REGIONAL REPORT DFI of India Dr. K.S. Rama Krishna DFI of India Chair [email protected] Last year ended with a promising future outlook for both India and DFI of India. As mentioned in the Nov/Dec 2016 issue of this magazine, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was passed by Parliament and approved by the President of India. One India and One Tax is now an Act and becoming a reality. It is now a matter of implementation, and it is heartening that some states in India have taken the lead in implementing the GST. Positive results are expected gradually, in terms of increased base to the economy, increased GDP, increased tax collections, as well as formal and informal segments of the economy implementing GST, etc. Foreign entrepreneurs should consider establishing manufacturing units in India given the tremendous internal demand for manufactured goods; pressure for India to increase its share of exports to world markets; and the abundant availability of young manpower, raw materials and power. In November 2016, the Prime Minister of India made a surprise announcement to demonetize higher value currency with the aim of demolishing the black market economy. This led to some initial difficulties with everyone in the country, and doomsayers predicted that it would have a major negative impact on India’s economy. Fortunately, little or nothing of that kind happened. The remonetization process is almost complete, and the economy is reported to be doing well. Banks’ coffers are full, creating favorable conditions for reducing lending rates and priming the wheels of India’s economy to pick up momentum. The Prime Minister promised further stringent measures to clean up the economy, such as reducing the nonperformance assets of public sector banks, curbing illegal (“Benami”) transactions to acquire wealth, and more. All of these steps mean more accountability in all sectors of the economy, which should lead to the economy becoming very strong and resilient. Full-Time Staff During the 2016 DFI Winter Planning Meeting, we made a proposal to set up a full-fledged office for the DFI of India Regional Chapter, with paid staff to run the activities on a full-time basis. As part of that proposal, we requested DFI to provide financial support to DFI of India for the first two years to provide the staff sufficient time to streamline the chapter’s activities and to generate revenues for the chapter’s continuity, self-reliance, sustenance and growth. Thankfully, the DFI Board of Trustees accepted and granted funds to DFI of India for 2017, with a promise to continue support for an addi t ional year pending the chapter’s performance. T. S. Mahendran has been hired as senior executive, administration and accounts for DFI of India. Efforts are ongoing to recruit a chief executive and an executive assistant on a full-time basis. Once this is done, the most important initiative — operator and front-line staff training — and l inking wi th government and nongovernmental agencies are expected to commence. Use of CFA Piles in India The other important initiative for DFI of India is technology implementation. A proposal was submitted to the DFI Committee Project Fund in 2016 for full-scale implementation trials of continuous flight augered (CFA) piles. The proposal was accepted for funding during the DFI Winter Planning Meeting in February, which provided an impetus toward achieving the chapter’s initiative. Dr. Sunil S. Basarkar, general manager of AFCONS Infrastructure, one of the reputed foundation and infrastructure companies in India, and an executive member of DFI of India, has agreed to be the coordinator for this important project. We are confident this initiative will be performed and completed successfully, and will result in the development of a manual on the implementation of CFA/ACIP piles in India. Increased use and greater productivity of CFA piles would ease the pressure on hydraulic rotary piling rigs, which would result in better use of equipment and manpower resources. India Events Since my last report, a workshop was held on December 14, 2016, the day before the Indian Geotechnical Society’s Annual Conference at IIT Madras, Chennai. I.V. Anirudhan, vice chairman of DFI of India, was the coordinator for the workshop. The theme of the workshop was “Deep Foundations in Liquefiable Soils and Deep Excavation Experiences,” and was attended by 85 delegates. There were four morning lectures on deep foundations in liquefiable soils and three afternoon lectures on deep excavations. In spite of severe damage and disruption caused by the cyclonic storm Vardah, just two days prior to the event, the workshop was a grand success, was well conducted and attended. Audiences actively participated in the December workshop DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2017 • 55
