The 3 words may soon prove synonymous going by indications. When the Raichak to Kukrahati bridge was walloped by the Indonesia’s Salim Group as part of gigantic infrastructure project it plans to build, the Japanese were unhappy. For good reasons.
JBIC, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the entity that apparently prepared the feasibility and funding for the bridge project, was a tad slow on the take. Which gave enough time to Salim Group and the government to discuss and finalize the project. And indeed the Salims’ are moving pretty fast on the project (see my story, The way they work).
JBIC in the meantime was pacified by the government with the offer for building the East-West metro from Salt Lake to Howrah. The government also asked it to prepare a report for revamping the city’s transport system.
There’s a small irony here. Unlike the past, there is no dearth of investors who’d be willing to build infrastructure projects in the city. The Americans for example are pushing the CM very hard to come visiting US so that several projects can be decide upon.
The Japanese too are eager that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee visits Japan at the earliest. The present consul general of Japan in Kolkata, who has studied at Vishwabharati and JU when he was in Kolkata 31 years back and recently taken his charge, was unhappy while speaking at a recent meet that the CM hasn’t yet found time to make a trip to Japan to attract investments (see this FE story).
Seen in this perspective, yesterday’s meeting a JBIC team had with the government was important. As it now stands, if the East-West metro is built with JBIC plan, the fares will be without any subsidy. Which means the metro will have to earn profit mainly from ticket selling itself. The proposed fares on the 18 km + route will start from Rs.8 (2 km) up to Rs.19 beyond 18 km.
The other JBIC proposal submitted yesterday regarding Kolkata’s road infrastructure has not been accepted. The government is now planning big. It wants to build elevated ring road, extend Bypass to Baruipur, decongest BT Road with flyovers at Tobin Road, Sinthee More and Chiria More and one at Dunlop, build a longish flyover from Maniktala to Howrah Bridge, wien VIP Road to 10 lanes, and so on.
Compared to what government is now thinking looking at future, JBIC’s proposal was apparently very lukewarm. It has been assisted by a Mumbai-based company, which has no experience about city traffic. So JBIC has been told to engage a city-based company for proper appraisal.
From the newspaper report it appears there is not much time for JBIC. This is perhaps a firm indication in many, many years that indeed the moneyed are queuing up to invest in the city and the state.
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