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One more day and Delhi will be back again with its traffic. With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Ratan-Tata-says-supporting-infrastructure-is-needed-for-odd-even-scheme/articleshow/50532651.cms">odd-even formula</a> becoming a hit within 10 days of its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Will-ensure-full-implementation-of-odd-even-scheme-in-Delhi-Police-chief-BS-Bassi/articleshow/50396027.cms">launch</a>, daily commuters are dreading the long traffic again. Though it is yet to be determined if the policy made any significant changes in the pollution level of the state (the main cause of introducing the policy), it did decrease the traffic on road and made travel a hassle-free experience for most. And, not to forget the new initiatives and apps launched by companies and start-ups to come to the rescue of the people.
 

	With innovation, goodwill and technology, CM’s initiative was turned into a profit earning business for the<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Cab-aggregators-to-reap-the-benefits-of-Delhis-Odd-Even-car-rule/articleshow/50135698.cms"> carpooling and autorickshaw hailing aggregators</a>. Discounts, women only ride sharing options, increasing intra-city <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/OddEven-This-could-have-been-the-alternative-to-our-conventional-cars-but-isnt/articleshow/50454971.cms">ride facilities</a> and introduction of special packages led to remarkable growth in their traffic just within the first four days since the implementation of the rule.
 “We are giving very big discounts, 100% off for first ride and 20% off for 5 rides. We saw 4x growth in response within the first four days itself. We are enrolling more autos on a daily basis to meet the demand. Delhi has crazy demand for autorickshaws,” said Samar Singla, CEO and Founder, <keyword id="2885078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jugnoo">Jugnoo</keyword>, an autorickshaw aggregating app. 

	Surveys did show that most of the people preferred public transport more than carpooling options. However, carpooling companies saw a stark difference in their demand too.
 “We witnessed 30% jump in Delhi-NCR traffic. There was an incremental number of intra-city traffic. Infact, our app was listed second in Google playstore in the odd even rides list,” said Dinesh Golani, Co-founder, <keyword id="3206623" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ibibo-Ryde">Ibibo Ryde</keyword> (Director - Product/Marketing), a carpooling app. Apart from ride sharing and autorickshaw aggregators, self-drive car rental companies too benefitted from the policy. <keyword id="3018623" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Revv">Revv</keyword> launched a special package ‘Revv to Work’ to enable a customer to book a car for all the weekdays at a substantially lower price than the normal days cost. “We are witnessing anecdotal evidence of the <keyword id="3164660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Odd-Even-Rule">odd even rule</keyword> creating a demand in itself,” said Anupam Agarwal, Co-founder &amp; CEO, Revv. 

	This odd-even rule sure did wonders to their business. As it nears its end, the companies wait with bated breath while it is still <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Delhi-HC-Limit-odd-even-rule-to-a-week-people-facing-inconvenience/articleshow/50465135.cms">debated if it is to be continued.</a>

	 
	 
	(Image credits: indiatimes)

Don’t know about decrease in
pollution, Odd-Even rule sure was a boon for these start-ups!

The new year is approaching fast, and so is the date of Delhi’s <keyword id="3164660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Odd-Even-Rule">odd even rule</keyword>. Delhiites are fretting over the inconvenience that awaits them during the 15-day pilot of this soon-to-be-launched-rule even as <keyword id="6354952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-Government">Delhi government</keyword> is focusing on cutting <keyword id="13001" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="pollution">pollution</keyword> by restricting the number of cars running on the city's roads. After the <keyword id="6366244" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO">WHO</keyword> announced Delhi to be the world’s most polluted city, Mr Kejriwal’s concerns are absolutely right, but his step to curtail pollution may not be the most appropriate way. Wouldn’t it be better if he had thought through the plan that will affect the daily lives of each and every Delhiite instead of announcing exceptions to the rule every passing day. The exemptions and changes to the rule has made an already skeptical Delhi resident even more wary of what’s in store for them in the upcoming odd-even days. 
 
Here’s everything that is so far wrong with Delhi Chief Minister’s ‘premature’ baby as we would like to call it:
 

	-Policy with exemption: There is a possibility that many persons who will be violating will be able to wiggle through because of these exemptions. Moreover, when you exempt one section from the rule, others want the freedom to. Precisely, why Mr Kejriwal is having to entertain pleas from traders, doctors and lawyers. There’s many more to come!
 

	-Vigil on the roads by AAP volunteers and RWA members: How can an ordinary citizen of this country take law in his/her hands. Until the authority stopping violators are Delhi cops, we are only likely to see heated exchange of words on the streets of Delhi. Do we want a Jasleen Kaur repeat, hell no!
 

	-Policy being enforced at a time when there are less alternate modes of travel: Even as the rule will be imposed starting January 1, there aren’t enough public transport alternatives available for the common man. Extra buses and metro coaches will only be added by mid 2016. Is the government only banking on the private players for its rule to become a success. Of course, the sale of fake number plates is likely to see a stupendous rise!
 

	-Disparity because the lower class will suffer even as the upper middle class and upper class remains partially unaffected: Merely implementing the rule will not guarantee that everyone will make use of public transport or resort to carpooling. The rich in Delhi will still book personal cabs or rent a car from companies. Added bonus for those who have two cars – one with odd number plate and the other with even number plate! 
 

	-Schools to shut for 15 days because Delhi government wants to implement its plan: It’s extended vacations for kids, but did they think the burden it would add on teachers who would be running against time to complete the syllabus as the academic term is nearing its end around this time of the year. 
 

	-A policy of compromises than convenience: The fact that provisions of this policy already has citizens feeling skeptical shows the level of compromise it would have for Delhiites in their day-to-day lives. They may lead a disciplined commuting life for a few days in fear of being fined Rs 2,000, but there will be violations once they get a hang of the law and order situation on the ground. Like it is in the case of wearing seatbelts or helmets! Wouldn’t it have been better if this policy had provisions that did not survive on compromises of people, but their convenience. 

	 
	(Image credit: Reuters)

Odd even vehicle rule: Everything that is wrong with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘premature baby’

If there is one concept that can help the odd even days in becoming successful, it’s the way in which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ridesharing">ridesharing </a>platforms connecting private car owners and co-travellers will align themselves with the government formula and function starting January 1. Consider the fact that metros are already running at 80-90% capacity utilization. Extra coaches will be added only by mid 2016 while new DTC buses will be on the streets only by March next year. So with little capacity addition likely to happen to public transport till January, where will the extra crowd compelled to take public transport go? People will of course need alternate modes of transport which are fast, cheap and comfortable. 
 
In such a situation, any system that helps in utilizing vacant seats in the 2.8 million private cars in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=delhi">Delhi </a>would be the best idea. The biggest capacity expansion therefore would be by utilizing these private cars and the way it can happen is through ridesharing or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=carpooling">carpooling</a>. Realizing this fact is Raghav Gupta, India Country Manager of <keyword id="2401770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="BlaBlaCar">BlaBlaCar</keyword> - one of the ridesharing platforms operating in India since January last year - who throws light on how portals like his can contribute to the odd even vehicle rule and the flip side - how the government initiative can prove a great opportunity for them to come into the spotlight. Notably, 1 million seats were offered on BlaBlaCar in the first six months in India suggesting that Indians have taken to ridesharing in a sizeable manner in the last one year. 

	How has BlaBlaCar aligned itself with the <keyword id="6354952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Delhi-Government">Delhi government</keyword>’s odd even vehicle rule?
 Delhi has about 2.8 million private cars as against 80,000 taxis. So, the capacity available in private cars is very large. The way Bla Bla is contributing to the <keyword id="3164660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Odd-Even-Rule">odd even rule</keyword> is by helping those people who are a part of the 1.4 million cars (that can operate on any given day), to put their empty seats on Bla Bla and take co-travellers plying on the same route along with them. Depending on their number plates, a car owner can select multiple dates in our app on which they would want to share their rides. So we are facilitating an easier and more efficient way of connecting them to co-travellers. 

	Have you thought of others ways to leverage the most out of this win-win situation for you as the new rule will leave several travelers at the mercy of alternate mode of transport, something that will be in favour of your business.
 

	Companies are helping employees in finding ways to travel in the odd even days. What we are doing is getting in touch with them to help them understand how to share rides on BlaBlaCar. Also, we have introduced a widget which can be implemented on the company’s website. Instead of coming to our portal, employees can go to the company website to publish a ride and find co-travellers on the same route. 
 

	Considering <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=carpooling">Ola </a>and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=uber">Uber </a>may be starting carpooling feature too, do you feel it will take away your existing as well as potential members?
 

	What I expect will happen on BlaBlaCar during odd even days will be longer trips like Gurgaon-Noida, Rohini-South Delhi, South Delhi-Faridabad. Per seat it should cost a person no more than Rs 80-100. It’s not expensive, and at the same time would be a comfortable trip. Such commuters will definitely come to BlaBlaCar.
 

	You connect travelers, but do not charge a free. Could you explain how BlaBla Car is benefiting from this ridesharing concept?
 

	BlaBlaCar enables car-owners with empty seats in their cars to share them with co-travellers going the same way and share the cost of the trip. We are present in 20 countries, and have a global member base of 20 million people. In India, we have seen members enrol with us from across 700 cities! At this time, we don’t monetize in India. At a later stage, we will start charging a fee on co-travellers, however, for car owners it is a free service and would continue to be. 
 

	What kind of safety measures do you have to ensure security of both the parties? 
 

	We do some hard and soft verifications, but what works well in India is the rating system. So, when people are travelling with each other, they can rate each other on the experience. Every new person can see how the experience has been of fellow co-travellers with a particular person. Moreover apart from hardchecks, there are social profiles (showing music, interests, hobbies etc) for both the parties to see. So, in a 1-hour long travel, you want to have a comfortable journey. Lot of people with BlaBlaCar now end up travelling with owners who they share interests with and feel comfortable.

Ridesharing platform BlaBlaCar may prove to be one of the best alternative during odd-even car days, here's why!

On the eve of the roll out of ambitious odd-even scheme, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi appreciated the initiative of the AAP government, saying any step which helps the environment cannot be a bad thing and asserted he will ensure full implementation of the vehicular restrictions. 
 

	The police chief said he had proposed to the Delhi government to allow women not having a driving licence or who do not know how to drive to travel with a male driver, considering safety the aspect, but it was shot down. 
 

	"Whatever we do, we always do it with full commitment. We never do anything half-heartedly. We never have any hesitation in working with anybody as long as something is required to be done as part of law enforcement. 
 

	"But we obviously will not be part of anything which is unconstitutional or illegal," the police chief told PTI clarifying doubts about police's commitment to implementing the scheme. 
 

	When asked whether the scheme was a good initiative by the Arvind Kejriwal-led governmnent with which Delhi Police have had frequent run-ins on a range of issues, Bassi said "Anything which can help preserve the environment cannot be a bad thing." 
 

	He said all motorists should comply with the provisions of the odd-even scheme and should not fake medical emergency to get exemptions. 
 

	"As long as the law, which I am supposed to enforce, has not been declared unconstitutional or ultra vires, I have no option but to enforce it. So as far as I am concerned, the notification which has been issued by the government is a valid law (for the odd-even scheme). So as a law enforcement officer, I shall be implementing the same," the police chief said. 
 

	On police's proposal to extend exemption to women travelling with drivers, he said "We thought in the interest of women safety that another exception could be made in favour of women travelling alone with a driver. 
 

	"This suggestion has not been accepted by the government. So now, If any woman travels with a driver, in violation of the scheme, such a driver shall be liable for prosecution," the commissioner said.

Will ensure full implementation of odd-even scheme in Delhi: Police chief BS Bassi

The next phase of Delhi government’s pollution and traffic control measure, the <keyword id="3162860" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Odd-even">odd even</keyword> rule, is likely to be implemented; however, the government has decided to wait during the school exam season. 
 
"The ideal time would be after the exams. The implementation of the scheme will then not inconvenience children or their parents," an official concerned with the matter told ET. 
 
The government also wants to implement the scheme after the exams because then, school buses will also be available for the odd-even scheme, owing to the acute shortage of public transport buses in Delhi. 
 
When the plan was first implemented in January, Delhi government had requested schools to provide them with buses so that people can have more buses for public transport. However, out of 1000 buses required, only 300 were provided. 
 
This could also be a reason that the government wants to be cautious with the next phase of implementation.

Odd-even rule to strike back, but not until board exams end

Following Ola and Uber, the on-demand auto aggregator <keyword id="2885078" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jugnoo">Jugnoo</keyword> has also discontinued surge pricing in Delhi. This has come after the government gave orders to stop its practice amidst the ongoing second phase of the odd-even scheme. 
 
"Surge pricing is a standard practice across different industries and it is no different with app-based transport aggregators," says Samar Singla, founder and CEO Jugnoo. "However, we came to this decision following the general commotion ensued by the transport aggregator ecosystem," he says. 
 
Singla added how surcharging is based on the fundamental demand and supply concept of economics, and it’s purely up to consumers if they want to pay more for a service or not, in case of high demand. 
 
"This also helps in prioritizing travel, which means that only people who really need the service will use it by paying a higher price and the rest will find other ways of commuting," he adds. 
 
"Surcharge is part of any business model and permanently banning it will negatively impact these companies," says Singla. 
 
In support of the government’s odd-even scheme to tackle pollution and traffic, Jugnoo had added 1000 more autos to its existing fleet. 
 
<a href="http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDE2LzA0LzE0L2Q3L0lNR180ODE5LjEyOTlhLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/5bf2febc/41c/IMG_4819.jpg">Image source</a>

Jugnoo suspends surge pricing for the second phase of Odd-Even rule

A day after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=arvind+kejriwal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government</a> warned cab operators such as <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> and <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> against <keyword id="6405687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Surge-Pricing">surge pricing</keyword> during the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=odd+even+rule&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Odd-Even rule Part II</a>, the state government is now working to create a framework to plug in surge pricing permanently. 
 
A policy is being prepared in which a price band would be set for the cab operators. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ola</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=uber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Uber</a> have suspended the surge pricing till April 30, last day of Odd-Even but it is yet to be seen how the new policy will affect the taxi aggregators. 
 
"The central government has told all states to prepare a policy. Two states have already made it. We are also making it. To ensure better service for citizens, the minimum and the maximum will be etched out. Rest, it is the operator's decision," a senior official told ET. " 
 
However, Ola and Uber said they are not transport companies and just technology providers. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Odd-even-scheme-Facing-criticism-Ola-Shuttle-announces-free-rides-in-Delhi-NCR/articleshow/51912224.cms">Odd-even scheme: Facing criticism, Ola Shuttle announces free rides in Delhi-NCR</a> 
 
While Uber and Ola both confirmed that surge pricing as a core business model won't change for India, both are encouraging riders to choose their carpool and ride share services. That increases one's possibility of hailing a cab, and taxi aggregators still get your cash. Something's better than nothing, after all. However, between the clash of the Titans, two people get stuck, the rider and the driver. 
 
The companies aren't very happy for obvious reasons. On one hand is the obvious hit to the business, on the other hand local governments playing around with their core business model leaves them struggling to supply enough cars in high-demand metros. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Exclusive-Uber-says-surge-pricingas-a-core-model-wont-change-for-India/articleshow/51905905.cms">Exclusive: Uber says surge pricing as a core model won’t change for India</a> 
 
Meanwhile, the policy will take at least 20 more days to finalise. 
 
Kejriwal said that the surge pricing is daylight robbery and no responsible government can allow that.

Delhi govt wants to make sure Uber, Ola cabs come with fixed price band

<ul><li>India’s national capital, New Delhi, is facing severe air pollution issues with the air quality slipping from ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’. </li><li>As a part of an emergency action plan, the Environment Pollution Control Authority is mulling over stopping all private vehicles from entering New Delhi. </li><li>The Air Quality Index (<keyword id="2578389" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="AQI">AQI</keyword>) in Delhi has already touched ‘severe’, and with Diwali round the corner, it’s assumed that things are just going to get worse. </li><li>The government is hoping that the capital’s transportation system will make up for the resident’s vehicular needs.</li></ul>Adding more fuel to the India’s national capital’s already worsening air pollution issue, New Delhi air quality went from ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’. Following the sudden drop in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday, the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) has been mulling over <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Politics/8LDhHaESZ2NoVQtFYmSLGJ/Cars-may-go-off-Delhi-roads-from-1-November-if-air-quality-w.html">banning all private vehicles</a> from entering the capital. This week the AQI dropped to ‘severe’, which is basically the worst rating that you can get on the index. Categorically an AQI reading that ranges between 0 to 50 is considered to be ‘good’, anything between 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory’, while between 101 to 200 is tagged as ‘moderate’. Things start to get bad once the AQI crosses 200 where anything between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’ and readings beyond 500 are ‘severe’ Meanwhile out of 32 stations set up in New Delhi by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), <a href="https://app.cpcbccr.com/AQI_India/">18 stations</a> recorded an AQI over 400, slotting the current situation in the ‘severe’ category. Restricting private vehicles is a part of the Indian government’s Graded Action Response Plan. It is being considered an immediate and necessary action, albeit a temporary one. May percieve it as an upgrade to the ‘Even-Odd’ scheme the government had been implementing for the past two years where either even or odd numbered cars could be on the road on alternate days. The government is considering this plan with the hope that the already overcrowded public transport system will pull through for Delhi’s transportation requirements. However, it remains to be seen if the capital, with its inefficient transportation system, can actually survive this. As of now, Delhi has only 5,429 buses, which is less than half of the actual demand of 11,000. Out of the total 464 routes covered by public buses, half of them have merely one to five buses running frequently, as has been reported by <a href="https://www.news18.com/news/india/may-have-to-stop-private-vehicles-in-delhi-if-air-quality-worsens-says-pollution-control-body-1924487.html">News 18</a> According to the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), PM 2.5 should not exceed a safe of 300 micrograms per cubic metre as it is toxic and can affect the health of individuals. New Delhi had already witnessed a <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Politics/5yRUb4IkJqUpBgVlWOzTtI/Why-does-deadly-smog-envelop-Delhi-in-winter.html">breach</a> by recording PM 2.5 over 1000 microgram per cubic metres. Delhi’s pollution problems have a considerable lot to do with vehicular and industrial emissions, but matters are aggravated by agricultural stubble being burned in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. And all of this, just before the festive season of Diwali, which spikes up the pollution levels thanks to firecrackers, along with dropping temperatures, makes things worse for the city. Thus, while little can be, and has been, done about the stubble burning and the firecrackers, banning <keyword id="605512" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="private-cars">private cars</keyword> seems to be the only other solution.

Pollution in India’s national capital is so bad that the government is considering banning private cars altogether

The ambitious odd-even scheme, set to roll out from January 1, will be applicable to all in Delhi except that it will have out of its ambit CNG-certified vehicles, two wheelers, cars being driven by women drivers and those carrying the differently abled. 
 Chief Minister <keyword id="260213" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Kejriwal">Arvind Kejriwal</keyword> said the scheme has received all the necessary approvals and a notification for its implementation would be issued next Monday. Violators would attract a penalty of Rs 2,000, he said. 

	The car rationing scheme would be applicable from 8 AM to 8 PM on all days except Sunday and on cars with NCR and other states' registration number plates, Kejriwal said. 
 

	Cars being driven by a woman alone or even while being accompanied by children up to the age of 12 would be exempted while cases of medical emergencies would be treated on "basis of trust", the CM said. 
 

	Kejriwal also read out a long list of VIP category vehicles, also to be exempted, including that of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, Union Ministers and Governors and Chief Ministers of states and Union Territories "except that of Delhi". 
 Vehicles bearing defence ministry number plates and those of <keyword id="3182768" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Special-Protection-Group-Protectees">Special Protection Group Protectees</keyword> (SPG) would not be covered by the rules under which cars bearing odd and even numbers would ply on alternate dates till January 15. 

	Emergency and enforcement vehicles such as ambulances, fire brigade, police vehicles, transport department vehicles would be out of its ambit as well. 
 The Chief Minister, addressing a press conference at his residence, assured that <keyword id="6366797" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-Metro">Delhi Metro</keyword> services would run at its peak frequency during the period would the regulations would be in force. 
	 
	(Image credit: PTI)

CNG vehicles, two wheelers out of Delhi's odd-even scheme ambit

A foundational issue in the political economy is what is the role of the state? While protection and safety against aggression, both from external and internal, seem to be the legitimate and core principles behind the formation of states, public services like education and healthcare are often now conceived as being the responsibility of the state. But, what about transportation/ mobility?, is it the responsibility of the state or is it best left to private providers. This is a question that societies have been grappling with for quite sometime now. 
 
In India, the transportation model is mixed and (some would say mixed up) with the state ensuring the basic infrastructure like roads and railway tracks and even airports and ports in most cases. Services over these are provided by both government and the private sector. Two recent debates over transportation have made headlines but have rarely been understood from a holistic viewpoint. 
 
The first of these was the odd-even rule in the capital, brought to reduce the negative externality of air pollution. Many people have been very skeptical about how the plan is to get implemented. 
 
Also, the lack of end-to-end connectivity, women safety, and enforceability are cited as major challenges to the rule. Experts contend that the record of these types of rules has not been very positive in other countries that have had similar rules. In addition, several people opine that before making these rules, it is a must to improve the existing transportation infrastructure within the city and to have cheap and convenient public transport. Also, alternative solutions like increasing ethanol content can be effective at the same time causing lesser inconvenience to common people. 
 
Another problem is with respect to India's lack of solution-oriented approach to mobility options within a city. This is where the need is to look at integrated urban mobility solutions for people residing in cities. Often the initial part or the ending part becomes exorbitantly expensive for people who live away from public transport systems. This is where there is a need for improvement both in terms of cost and convenience. 
 
The second major thing which hit the headlines in the recent times was the metro rail project that is an inter-city project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. A lot of debate has taken place regarding the cost dynamics of the proposed project that is estimated to cost close to Rs 70000 crore. If escalations are added, the project is expected to cost close to Rs 98000 crore. Out of these, Rs 70000 crore a bulk of the costs, i.e., Rs 50000 crore is expected to be civil costs that will go to Indian companies. 
 
The project is at an advanced stage with Japan agreeing to provide India with more than three-fourth of the loan at a concessional rate of 0.1 percent and moratorium period of 15 years and a payback period of 50 years. It is one of the best deals India has had regarding cost and time, even from Japan, which reflects the depth of the Indo-Japanese relationship. The train technology is second to none with respect to safety. It has not had a single causality in 50 years of operation. 
 
The crucial question to ask, therefore, is not if a high-speed technology is good or not but can India's existing rail infrastructure be upgraded to improve travel times? And if so, at what cost? Travel time improvement requires not just track up-gradation but also an improvement in capacity utilization. With already overburdened capacity on the rail network, is it possible to improve speed is a crucial question to ask and answer by rail authorities. And if it is not is it not wise to upgrade to better technology with proposed high-speed tracks? 
 
Over the next few decades, India must find solutions that are visionary but also pragmatic as more people live in urban and semi-urban areas. The travel times can drastically improve with newer technologies in rails and even in automobiles. But as a nation, we must look to find solutions that solve the pressing problems of our times like vehicular pollution, availability of public transport with public consultation and seeing if better alternative solutions exist. But once a decision is made Indians must all support it to take India ahead. 
 
(The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India. Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for Competitiveness &amp; Editor of Thinkers. The views expressed are personal. Amit can be reached at <a href="mailto:amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in">amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in</a> and tweets @kautiliya) 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Finding solutions to India's transportation challenges

The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=odd+even+rule&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Odd-Even Part II</a> is reaping benefits for Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) as it clocked the highest CNG sale of 26.7 lakh kg a day this week. 
This means more vehicles are gearing to CNG as CNG-fitted vehicles are exempted from the odd-even rule. 
 
The demand is so high that IGL is setting up one CNG dispensing station every two days, creating a world record. 
 
"We had an average compressed natural gas (CNG) sale of 23.5-24 lakh kg per day in 2015-16. On Monday, which was the first full working day of the odd-even restricted plying rule, we saw sale volumes jump to 26.7 lakh," said IGL Managing Director Narendra Kumar. 
 
"This is the highest ever sale we have ever achieved," he said. "In 2015-16 we had a growth of 3-4 per cent in CNG consumption. This year (April 2016 to March 2017), we expect a growth rate of 8-10 per cent." 
 
Previously peak sale volume was 26.4 lakh kg per day. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Odd-even-Uber-suspends-surge-pricing-in-Delhi-after-Arvind-Kejriwals-warning/articleshow/51880518.cms">Odd-even: Uber suspends surge pricing in Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal's warning</a> 
 
Delhi has the highest number of CNG stations in the world and no city has ever expanded its network by more than 30 stations in a year. 
 
IGL, the sole supplier of CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the national capital region, is the country's largest CNG retailer. 
 
"What is working in favour of CNG is also price cuts following global slump in energy prices. Rates were last cut by Rs 0.60 per kg and to Rs 36.60 per kg in Delhi on April 1," he said. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Look who has broken all records and is the biggest gainer from Delhi’s odd-even rule

Taxi aggregator <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> today announced it add over 6,000 new CNG cars as Delhi's odd-even policy makes a comeback on April 15, 2016. This move will help Ola cash in the lucrative Delhi NCR market.<o:p></o:p>

	The company will invest Rs. 200 crores over the next six months to expand the CNG fleet in Delhi-NCR. The firm already has over 20,000 CNG cars on its platform in Delhi-NCR.<o:p></o:p>

	The company has partnered with car dealers from manufacturers including Maruti, Tata, Hyundai, Chevrolet, Nissan, among others. It also has financial institutions like SBI, IDBI and Shri Ram Finance onboard.<o:p></o:p>

	"We'll add 2,000 CNG cars every month to keep up with the demand for affordable mobility in the Capital", Anand Subramanian, Senior Director - Marketing Communications at Ola said.<o:p></o:p>

	In the past few months, Ola has been aggressively expanding the number of driver partners and CNG cars in Delhi-NCR post the crackdown on diesel taxis plying in the capital. Ola switched to CNG only in Delhi from September 2015. 
	 
	<a href="http://media2.intoday.in/btmt/images/stories/ola-bhavish-aggarwal,-ceo,-co-founder-reuters_660_070615031311.jpg">Image source</a><o:p></o:p>

Ola adds 6,000 CNG cars as Delhi's Odd-Even returns on Apr 15

FDI in construction-development projects fell by over 38 per cent during the year ending March 2015 to $ 758 million compared to $ 1,226 million in FY14. 
 
FDI flow has remained weak this year with just $34 million of investments in the April-June quarter of this fiscal. The poor pick-up in the inflow is owing to the slow approval process. 
 Despite the ‘<keyword id="6354423" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ease-of-Doing-Business">ease of doing business</keyword>’ initiative, even the CM of Maharashtra is struggling to break the mafia impasse that stonewalls the approval process and runs an extortion racket under his nose. Even the Environment Ministry approvals have not improved and remain contentious. In a way this is good as cities barely have any capacity to carry the weight of high-rise towers. Ideally, construction in cities with a population over 5 million should be banned until and unless the municipal corporation can provide proof of the capacity per capita in terms of ability of the city to handle traffic, sewerage, and provide water and power. 
 
These cut-off capacities should be published on their websites permanently and should be sacrosanct in implementation or else all—Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai—will follow Delhi in becoming dangerous cities (Already, 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India). 
 
Delhi is bathing in dust as construction debris and dust are contributing to 45 per cent of the pollution in the city. So while the CM of Delhi is at his wits’ end over the odd-even car scheme, the real culprit goes unchecked. A city administration must develop city infra projects to raise the capacities of services before giving a nod to growth. 
 
As metro projects progress in a dozen Indian cities, as roads projects accelerate to reach 30 km per day, and as real-estate construction gathers momentum to build even higher towers dotting the skyline, we need to set a framework so that the growth of a city is not at the cost of the life of its citizens. 
 
(The article is authored by Pratap Padode, Founder &amp; Director of Smart Cities Council India, an international consortium of smart cities expert practitioners, academicians and solution providers with over 7500 case studies across the world. Please visit www.India.SmartCitiesCouncil.com) 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Why construction should be banned in Delhi

In a bid to control the alarming levels of Delhi’s air pollution, CM <keyword id="260213" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arvind-Kejriwal">Arvind Kejriwal</keyword> has planned to allow private vehicles with even and odd registration numbers on alternate days from January 1 next year. This step, however odd it may sound, can get really beneficial for bus aggregation startups like <keyword id="3009822" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shuttl">Shuttl</keyword> and <keyword id="3009942" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ZipGo">ZipGo</keyword>, who can jump on the opportunity to offer their services to more people now. 
 
Shuttl, which is the largest bus aggregation players in the Delhi-NCR has around 500 vehicles on its network. ZipGo too has entered the Delhi market, and has plans to launch women-only buses. 
 
3 million people already use metro every day to commute, while for buses this number is 5 million. With 50% of Delhi’s private vehicles taken off road, the public transport needs to be made more efficient. 
 Mumbai-based venture <keyword id="3009821" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="rBus">rBus</keyword> is also evaluating a Delhi launch after the announcement, even as Kejriwal later confirmed that this step would be more of an experiment for the first two weeks of January, and results would determine the final step. 
 Big players like Ola and Uber would wait for the results before bouncing on the opportunity. "Delhi being one of our major cities and headquarter, we will be looking to bring <keyword id="6591085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="UberPool">UberPool</keyword> there very soon," an Uber spokesperson told ET. 
 
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/shuttlapp/?fref=ts">Image source</a>

You Searched For "odd even rule" and got 14 results

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