these migrants have multiple burdens to face. The immediate impact is the loss of income, as hardly anyone needs their labour now. They cannot go back due to the suspension of transport. More importantly, as they have no homes, they are vulnerable to coronavirus. And finally, the hunger. On a regular day, they would either eat in the Aahar centres or in a restaurant–all of which are shut down now. Some may even cook in the open. But now, the police are not allowing them to cook as the location is beside the golden quadrilateral connecting Chennai and Kolkata.

The labourers also complained of police excesses. Rakesh said, “The police are chasing us away. They are saying to leave the place. Where shall we go? We do not have a house here.” Other labourers said that they have exhausted their savings. “Our income is very meagre. We need food and money. Otherwise, we will die,” said another labourer who is from Kandhamal district.

The number of positive novel coronavirus cases in India surged to 830 on Friday, the third day of the 21-day lockdown imposed to combat the Covid-19 outbreak, while the death toll rose to 20. Almost 100 new cases were reported across India after the health ministry on Friday morning said that the total number of cases stood at 724.

Out of the total cases reported in India on Friday, 39 new Covid-19 infections were reported from Kerala, 28 from Maharashtra, out of which 15 were from Sangli district alone, two from Andhra Pradesh, seven from Uttar Pradesh and several more from other different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday introduced a barrage of relief measures to alleviate financial difficulties arising due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. From boosting banks’ liquidity to providing relief to their customers, RBI came out all guns blazing to tackle the economic disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The most important takeaway from RBI’s press conference was a three-month moratorium on term loans and equated monthly instalment (EMIs) payments. The RBI allowed banks to defer EMI payments on loans by up to three months.

In Delhi, the issue of migrant labours was taken up by the home ministry on Friday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to chief ministers of some states and asked them to look into the issue of mass exodus of migrant workers from different parts of the country after the announcement of the 21-day lockdown.

Special flights dotted the Indian airspace as foreign nationals were ferried out to their respective countries in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.