The Hindu : Canada shows interest in building roads

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 14, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Canada shows interest in building roads

By Harichandan A.A.

BANGALORE Feb. 13. An "infrastructure delegation" from the Canadian province of Ontario, was here on Wednesday. The team was led by Ontario's Minister for Enterprise, Opportunity, and Innovation, James M.Flaherty. Road-building topped the list of priorities of the team. In fact, Canada boasts of an enviable expertise in the field, according to Mr. Flaherty. Big and small companies in Canada are looking at opportunities in water, power, and transport management.

Canadian companies would be willing to bankroll infrastructure projects in the State under "various negotiated schemes", he said. The schemes, popular in U.K., involved the Government making payments over a period of 25 years or more. They "gave the public much needed roads quickly and relieved governments from making huge capital outlays", he said.

Mr. Flaherty said he met the Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna, at Davos recently. During this visit, he had meetings with various ministers, government officials, and businessmen here, after similar meetings in Mumbai and Delhi. The Canadians participated in the India Infrastructure Show 2003 in Delhi earlier this month.

Canadian infrastructure companies here include the SNC Lavilin, which is building some of the highways, and R.V.Anderson (RVA), with interests in water supply and sanitation. The company recently completed a World Bank-funded stage II feasibility study for Mumbai, and got the contract for operation and maintenance of an effluent treatment plant at Vapi.

In Karnataka, RVA has helped implement an O&M strategy for new water and waste-water facilities in the State, according to the Canada India Business Council.

While the India visit was specifically to showcase Canadian expertise in infrastructure, some companies were offering specialised services such as non-destructive asphalt testing and logistics specific to post-harvest food processing. "We have long harsh winters. Of course, we are experts in such areas," Mr. Flaherty said.

Canada had its own clusters of IT, biotechnology, and other research-based companies. Indian companies with investments in the IT cluster included Infosys Technologies and Wipro, in Toronto, Ontario's capital, and the city of Windsor, respectively.

Toronto was the business and financial capital of the province, he said. Canada spent "billions of dollars to make the clusters strong research, design, and development hubs", Mr. Flaherty said.

These clusters were potential sources of business for Indian companies.

They were also sources of talent for collaborative research with Indian research-based companies, and academic organisations such as the Indian Institute of Science. As of now, such partnerships did not exist in significant numbers, he said.

Some of the R&D in software and in manufacturing design was driven by the automobile industry in Canada. There were untapped business opportunities in the sector, he said.

On the biotechnology front, a $51 million biotechnology centre was coming up in Toronto, involving teaching hospitals, universities, and pharmaceutical companies. Canada was trying to woo Indian students to its universities.

If the initiative worked, Indian talent could contribute to research in such centres, he added.

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