Maruti Suzuki is planning to introduce automation in a big way at its two plants in Manesar to improve productivity and bring operations on an equal footing with its plants in Japan. About 50-100 robots will be added at the older plant in Manesar where the company’s press and weld operations take place, and which will increase the automation to ...

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has approved the maintenance of national highways based on the Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT) mode. This is expected to lead to better maintenance and hence smoother and more efficient flow of traffic on national highways. The OMT model is similar to the BOT model except that OMT does not require the concessionaire to construct ...

The session on the topic ‘The need for, challenges in and advantages of achieving Unified ITS Solutions for Highway & Urban Traffic in India’ was moderated by Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Urban Transport Development and Ex-Officio Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. The panelists were Vivek Phansalkar, Joint Commissioner of Police – Traffic, Mumbai; Dr CSRK Prasad, Professor & Head, Transportation Division, Department of Civil Engineering, NIT Warangal; Rish Malhotra, Business Director of International Road Dynamics (South East India); Dr Vishwanath, Former Director, (Engineering Services and Projects), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai; and Ravi Kumar, Joint Director and Project Leader for the collaborative intelligent transportation system in India, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Thiruvananthapuram.

A survey by JD Power Asia-Pacific has revealed that an increasing number of Indians are opting for more expensive cars, buoyed by increasing incomes. According to the Sales Satisfaction Index survey it takes an average of 10 months of income for a person to buy a small car, a figure that has been unchanged for the last five years. Thus ...

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is planning to introduce in Uttar Pradesh an advanced pollution control system to control the rising pollution levels caused by a large number of polluting vehicles. The system is already functional in Delhi, and if the Uttar Pradesh experiment succeeds, it will gradually be expanded throughout the country. The multi-functional system will ...

The Orissa state government has drawn up a plan to build five Greenfield airports in the state to boost intra-state and interstate trade and tourist air traffic. The state has just one airport at present – the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar, besides 17 airstrips and 16 helipads. The five airports are being planned at the industrial hubs of Rayagada, ...

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has begun the process of emphasising on the use of RFID for Electronic Toll Collections at the National Highways by inviting Expression of Interest (EOI) from interested stakeholders. It seems serious to take the issue forward soon as it has been updating its website on every development on the issue. NHAI had invited EOI ...

The central government has given its approval to an eight year plan to promote electric and hybrid vehicles in the country to about. The sales target till 2020 is 60 lakh vehicles, including 40-50 lakh two wheelers. The plan, expected to cost र23,000cr, will be a part of the National Electric Vehicle Mission policy announced by the government last year. ...

The M4 motorway in Sydney will get a new electronic freeway management system. The system, funded by the Australian federal government and the provincial government of New South Wales, will reduce traffic congestion and lead to quicker traffic movement. The system includes CCTVs, entry ramp signalling and digital message signs to provide live traffic updates and signs indicating variable speed ...

At a recent conference held in Delhi, Dr C P Joshi, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways spoke on formulating the EPC Contract Agreement document, capturing movement on the national highways through tablet, notepad and mobile phones, and encouraging electronic toll collection among other things