writingonblog uncensored: Tamil Nadu realtors back infra thrust in Budget, f...

writingonblog uncensored: Tamil Nadu realtors back infra thrust in Budget, f...:  Chennai: Tamil Nadu stands to gain from the Union Budget 2026–27’s continued emphasis on infrastructure-led growth, with sustained public i...

Tamil Nadu realtors back infra thrust in Budget, flag affordable housing gap

 Chennai:
Tamil Nadu stands to gain from the Union Budget 2026–27’s continued emphasis on infrastructure-led growth, with sustained public investment expected to strengthen urban connectivity and open up new real estate growth corridors across the state, according to CREDAI Tamil Nadu.

The budget’s focus on highways, metro rail, logistics corridors and urban infrastructure could support planned development in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and a clutch of emerging cities, helping align real estate expansion with long-term economic capacity, said Habib WS, president of CREDAI Tamil Nadu.

Developers also welcomed measures aimed at improving ease of doing business, including faster approvals, streamlined regulatory processes and wider use of digital systems. These steps could reduce project delays and holding costs, improving delivery timelines and offering greater certainty to homebuyers.

However, the industry body flagged concerns over the absence of targeted support for affordable housing. Rising land and construction costs, combined with what it described as an outdated definition of affordability, are pushing the segment to the margins. Industry estimates suggest affordable housing’s share of total residential supply could decline from around 18 per cent to nearly 12 per cent.

Affordable housing, CREDAI argued, is core urban infrastructure rather than a welfare measure, warning that constrained supply would drive up rents, lengthen commutes and fuel informal housing. A review of definitions and incentives, it said, is essential to keep urban growth inclusive and sustainable.

India’s leather exports to EU could hit $6 billion by 2030 on zero-duty access

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:
India’s leather and footwear industry is pinning its next phase of export growth on the proposed India–EU free trade agreement, with industry leaders estimating exports to the bloc could rise to $6 billion by 2030 if zero-duty access is secured.

M Abdul Wahab, Regional Chairman (South), told The New Indian Express that the European Union currently accounts for about 43% of India’s leather exports, valued at around $2.4 billion. Export duties imposed by the EU range from 5% to 17%. “If these tariffs are reduced to zero under the FTA, exports to the EU could increase to $6 billion,” Wahab said.

However, this all depends on the ratification by EU states which is expected by the end of this year or by next year, he added.

Meanwhile, The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) has welcomed the Union Budget 2026–27 announcement extending the Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty (IGCR) scheme to shoe uppers exporters, providing basic customs duty exemption for notified critical inputs.

The scheme, which already covers exporters of leather garments, footwear and leather products, has now been expanded to include shoe uppers exporters. CLE said the move would significantly benefit exporters of this value-added segment and help boost exports, which stood at $222 million in 2024–25.

The exporters’ body also welcomed the extension of the permissible export period under the IGCR scheme from six months to one year from the date of import of inputs, as notified under customs notification.
In addition, CLE thanked the government for extending the IGCR scheme’s validity till March 31, 2028, from the earlier deadline of March 31, 2026.

The council also described as positive the extension of basic customs duty exemption on imports of tags, labels, stickers, belts and similar items by bona fide exporters until March 31, 2028.

The allocation under RoDTEP scheme (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products), a government initiative to refund embedded central, state, and local taxes/levies on exported goods to boost competitiveness, has been reduced from Rs 18233 Cr in 2025-26 to Rs 10000 Cr in 2926-27, which has raised concern amongst the exporters.

writingonblog uncensored: IIT Madras–incubated startup tests indigenous elec...

writingonblog uncensored: IIT Madras–incubated startup tests indigenous elec...:   C Shivakumar @ Chennai: In a major boost to India’s push for smarter port logistics, TuTr Hyperloop Pvt. Ltd., an Indian Institute of Te...

IIT Madras–incubated startup tests indigenous electromagnetic cargo system at Kandla port

 

C Shivakumar @ Chennai:
In a major boost to India’s push for smarter port logistics, TuTr Hyperloop Pvt. Ltd., an Indian Institute of Technology Madras-incubated startup, has successfully demonstrated a prototype cargo transportation system based on Linear Induction Motor (LIM) technology at a major port in Gujarat.

The trial was conducted at Deendayal Port Authority, one of the country’s busiest maritime gateways, giving hope of electrically powered cargo movement systems as ports in India grapple with congestion, rising cargo volumes and tightening environmental norms.

Under pressure to move freight faster while reducing emissions and improving efficiency and productivity, the LIM-based transport, where electrically powered cargo pods travel along fixed tracks using electromagnetic propulsion, has caught the attention of policy-makers and ports.

TuTr co-founder Aravind S. Bharadwaj said the indigenous propulsion system performed as expected during the Kandla tests, marking a key step in taking laboratory research into live industrial settings. Now Tutr is planning to conduct a economic feasibility study on implementing the technology.

Encouraged by the results, the port authority now plans to advance to a live demonstration of a magnetic levitation, or maglev, platform — a move that would position Kandla as a testbed for next-generation port mobility solutions.

Sushil Kumar Singh, chairman of the port authority, said the trial underscored India’s growing capability to design and deploy complex transportation technologies domestically. Supporting a maglev pilot, he added, fits with the port’s long-term vision of building smart, sustainable and globally competitive infrastructure.

LIM systems are fully electric, involve fewer moving parts and can be operated autonomously, helping cut fuel consumption, maintenance costs and emissions. Compared with conventional wheeled systems, LIM-based transport offers smoother acceleration and lower mechanical wear — features well suited to high-throughput port environments.

For TuTr Hyperloop, the deployment represents a milestone in translating academic research into scalable industrial applications. Bharadwaj said the planned linear propoulsion was successful and we are planning for a magalev trial, a natural extension of the company’s roadmap to deliver indigenous mobility solutions for ports and logistics, with scope for adoption in India and overseas.

If the proof of concept scales successfully, the Kandla project could serve as a template for similar collaborations between ports and deep-tech startups, aligning with the Centre’s Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat agendas to embed home-grown innovation in critical infrastructure.

writingonblog uncensored: Centre plans Integrated Transport and Logistics Au...

writingonblog uncensored: Centre plans Integrated Transport and Logistics Au...:   C Shivakumar @ Chennai: The Union government is planning to establish a centralised authority to steer transport and logistics planning ...

Centre plans Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority to unify infra planning

 

C Shivakumar @ Chennai:
The Union government is planning to establish a centralised authority to steer transport and logistics planning by proposing the creation of an Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ILTA) now under inter-ministerial consultation.

The Tamil Nadu government is currently examining the proposal and is expected to submit its remarks to the Centre by the end of this week, official sources said.

This comes after inputs have been sought from various agencies including Chennai Metro Rail Limited. It is learnt that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has already conveyed its assent.


Under the proposal, ILTA will be set up as a not-for-profit special purpose vehicle under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, to be called the Gati-Shakti Transport & Logistics Planning and Research Authority (GTLPRA). The entity will be wholly owned by Union government and function under the administrative control of the Cabinet Secretariat.

The authority will focus on research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment across the transport and logistics ecosystem. Sources said ILTA is designed to plug a long-standing institutional gap by strengthening evidence-based decision-making and enabling integrated, multimodal planning.

GTLPRA will coordinate with five core infrastructure ministries—the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The idea is to overcome siloed decision-making and leverage multimodal connectivity.

As part of the institutional restructuring, the ULIP and Logistics Data Bank (LDB) teams from National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation will be repositioned under a dedicated Transport Big Data Division within ILTA, along with the associated manpower. This division will anchor data integration, analytics and digital monitoring across transport modes.

Beyond formulating a national Transport Master Plan, the authority will build institutional capacity in transport research, big-data integration, project monitoring and evaluation, while supporting capacity building and the adoption of international best practices.

Sources said a Cabinet note which was forwarded to the state proposes an initial non-recurring grant-in-aid of Rs 500 crore to fund the authority’s establishment and first year of operations, including digital platforms, servers and office infrastructure. This would be followed by annual budgetary support of Rs 250 crore, subject to review by the Cabinet Secretary based on actual expenditure.

In addition to creating ILTA, the proposal seeks Cabinet approval for changes to business allocation rules and a revamp of the infrastructure appraisal framework involving the Public Investment Board, NITI Aayog and the Network Planning Group.


Factfile:
1. Gati-Shakti Transport & Logistics Planning and Research Authority (GTLPRA) will coordinate transport and logistics planning across sectors.
2. It aims to end siloed decision-making among transport ministries and enable integrated, multimodal infrastructure planning.
3. It will Coordinate with MoRTH, Railways, Ports & Shipping, Civil Aviation, and Housing & Urban Affairs, alongside states and agencies.
4.Rs 500 crore initial grant for setup of GTLPRA; Rs 250 crore annual support thereafter

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