Rlys eyes income boost, to build walls along high-speed corridors for ads

The Indian Railways is considering a proposal to generate revenue through advertisement on walls along the tracks on high-speed corridors, sources have said, amid a push by the national transporter to boost its non-fare earnings.

In talks with contractors, who can deliverer pre-fabricated walls, the railways plans to generate revenue through advertisement to recover the cost of the build. The sources said the idea is to share revenue with contractors, thus enabling the railways to get the walls built at minimum cost.

"With the plan for the Delhi-Mumbai high-speed corridor underway, the need for such walls is imperative for issues of safety. We are mulling the option of generating revenue from them through advertisement as they are high density areas and will get maximum exposure. Pilot projects are already underway and we are hoping to put up walls across the network starting with urban areas," said one of the sources.

China holds special session to promote Belt and Road initiative at IRF

China today held a special session to promote its ambitious 'Belt and Road Initiative', which India is strongly opposing, at the World Road Meeting (WRM) organised by an international body and supported by NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, among others.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, however, sought to disassociate itself from the session with an official later saying that "neither the ministry approved any such session nor the organisers apprised it about any such matter".

The International Road Federation (IRF), a Geneva-based body which is organising the four-day event from November 14 on the outskirts of the national capital, said in a statement that the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) held a special session at WRM to promote its Belt and Road Initiative as well as introduce China's development of transport and newer technologies.

This comes against the backdrop of India consistently objecting to the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of BRI and passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India has boycotted China's Belt and Road forum on sovereignty concerns and has been mounting diplomatic pressure in this regard.

"Any representation of this initiative (BRI) does not change or alter the position of India," official sources said when asked about today's session at WRM.
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China to benefit more from CPEC than Pakistan will: Report

The multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's 'Belt and Road Initiative', will benefit China more than Pakistan due to lack of Pakistani input in the project.

The lack of Pakistani input into the CPEC, which the government said would drive economic growth to a targeted 6 per cent this financial year, adds to concerns that its benefits might not be as widely distributed as initially thought, the South China Morning Post reported, adding that it runs the risk that Islamabad will be left paying interest on loans to Chinese banks way into the future.

According to the news report, Chinese banks are keenly waiting to get their share of the pie, holding more than $20 billion for potential financing, much of it has already been filled by the Chinese, with Pakistani lenders getting a little look in.

"As of now, around $6 billion to $7 billion worth of projects are likely going on. Out of that, 10 per cent, or around 50 billion rupees ($470 million), can be local financing," the South China Morning Post quoted Saad Hashemy, research director at Karachi brokerage Topline Securities, as saying.
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