World Bank lends $450 mn to China for rail, highway projects

October 6th, 2009 High-speed rail projects to be chosen this winterWASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it will begin divvying up $8 billion designated for high-speed and other passenger rail projects sometime this winter. The money is a fraction of the rail aid sought by states.

October 6th, 2009 $50B in high-speed rail applications submittedWASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Tuesday it has received applications from 24 states seeking $50 billion for high-speed rail projects, more than six times the money designated in the economic stimulus plan. A decision on which projects will receive funds will be made this winter, Joseph Szabo, head of the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a statement.

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Some 40 percent of road construction projects in India face cost escalations of 25-50 percent, even as corruption and the shortage of skilled labour may inhibit the sector's growth over the next eight years, says the World Bank. The effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanism is another area of concern with $1.8 billion estimated to be locked in various disputes and arbitration, says the bank in a new study on India's road construction industry.

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that India is soon expected to get an aid of 3 billion dollar from the World Bank for preparing projects to clean the river Ganga. Ramesh said this after attending the first meeting of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the national capital on Monday.

July 24th, 2009 House passes increase for housing, high-speed railWASHINGTON — The Democratic-dominated House Thursday approved generous funding for housing subsidies for the poor and President Barack Obama's initiative to build high-speed railroads as it passed a $123.1 billion transportation and housing bill. The measure, approved 256-168, provides a 13 percent increase in total funding for the programs it covers, including $4 billion for Obama's high-speed rail initiative, which was launched in February with an $8 billion infusion from the economic stimulus bill.

July 13th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Haryana government Monday approved allocation of Rs.900 crore (Rs.9 billion) for metro rail-link project in the IT city of Gurgaon. The metro-link will connect Delhi's Sikanderpur station to national highway no.8 in Gurgaon.

July 1st, 2009 MANILA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100-million loan to undertake developmental projects in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, officials said Wednesday. The Xinjiang Urban Transport and Environmental Improvement Project, which will receive the money, will also initiate projects to protect the environment, the bank said.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The ministry of road transport and highways has earmarked Rs.13,397.2 crore for road projects in Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern states, it said Tuesday while releasing its 100-day agenda. The ministry has also set time lines for 30 projects so that they will be executed on fast track.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Tuesday said it will invest a huge fund for building and revamping road infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern states. The ministry of road transport and highways, while releasing its 100-day agenda, said it has earmarked Rs.13,397.2 crore ($2.8 billion) for road projects in Jammu and Kashmir and northeast.

June 24th, 2009 BEIJING - As part of its ambitious plan, the Chinese Railway Ministry is planning to spread thirty-five high-speed rail lines measuring 11,000 kilometres throughout the country. China Daily quoted Zheng Jian, chief planner with railway ministry, as saying that around 13,000 kilometres of high-speed railways, capable of handling trains travelling at more than 200 kilometres/hour, could be completed and put into service by 2012.

June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON/SEOUL - Most developing economies will slip into recession this year amid a global financial crisis that has prompted wealthy investors to pull their money out of projects for the poor, the World Bank warned Monday. The developing world will grow 1.2 percent this year after growing 5.9 percent in 2008.

June 18th, 2009 World Bank raises 2009 China growth forecastBEIJING — The World Bank is raising its 2009 growth forecast for China due to the country's stimulus-driven investment boom. But it also cautions that it is still too soon to say a sustained recovery is on the way.

April 20th, 2009 TIBET - China Monday began building a highway in Medog county here to end the region's isolation with the outside world, an official said. 'Costing 950 million yuan ($139 million), the 117-km highway will link the Zhamog township with Medog,' Wong Mengyong, deputy transportation minister, said, adding that the project will be completed by 2011.

February 3rd, 2009 BEIJING - China has sacked a top official of the state-run China Development Bank on corruption charges, officials said Wednesday. Wang Yi, vice president of the bank and a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was sacked for 'severe violation of disciplines and the law', the disciplinary commission of the CPC, said.

January 21st, 2009 BHOPAL - Both Bhopal and Indore can now dream of having Metro Rail services, if one were to go by Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Babulal Gaur. 'A survey for the Metro Rail project in Bhopal and Indore would be started in a month's time by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)', Gaur told reporters here Thursday.