Project Finance

Modern Infrastructure is critical to economic development which affects the quality of life. Right information, policy leadership and supportive financing environments are determinants for infrastructure to improve economic growth and community wellbeing. The global infrastructure study report by Oxford Economics estimate that global infrastructure investment requirement will amount to $94 trillion during the period 2016–2040. To achieve this target, nations have to increase the proportion of GDP to infrastructure funding to 3.5% compared to 3%. Global infrastructure spending had been around 3% of the world GDP over the last decade. According to World Economic Forum, worldwide investment in infrastructure is expected to be US$79 trillion by 2040. Infrastructure planners must adapt to the new changes in the context that technology is undergoing rapid and fundamental innovative changes. Similar drastic changes are also witnessed with respect to social norms, demographic trends and environmental factors. The financial sector plays a vital role in infrastructure investment.

In early period infrastructure investments were financed with government funds. Over a period of time, public deficits, increased public debt to GDP ratios, budgetary pressures compelled governments to reduce the level of public funds which were allotted to infrastructure. Banks were constrained to reduce infrastructure financing on account of steps taken to strengthen prudential regulation in the banking sectors. After the economic crisis, banks were faced with situation to take initiatives to repair bank balance sheets and build capital and liquidity buffers. In this context the role of alternative sources of financing to support infrastructure development by institutional investors is of paramount significance. The long term nature of the liabilities for many types of institutional investors and their need for suitable long term assets is strategically significant for infrastructural investment. Financing of infrastructure involve different financial structures and instruments. Loans and bonds comprise the largest component with respect to sources of infrastructure finance. Syndicated loans are pooled loans created by commercial or development banks. The Euro bond market took a center stage with respect to project financing since the 1960s. Standalone infrastructure projects can be financed by standardized instruments such as project bonds. Green bonds are corporate bonds, project bonds, and sub-sovereign bonds that finance investment in green infrastructure assets such as clean energy. Modern infrastructure finance includes mechanisms like direct lending and co investment platforms.

The critical element of project financing is the identification of all risk elements and the process of apportionment of these risks among different stakeholders involved in the project. It is very pertinent for the sponsors to identify and monitor these risks and pass on the risk to parties who will be able to manage and monitor these risks effectively than the sponsor. Infrastructure investment faces complex risk on account of the nature of investment. Risk spreading is critical for project financing since they provide the legal basis for transferring critical project risks to various stakeholders. Guarantees are issued by governments and financial institutions to address political, policy, credit and currency risks. Government Support Agreement sets the general framework for the project and provides guarantees of non-discrimination for the construction and operation of the project on an exclusive basis. Risk mitigation can be achieved through letters of credit, guarantees and insurance contracts in private sector. Political risk insurance is of much significance particularly for projects undertaken in countries with weak political system or inadequate laws. Concession agreement is an important part of the security structure. It basically bestows the right to the project company to build, use and operate the project.

A typical structure for project finance is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) structure. The Special Purpose Vehicle is structured in the form of contractual agreements with different stakeholders. There will be shareholder agreement and loan agreement, offtake contracts, direct agreements and security agreements with different parties. Sponsors choose project finance with non-recourse provisions basically to insulate themselves from risk of failure of project which would have an effect on their debt repayment capacity. Structuring the project vehicle can take different forms like joint venture, partnership, limited partnership or limited company structure. Joint venture is a common form of project financing vehicle observed in oil and gas projects. Joint Ventures and limited company structure are the most common form of project financing structures used. A joint venture is a contractual arrangement between different companies to engage in a business activity. The joint venture partners will bring in their expertise to the project along with funds for the project costs. One of the partner may have the overall responsibility to manage or operate the project. Partnerships are similar to joint ventures Limited partners provide project capital for a project. In a special purpose vehicle structure, the SPV is established exclusively for the purpose of the project. The terms on which the SPV is structured would be set out in the shareholder’s agreement. The joint venture or the SPV established depend on a number of legal, tax, accounting and regulatory issues. The lenders to the SPV will have no recourse to the sponsors other than guarantees given by the sponsors. In real sense, the sponsors exposure to the project is limited to the value of the equity or subordinated debt which they had contributed to the project. Project finance is also known as off balance sheet financing. The sponsors don’t show the liabilities in the balance sheet, instead it appears in the footnote. The use of joint venture can result in significant tax advantages in some jurisdictions. The form of special purpose vehicle would be attractive when different sponsors require to fund their investment in the project in different ways. The sponsors have multiple functions with different aspects such as specifying technical aspects, negotiating with lenders, suppliers and off takers, making arrangements for consents and permits. Sponsors will also have to carry out tasks such as appointment of financial, technical, insurance, environmental and legal advisers to the project.

The Chuo Shinkansen project is a major transportation project in Japan. The Chu Shinkansen project also known as Tokaido Shinkansen Bypass is a new rail line being constructed in phases based on the Japanese Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) system. The Japanese maglev line is expected to connect Tokyo and Nagoya city in 40 min. The initial project was designed to cover Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nogoya Station along with the construction of stations in Sagamihara, Kofu, lida and Nakatsugawa. The maximum speed of the maglev project was designed to be 500 km/h. Approximately 90 percent of the 286 kilometer travel to Nagoya will be through tunnels. The Japanese government funded maglev project initiated in the seventies was supported by Japan Airlines and the Japanese National Railways. The project is aimed to use the Shinkansen high speed train lines to cover all of Japan through Japan Railways (JR) network. The most popular line is the Tokaido Shinkansen that connects Tokyo with Osaka.

Airbus is an established leader in the global aerospace sector whose cutting edge products and services span the commercial aircraft, helicopter, defense, security and space segments. Airbus is the largest aeronautics and space company in Europe and is a worldwide leader with presence in 180 locations and have relationship with 12,000 direct suppliers. The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest passenger aircraft build by Airbus. With respect to the demand for very large aircraft market, Boeing and Airbus had estimated different views on the size of the very large aircraft market. A3XX had superior safety features since it was a four engine plane compared to two engine plane like Boeing 777. A3XX had the same fly by wire technology, flight deck design and performance characteristics similar to other planes in the Airbus family. Airbus believed that synergy in terms of increased capacity and reduced costs would compensate for the higher price in terms of economics of the project. Major structural sections of the A380 are built in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The major suppliers of A380 components are Rolls Royce, Safran, United Technologies and General Electric. The cost of development included approximately 13 billion. The sources of financing were 3.5 billion from risk sharing partners (RSPs) or vendors; 3.6 billion of launch aid from the partner governments of UK and France; 5.9 billion from Airbus partners in proportion to their partnership interests.

South North Water Transfer (The SNWT) megaproject is often described as combination of “four horizontals and three verticals” which connects the basins of the Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe and Hai rivers through the canals of the Eastern, Middle and Western Route. The SNWT project is the most expensive and expansive Chinese infrastructure project and the construction began in the year 2002. The project brought fundamental changes to the hydrology and ecology of the Yellow and Yangtze river systems. Approximately 17 billion cubic meters of water would be diverted per year to meet the water shortages in the Northern region by the year 2050. The project involves the linkage of China’s four main rivers—the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe and Haihe. The project is expected to cost $62 billion. SNWT project is the largest of its kind in the world and is expected to benefit over 100 million people over a period of time. It is one of the most ambitious and expensive water transfer projects in the world.

Dubailand is one of the most ambitious leisure development project in the world which is estimated to cost $64.3 billion. It is a tourism, entertainment and leisure complex being built in Dubai and owned by Tatweer of Dubai Holding. The Dubai Holding company is a global investing corporation with a number of real estate projects. The company focuses on different sector such as financial services, consultancies, hospitality, theme parks etc.

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest technology project of all time and demonstrates the peaceful international use of space for scientific and industrial research. This huge orbiting laboratory had received contributions from the USA, Russia, Canada, Japan and the member states of the European Space Agency (ESA). The ISS is a modular space station in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project which involves five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA (Canada). The contractual agreement for the project in terms of ownership and use of the space station is governed by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory and scientific experiments are conducted in different sectors such as astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics and other fields. The ISS also serves as testing center for spacecraft systems and equipment required for long duration missions to Moon and Mars. The station is categorized into two sections-the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) which is operated by Russia. The other section is the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) which is operated by US and other nations.

Al Maktoum International Airport is an international airport under construction in Jebel Ali in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Al Maktoum International Airport is also known as Dubai World Centre. Dubai World Centre is Dubai’s airport of the future. The airport is an important part of Dubai South which is a proposed residential, commercial and logistics complex. The phase 1 of the airport was opened on June 27, 2010 for cargo operations. The first flight was an Emirates Sky Cargo Boeing 777F which landed after a flight from Hong Kong. Passenger flights started operations in October 2013. In 2013, the passenger flights started operations with Wizz Air followed by Jazeera Airways, Gulf Air and later Qatar Airways. The Airport currently have 27 passenger carriers operating an average of 108 flights weekly to 44 destinations. The airport also serves 36 freight operators.

California High Speed Rail (CAHSR or CHSR) is a publicly funded high speed rail system which is under construction in the US State of California. The system is planned to run from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin under three hours with speeds of over 200 miles per hour. CHSR in its pathway will connect Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal center in Anaheim and Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles with the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco via the Central Valley. The system will eventually extend to Sacramento and San Diego covering 800 miles with 24 stations. In order to meet the transportation needs of the modern century, the High Speed Rail Authority have plans to invest billions of dollars in local and regional rail lines. California high speed rail system is aimed to connect the mega regions of the California state and make immense contribution to the economic development of the region in a sustainable environmental context. The aim is also to create jobs and preserve agricultural and protected land. The project is owned and managed by the State of California though the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). The CAHSRA was established by an act of the California State Legislature and was delegated to present a high speed rail plan. The plan termed Proposition 1 A was approved in the year 2008. Approximately $9 billion bond was issued for the construction of the first leg of the project. The California high speed rail system will connect 8 of the 10 largest cities in the State of California. California’ corridors are among the busiest in the nation with 5.7 million people using train services in 2020. The system is designed in such a way that in blended or shared corridors, trains will be slowed to 110 miles per hour as per regulations and in other areas the train speed will reach 220 miles per hour. High speed rail will be run on 100 per cent renewable electric energy. In 2008, the project was estimated to cost $40 billion. Electrified high-speed trains traveling at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour will connect California’s cities, making a trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours.

In the nineteenth century, the Regents Canal company highlighted the important role railways will play in London in future. Crossrail Ltd. was established in the year 2001 to build the new railway line known as the Elizabeth line through central London. The initial budget for the project was set at £154 million. Crossrail Limited is the wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL). The company was established as a 50/50 joint venture company between Transport for London and the Department for London. The Crossrail project is currently Europe’s largest infrastructure project in Europe. The new Elizabeth line will be fully integrated with London’s existing transport and will be operated by Transport for London. The Elizabeth line will increase central London capacity by 10% and reduce congestion at many London underground stations. In a span of 3 years, eight giant tunnel boring machines had burrowed below the streets of London to construct the 42 km new rail tunnels. Over 200,000 tunnel segments were used to line the 42 km of tunnels. The final estimated amount of funding for the project amounted to £17.8 billion. The principal risks to which the project is exposed include safety programme delivery, commercial, organizational, stakeholder and financial risks.

The iconic starfish structure of Beijing Daxing International Airport is the largest single structure airport terminal in the world. It is China’s new largest airport with an area of 700,000 square meters and cost involved for its construction was £8.8 billion. The airport is estimated to carry 170 million passengers by the year 2025. The Airport is built on the border of Beijing and Langfang. The airport is located 40 miles south of Beijing Capital International Airport. Beijing Capital International Airport is positioned as the second busiest airport in the world. This airport is running at full capacity. The new Beijing International airport is expected to ease the congestion of flights between Beijing and the rest of the world. The airport has the capacity to handle 300 takeoffs and landing per hour. All major China air carriers such as China Eastern, China Southern, China United and Air China airlines have presence in Daxing airport. The new Beijing Xiongan Intercity railway connects Daxing airport to Beijing city center in 20 minutes and the Daxing airport subway connects Beijing in 19 minutes. The Beijing-Xiong’an high-speed railway will connect Beijing’s West Railway Station with Daxing Airport, completing the trip in 20 minutes The airport serves as the hub for China United Airlines. It is forecasted that by 2025, the airport will have four runways and 268 parking bays which will accommodate 620,000 flights and handle 72 million passengers per year. The airport has the world’s largest terminal spanning 7.5 million square feet which is equivalent to 98 soccer fields. With runways and annexes, the whole surface area covers 18 square miles. The Beijing Daxing International Airport is also known as “the starfish. The glimmering structure resembles a giant starfish from top with six curved spokes spreading out from a central hub. The official approval for the construction of the Airport by given by the National Development and Reform Commission on December 22, 2014. The airport was to be designed with seven runways of which six were for civilian use and one for military purposes. The cost of construction was initially estimated to be at least 70 billion RMB (US$11.2 billion). It is the world’s largest integrated transport hub. It is estimated that by 2040, approximately 100 million passengers and 20 million tonnes of cargo will be received by the airport on a yearly basis. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the airport will contribute 900 billion yuan to the regional economy.

Jubail Industrial City is the largest civil engineering project in the world today. It is the largest industrial city in the world. Jubail was a fishing village until 1975. The government then decided to build the Jubail Industrial city. The first part of the megaproject termed Jubail I was initiated in the mid-1970s in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf. It included construction of facilities such as steel mill, petrochemical plants and refinery. Jubail I is a classic example for urban planning with dozen shopping centers and schools. Jubail has the largest combined desalination and power plant in the world. Jubail II is located about 8 kilometers west of Jubail I. Jubail II consists of an 83 km2 industrial development in the city of Jubail, 490 km northeast of Riyadh. The project was initiated in the year 2005. The new development when completed is expected to double the population of the city. The construction is spread over 22 years in four phases. The project is aimed to double the size of the Jubail Industrial city by approximately 6200 ha. The cost of construction of Jubail industrial city is estimated to be $18 billion dollars.

The Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge (HZMB) consists of the 12 km Hong Kong Link road, 29.6 km main bridge and 13.4 km Zhuhai Link road. The total length of the bridge is 55 km. HZMB is the longest bridge cum tunnel sea crossing in the world. Operating 24 hours a day, this bridge connects major cities in the Pearl River Delta within a three-hour commute from Hong Kong. It will take only 40 minutes to commute the distance of approximately 42 km from Hong Kong port to Zhuhai Port and Macao Port. This bridge tunnel system consists of a series of three cable stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel and four artificial islands. It is the longest open sea fixed link in the world. It is built to withstand a magnitude eight earthquake, a super typhoon and strikes by super-sized cargo vessels. The amount of steel used for the steel bridge was equivalent to the total weight of 60 Eiffel Towers. According to the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge Authority statistics over 4000 vessels consisting of passenger ferries to container ships cruise its waters every day. The total cost of the main bridge was 7.56 billion funding in terms of bank loans amounted to the bridge initiative was a part of the Chinese government’s plan to drive the economic and social integration of the Greater Bay area.

Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is the world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel in Switzerland. It was officially opened in the year 2016 after almost two decades of construction work. This gigantic project work was aimed to revolutionize the European freight transport system. The 57 km (35 mile) twin bore Gotthard base tunnel provides a high speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe. The tunnel is designed as the first flat low level route through the Alps. The new rail link is a major milestone in the history of Switzerland and Europe. The vision for a new rail line through the Alps originated during the 1950s. The construction work began in the year 1999. The Gotthard tunnel emerged as the longest tunnel in the world surpassing Japan’s 53.9 km Seikan rail tunnel and the 50.5 km Channel tunnel which links the UK and France. The two single track Gottthard Base Tunnel links the Erstfeld in the Uri canton and Bodio in the southern canton of Tessin. The design of Gotthard Base Tunnel took 25 years and the project took 17 years for construction. The estimated final cost of the project was SFr 9.4 billion ($9 billion) for the Gotthard and SFr 2.24 billion for the related 15.4 km (9.6 miles) Ceneri tunnel project.

Channel tunnel is also known as the Eurotunnel. The 50 km long channel tunnel link Folkestone Kent in England with Coquelles Pas de Calais in northern France. The tunnel extends beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. The tunnel is the only fixed link which connect the island of Britain with the European mainland. The tunnel connects the city of London by train to Paris, Lille, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne through Eurostar and Thalys train lines. The Channel tunnel is composed of three tunnels: two for rail traffic and a central tunnel for services and security. Passengers can travel either by ordinary rail coach or by their own motor vehicles which are loaded on special railcars. The project was financed by a consortium of British and French corporations along with banks. The operating company of the tunnel is called Eurotunnel. Approximately 2.5 million Eurostar passengers travelled through the channel tunnel in year 2020. The project was considered the most expensive construction project ever proposed in UK. By the completion time, the cost for the project reached GBP 9.5 billion. The channel tunnel project was designed as a concessional public private partnership. The project was structured as Design, build, finance, maintain, operate and transfer (DBFMOT) model. The problems for the project was manifold. The project couldn’t attract business on account of high access charges. The interest payment burden on the debt of £6 billion was very high. Low volume of passenger and rail traffic than estimated added to the problem.

The Doha Metro is a new state of the art, automated rail network located in the city of Doha. The metro development is a part of Qatar’s National Vision 2030. Doha metro is the backbone of Qatar’s integrated public transport system to promote the use of public transport system in the country. Doha metro is basically an underground metro. The metro system has two phases. The first phase involved the construction of 3 lines—Red, Gold and Green with 37 stations. The first phase was completed in year 2020 and opened to public. The future phases involve the construction of an additional line and expansion of existing ones. In an architectural sense, the stations signify the heritage of the country with vaulted spaces design which were inspired by traditional Bedouin tents. The largest station, Msheireb falls at the heart of the Doha Metro.

The Panama Canal was opened in the year 1914. The project was instrumental in linking ship traffic between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This man made canal consists of a system of artificial lakes, channels and locks and measures 50 miles long. More than 14,000 ships pass through the canal with 275 million tons of cargo in a given year. US is the final destination of approximately more than 70% of the canal’s containerized cargo. The American Society of Civil Engineers had ranked the Panama Canal as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. It often takes ships an average of 11.38 h to pass between the canal’s two locks. The expansion project involved the construction of two lock complexes—one on the Atlantic side and the other on the Pacific side. The expansion project involved the construction of a new shipping lane with three chambers which included three water saving basins. The Panama Canal expansion aims to effectively double the canal’s capacity by adding a new set of locks to accommodate larger container ships. The length of the canal was approximately 80.5 km. The expansion was expected to cost approximately $5.5 billion and the financing means was through a toll system along with foreign credit.

The construction began in the year 1994. Three Gorges Dam which was commissioned in the year 2013 is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world in terms of electricity production. The dam has a generating capacity of 22,500 megawatts (MW). The dam is located in the Xilingxia Gorge which is one of three gorge of the Yangtze River in Hubei province in China. The Three Gorges dam have an inspiring structure. It is one of the few man-made structures on Earth which is visible to the naked eye from space according to NASA. The 26 power generating units with a generating capacity of 700 MW are designed to produce a total of 84.7 BkWh/year. Three Gorges dam with 2.3 km long is one of the world’s largest dams. Over 40,000 workers were involved in the project which took 17 years for completion. The construction was phenomenal in sense that approximately 28 million cubic meters of concrete were used for its construction. Spillway gates have been installed along the concrete shoots which hurl water over 100 m downstream. The dam has a height of 185 m and is 2309 m wide. The output from the dam project of 85 TW/h is close to one tenth of the current Chinese requirements for power generation. The final estimation cost of the project was expected to be US$22.5 billion (180 billion yuan).The project was aimed at the economic growth of China along with objectives of flood management along the Yangtze River. The dam will be a boost for Yangtze River trade which basically accounts for about 80% of China’s inland shipping. It is stated that the dam plays an important role in environmental protection as million tons of plastic bag wastes are prevented from flowing out to sea. The project costed around $28.6 billion and took two decades for completion. The project displaced more than 1 million people along the Yangtze River.

One World Trade Center (One WTC) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. This new structure has the same title as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. One WTC is the tallest building in the United States and the sixth tallest in the world. The steel frame of One World Trade Center is higher than the 1250-ft-high Empire State Building which is the second tallest building in USA. The building has 94 stories with the top floor numbered 104. It occupies approximately 3 million square feet which includes 2.6 million square feet of new Grade A office space spread across 71 floors. It is most expensive new office tower with cost exceeding $3.8 billion. The tower’s construction consists of steel and concrete.

Burj Khalifa, the iconic structure in UAE is the tallest manmade structure in the world. The 162 story tower with a height of 828 m above the metropolis of Dubai is the world’s tallest building. The project was completed in the year 2010. It took 6 years for the completion of the project which involved over 12,000 workers during the peak period of the project. Emaar properties, one of the largest real estate companies in the world is the master developer of the project. The Burj is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building and almost three times the size of the Eiffel Tower. The design of Burj Khalifa was based on technologically advanced, highly efficient and environmentally sustainable MEP system which provides a healthy indoor environment. The tower has one of the world’s highest pressure chilled water system. Burj Khalifa was an international collaborative project as more than 60 contracting and consulting companies around the world were involved in the project. Mashreq bank, Emirates Bank International and Abu Dhabi Commercial bank formed a syndicate to finance the project in the year 2005.

The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) is one of the tallest mixed use skyscraper in the World. The tower is built in the Pudong district of Shanghai. The construction took 11 years for completion. It was designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates of New York. The building was inaugurated in the year 2008. During its completion period, it was the second highest building after the Taipei 101 financial center building in Taiwan. Shanghai World Financial Center has 101 stories and reaches a height of 1614 ft (492 m). SWFC ranks second in Shanghai in terms of height and fifth in Mainland China after Shanghai Tower, Shenzhen Ping—an International Finance Center, Tianjin Golden 117 Tower, Guangzhou Chow Tai Fook Center. SWFC is the tenth tallest building in the world in terms of standard height. The developer Mori Group is the owner of the SWFC. SWFC is located very close to Jin Mao Tower. The most significant feature of the design is that the huge trapeziform aperture on the top portion is used to lessen the impact of wind pressure. The building has a total of 380,000 square meters of floor areas and can accommodate 20,000 people. The design life of the tower is expected to be 50 years.

The Dolphin Gas project is one of the largest trans border energy projects in the GCC region. Dolphin Gas project is the only international gas network in the GCC region which connects three countries Qatar, UAE and Oman. The project involved the transportation of natural gas via pipeline from Qatar to the neighboring countries of United Arab Emirates and Oman. This was the first major regional energy network created in the GCC region. The value of the project was estimated to be $7 billion. The project was completed in two phases. The construction of the project was started in the year 2002. The first phase witnessed the development of two platforms in Qatar’s North field, two multi-phase offshore sealines to the processing facilities and the gas treatment and compression plants at Ras Laffan in Qatar. The second phase involved the construction of 364 km subsea pipeline to transport gas to UAE coast. The cost of the second phase was $3.5 billion. The second phase of the project was completed in the year 2006. The pipeline became operational in the year 2007. The pipeline has the capacity to carry up to 3.2 billion cubic feet of Qatar natural gas a day to UAE for a period of 25 years. Dolphin Energy meets approximately 30% of the UAE’s energy requirements. The total investment in the Dolphin gas project is estimated to be US$6.2 billion. In the year 2005, Dolphin entered into an Islamic financing agreement with 14 financial institutions to provide $1 billion to partially fund the construction expenditures. At that time, this Islamic financing was the largest ever Sharia compliant oil and gas transaction.

Bhadla project was commissioned in the year 2017. India had pioneered the concept of ultra-mega power plant (UMPP) in a single solar industrial park. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had initially set a target for 40 industrial solar parks with a combined capacity of 20 GW and the target was doubled to 40 GW by the year 2022. Bhadla Solar Park is the largest solar park in the world as of the year 2020. The total investment on the project was approximately $1.4 billion. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) have signed 25-year power purchase agreement with developers.

Tengger Desert solar park is one of the world’s largest solar park in the world with solar generation capacity of 1.5 GW. The park covers over 43 square kilometers. It is situated in Zhongwei which is located in China’s northwestern Ningxia province. With the establishment of Tengger Desert solar park, China’s installed capacity rose over 176 GW. China is the global leader in terms of installed capacity with 32% of the global capacity. Chinese power sector faces challenges like transmission bottlenecks, oversupply and problems associated with electric grids. China is the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panel technology. The International Energy Agency statistics suggest that more than 60% of the world’s solar panels are made in China. Tengger Desert Solar Park was established by the China National grid and Zhongwei Power Supply Co. The park supplies power to over 600,000 homes. The development work started in the year 2012 and comprised 45 interconnected grid project. The project was commissioned progressively over the 2011–2017 period. The photovoltaic industrial park is divided into the desert in Zhongwei city, photovoltaic, PV manufacturing industry, agricultural greenhouse area and sightseeing for planning area. The entire project had a total investment of 20 billion yuan.

Millau viaduct is one of the largest cable stayed bridges in Europe. It is the tallest bridge in the world with a structural height of 336.4 m. In 2012, Mexico’s Baluarte Bridge surpassed Millau as the world’s highest cable-stayed bridge. The bridge spans 2 km valley in the Massif central mountain range. The bridge is 2.4-km-long and 270 m above the river at its highest point. Millau duct forms the final link in the A75 highway from Paris to Barcelona. The bridge forms the part of the A75-A71 autoroute axis from Paris to Beziers and Montpellier. The subsidiary Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau (CEVM) of Eiffage was awarded the primary contract for the construction of the bridge during August 2001. The project involving the construction of a road bridge to span river and gorge valley was designed to reduce congestion near the Tarn valley due to traffic on the route from Paris to Spain. This bridge holds several records such as the highest pylons in the world (245 m and 221 m), the highest bridge tower in the world (343 m) and the highest road bridge deck in Europe (270 m). The builder Eiffage financed the construction under a concession agreement to collect the tolls for 75 years until 2080. The concession agreement stipulated that in case of high revenues, the French government can assume control of the bridge as early as the year 2044.The successful integration of the project into the landscape has resulted in Viaduct becoming a major tourist attraction and the town of Millau experienced significant economic boost.

Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in the eastern China’s Shandong province is one of the longest bridges in the world. The project connected the eastern and western areas of the Qingdao region in China. The bridge transects the Jiaozhou Bay and reduces the journey distance between Qingdao and Huangdao by 30 km. The 110-ft-wide bridge cost more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). The construction of the bridge provided better connectivity between the two fast growing industrial regions on the either side of the bay thereby boosting the local economy.

Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest single rail system in the world. It connects Moscow in the west with Far East city of Vladivostok and passes through the cities of Perm , Yekaterinburg , Omsk , Novosibirsk , Krasnoyarsk , Irkutsk , Chita and Khabarovsk. The project covered a distance of 9289 km. The project was originally conceived by Tsar Alexander III. The construction work of the railroad began in the year 1891. The project had great significance in the economic, military and imperial history of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The project connected Moscow to Vladivostok in the year 1904. There are three rail routes that traverse Siberia from Moscow. The Trans-Siberian route from Moscow to the Pacific terminus of Vladivostok. The Trans-Mongolian route connects Moscow to Beijing via Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The Trans Manchurian route connects Siberia and Manchuria to Beijing. Thus the Trans-Siberian railway spans across three countries and crosses the two continents of Europe and Asia. The Trans-Siberian Railway is one of the most impressive engineering feats in modern history. The Trans-Siberian Railway or the Great Siberian Route is the main railroad artery which connects the European part of Russia with Siberia and the far east regions. The Trans-Siberian Railroad connects two parts of world and connects five federal districts of the Russian Federation. The European part of the project covers approximately 19% of the total length of the railway while 81% is covered by the Asian region. Covering over 5 million square miles, the region constitutes 77% of Russian land but yet has only a population of 36 million. This world’s longest train route traverses eight time zones from Moscow to Vladivostok. Trans-Siberian Rail system introduced computer tracking system to monitor the movement of containers along the railway. The Trans-Siberian railroad covers more than 80% of Russia’s industrial and natural resources region.

The Pan American Highway, the longest road on earth is a network of roads which stretches across the Americas and measures approximately 48,000 km in total length. It is one of the biggest adventures in the world. This network of highways connects North America and South America. According to the Guinness World Records, the Pan American Highway is the world’s longest motor able road. Except for the Darien Gap, the road links almost all of the Pacific coastal countries of the Americas in a connected highway system. Darien Gap is the rainforest break of 106 km in length between southeast Panama and northwest Colombia. It is necessary to take a ferry to cross the Darien Gap. It is the most popular overland route in the world. The Pan American Highway is unique in the context that it passes through diverse climates and ecological characteristics. Pan American Highway passes through dense jungles to arid deserts and barren tundra. The Pan American Highway spans from Prudhoe Bay Alaska in North America to South America and passes through cities of Puerto Montt and Quellon in Chile and Ushuaia in Argentina. Beyond the West and North of the Darien Gap, the roadway known as the Inter American Highway passes through Central America and Mexico. The inter-American Highway from Nuevo Laredo Mexico to Panama City covers 5390 km. Thereafter it splits into several branches and ultimately leading into the Mexico United States border. The official section of the highway runs from Laredo in Northern Mexico to the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. The Pan American Highway runs through 14 countries. The road trips start in Prudhoe Bay Alaska and stretches to the tip of Argentina in Ushuaia. The highest point in the road is Cerro de la Muerte which is at 11,322 ft above the sea level. The northern part of the road goes through Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The Southern part crosses Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The highway aimed to foster closer and harmonious relationship among different nations in the Americas. The highway connects almost all of the Pacific coastal countries. The Pan-American Highway which connects the North and South America, crosses six time zones and four climatic zones. Large scale projects such as highways can have significant linkages to other national projects operating at other scales.

The Port of Shanghai is situated in the middle of the eastern coastline of the Chinese mainland. It lies in the intersection of the T shaped water transport network which comprises the Yangtze River known as the golden waterway and coastal transport channels. The port of Shanghai is well connected with accessibility to the southern and northern part of China’s coastal areas, oceans across the world, the Yangtze River basin, inland rivers of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces and Taihu Lake basin. The Port of Shanghai has immense geographical significance with well-connected road and railway networks. The Port of Shanghai is the second busiest seaport in the world.

Sakhalin I project consisted of the development of the Odoptu oil and gas field and the Chayvo gas field which was developed during the period 1977–1979. Sakhalin II involved the development of the Piltun Astokhskoye and Lunskoye oil and gas fields. Sakhalin II is termed as one of the largest integrated export oriented oil and gas projects in the world. It is also the first offshore gas project of Russia. The project is operated by the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. The project is owned by Gazprom, Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi. The infrastructure of the project includes three offshore platforms, an onshore processing facility, 300 km of offshore pipelines, 1600 km of onshore pipelines, oil export terminal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. It is oil and integrated LNG. Sakhalin II has been one of the most technically complex projects undertaken in the global oil and gas industry. Sakhalin II was the result of the visualization of the state policy on the gas industry development for an integrated gas production, transportation and supply system in Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Sakhalin II laid the foundation for Russia to emerge as a leading energy exporter to the energy markets of the Asia Pacific region.

This project is one of the most significant oil and gas project in the world. It is unique in the sense that it covers the whole chain of development and production involving subsea, offshore, pipeline and onshore. The project is structured as a joint venture between INPEX group companies (the Operator), the major partner Total Energies and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation Taiwan, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power, JERA and Toho Gas. The Ichthys Field is estimated to have reserves of 12 trillion cubic feet of gas and 500 million barrels of condensate. The project is located about 220 km offshore Western Australia and 820 km south west of Darwin. The Ichthys field is spread over 800 square kilometers in water with average depth of 250 m. The gas and condensate from the Ichthys field are exported to onshore facilities in Darwin through an 890 km pipeline. The condensate is shipped to the global markets through a floating production, storage and offloading system which is permanently located near the Ichthys field in the browse basin. Ichthys project is one of the most complex liquefied natural gas projects in the world with the longest subsea pipeline in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the second largest global LNG player in the private sector. The project covers the entire LNG production chain with deep offshore production facilities, two floating production units, gas pipeline and liquefaction plant.

In 1997, a consortium of major international oil firms and Kazakh State signed a 40-year agreement North Caspian Production Sharing Agreement which was designed to govern the project and develop the oil field. The Kashagan oil field is the first major offshore oil and gas development project in Kazakhstan which covers three fields of Kashagan, Kairan and Akoty. Kashagan Phase I commenced production in the year 2016. The Kashagan Field has one of the largest oil discoveries with approximately 9–13 billion barrels of recoverable oil. This shallow water oil field lies approximately 80 km offshore from the city of Atyrau in 3–4 m of water. The Kazak oil field covered an area of 75 km by 45 km and contained both oil and gas.

Barzan gas project is a joint venture between Qatar gas and Exxon Mobil. The project is valued at $10.4 billion. RasGas is the project manager and responsible for operating the plant. The project work was initiated in the year 2011. The joint venture agreement and development and fiscal agreement by the two joint venture partners were signed during January 2011. The project consists of total of six trains. In the first phase, the project produced 1.7 billion cubic feet a day (bcfpd) of pure natural gas. The Barzan gas project was designed to be developed in three phases. The total capacity was 6.2 bcf per day of natural gas. The onshore facilities at the project site consists of a gas processing unit, sulphur recovery unit to remove impurities from the natural gas and natural gas liquids recovery unit. The project would extract gas from the Qatar’s North Field which is estimated to hold recoverable reserves of 900 trillion cubic feet and represent approximately 10% of the world’s known gas reserves. The project was financed through 30% equity and 70% syndicated loan from banks and credit export agencies.

During September 1999, Telstra, Teleglobe and Japan Telecom entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the Australian Japan Network project. This submarine cable system was valued at $520 million. The Australian Japan Cable Network (AJCN) is a subsea cable system which offers connectivity and bandwidth options with diverse landings in Australia, Guam and Japan. The AJCN was established in the year 2000 with an expected design life of 25 years. The network was established as a private cable company to design, construct, market and operate the 12,700 km submarine fibre optic cable network from Sydney, Australia to Japan via Guam. The optical fibre submarine cable offers connectivity from Australia to Japan via Guam. This project was completed under budget and on time.

In the year 2007, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) under Ethiopia’s Ministry of Transport was formed to create a framework for the modernization of the railway network in Ethiopia. In the year 2010, an agreement for the modernization of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway was signed between Ethiopia and China under Belt and Road Initiative. In the same year, the MoU for the development and operation of Standard Gauge Railway Line between Ethiopia and Djibouti was also finalized. It is the first electrified standard gauge railway project in Africa. This project is part of the Belt and Road Initiative. This new modernized project has emerged as the main transport corridor for Ethiopia which connect to the Port of Djibouti. Approximately 90% of the international trade of Ethiopia is handled by the Port of Djibouti. The new rail project has immensely led to the long haul transport of freight with reduced travel times.

In the year 2006, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, British Columbia launched the Gateway Program which was an integral part of the British Columbia’s Pacific Gateway Strategy. The existing Highway 1 corridor from Vancouver to Langley was one of the three priority corridors identified in the Gateway program. This corridor was the busiest and most economically critical route in Greater Vancouver. The original bridge built in the 1960s was designed for 850,000 people. It is now the only major east west corridor to serve approximately 2.5 million population of Greater Vancouver. Port Mann bridge alone carry approximately 127,000 vehicles per day. This represented an increase of 65% since 1985 when the daily traffic was about 77,000 vehicles. The new bridge was necessitated due to traffic congestion in both directions which was 13 h on an average weekday. It was stated that the daily traffic on the Port Mann Bridge was 20% higher than on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. The population of Vancouver is expected to grow to 900,000 over the next 25 years. The Port Mann Bridge was constructed to tackle the traffic congestion and enhance the traffic mobility in Vancouver. The project involved the replacement of the existing Port Mann Bridge and widening of the Trans-Canada Highway and its interchanges. The newly constructed Port Mann Bridge was composed of three major sections. The first section consisted of the cable stayed 850-m-long main bridge across the Fraser River. The second section featured the 350-m south approach at Surrey. The third section consisted of the 820-m northern approach at Coquitlam. The total design and construction cost was estimated to be $2.46 billion.

The Chernobyl nuclear power explosion on 26th April 1986 was the worst ever nuclear accident in the world. The reactor hall of unit 4 was destroyed by a massive explosion and radioactive material was released which affected large part of Eastern and Western Europe. The disaster affected large parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The disaster caused huge damage to the environment. The explosion caused deaths of 30 workers and firemen at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The long term health consequences of the accident are still a debatable topic. Over 200,000 people were evacuated from the vicinity of the destroyed reactor. An exclusion zone of 30 km length is in place ever since the accident took place. In the year 2016, the establishment of New Safe Confinement radically transformed the accident site. Chernobyl’s New Safe Confinement (NSC) is a unique design and construction project in the context that such a huge structure was constructed for the first time at a heavily contaminated site. The project was aimed at the safety of the explosion site with the provision for the dismantling of the ageing shelter and management of the radioactive waste within the shelter. NSC have been handed to the Ukrainian government after systems installation, testing and commissioning of the project. The New Safe Confinement is the largest moveable land based structure ever built. The cost of Shelter Implementation Plan amounted to 2.1 billion euros and was funded by contributions from 45 countries, the European Commission and the EBRD.

Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear station is the largest nuclear power station in the world. The project was started in the year 1980.The nuclear power plant is operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The nuclear power project with seven reactors have generating capacity of 8212 MW and can produce electricity to 16 million households. The plant has the capacity to satisfy about 5% of Japan’s total power demand. The project site of 4.2 km2 is located in the Niigata Prefecture city of Kashiwazaki and the town of Kariwa which was approximately 135 miles north west of Tokyo situated on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Kashiwazaki is the world’s first advanced boiling water reactor. It receives cooling water from the coast of the Sea of Japan. The plant is owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The last two units were the first Advanced Boiling Water Reactors ever built. In 1996, the nuclear plant became the first plant to employ an advanced boiling water reactor for commercial use. The advanced boiling water reactor was designed by General Electric and is a Generation III reactor. It has an average output of 1315 MW and power rating of 1356 MW. Low enriched uranium is used as the nuclear fuel in all the reactors. Kashiwazaki Kariwa possess seven conventional nuclear reactors each with an average output of 1067 MW and power rating of 1100 MW. By 2010, the nuclear power sector had provided more than 11% of Japan’s total energy requirements.

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is established in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, one of the southern state of India. Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is the operator of the project. It is the largest nuclear power plant in India. The reactors at Kundankulam were placed under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Phase 1 of the project saw the commissioning of two 1000 megawatt (MW) pressurized water reactor (PWR) based on Russian technology. Indian government took up credit offers which amounted to US$3.06 billion which represented 53% of the estimated total project cost.

The Boundary Dam is an 824 MW coal fired power plant located in Estevan in Saskatchewan, Canada. The power plant consists of six production units and is owned by SaskPower. Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower) is the main electric utility company in Canada established by the provincial government in the year 1929. The firm manages over $11.8 billion in assets. It operates three coal-fired power stations, seven hydroelectric stations, six natural gas stations, and two wind facilities, and has partnerships with 21 independent power producers for a total capacity of 4211 MW. Boundary Dam is the largest project undertaken by SaskPower. Boundary Dam power station became the first power station in the world to successfully use the CCS technology. The adoption of the technology facilitated the reduction of atmospheric pollution by preventing the entry of approximately four million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which was equivalent to taking one million vehicles off the road for a year. The total cost of the project was currently 1.5 billion up from the original cost estimate of 1.3 billion.

During Jan 2003, Boeing decided to go ahead with a development designation to develop a new super-efficient midsized airplane—the Boeing 787 with the focus on efficiency, economics, environmental performance, comfort and convenience along with e-enabled systems. The Boeing 787 was developed as a 200–250 seat airplane to provide nonstop, point to point service. The project though was expected to deliver the new airplane to customers by 2004 got delayed and the new planes entered into service by the year 2009. The 787 became the fastest selling wide body airplane in history. On Dec 15 2009, the 787 Dreamliner made its first flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The 787-8 Dreamliner can accommodate 210–250 passengers on routes of 7650–8200 nautical miles while the 787-9 Dreamliner can carry passengers in the range of 250–290 on routes of 8000–8500 nautical miles. During the Paris Air Show held on June 18, 2013, Boeing launched the third member of the 787 family—787-10 Dreamliner. This series had orders for 102 airplanes from five customers. This longest aircraft of the 787 family achieved firm configuration in April 2014 and was scheduled for delivery in the year 2018. The new 787-10 has seating capacity in the range of 300–330 passengers and was designed to fly up to 7000 nautical miles. The new 787-10 aircraft covered more than 90% of the world’s twin aisle routes. The engines for the 787 aircrafts were provided by General Electric and Rolls Royce. The 787 is a groundbreaker in design, build and technology. It is the first airplane in which the composite materials form approximately 50% of the primary structure. The 787 Dreamliner can achieve 20–25% greater fuel efficiency and lesser carbon emissions.

By the implementation of the 12th Five-year National Development Plan, China have made an investment of 1.23 trillion CNY with the operationalization of 2019 km metro lines and covered a traffic volume of 52.8-billion-person time. The biggest metro system by route length is the Shanghai Metro system with 743 km. It is the second biggest metro in the world in terms of number of stations with 381 stations on 18 lines. The ridership record was 13.29 million during the year 2019. Shanghai is an international metropolis. Shanghai Metro carries nearly 10 million passengers each day thereby serving 52% of residents. Initially the plan involved a 40 year phased programme which included 11 metro lines which covered over 325 km. The Shanghai Metro Corporation 2025 plan envisages a comprehensive network of 11 lines over 325 km supported by seven light rail routes consisting of 136 km.

The São Francisco River Basin (SFRB) is based in Brazil. The Sao Francisco River Basin is strategically important for Brazil on account of its potential in agriculture, hydropower, tourism, urban and industrial water supply. The SFRB is known as the river of national integration since it includes different variety of biomes, climatic conditions, landscapes. The river basin links the southeast part of Brazil with the northeast part. It is the fourth longest river in Latin America. The SFB have faced serious water related problems due to water conflicts for multiple uses and predominantly for food production by irrigation. The project involves the large scale inter basin transfer of the river to the dry regions in the four northeastern states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba and Pernambuco in Brazil. The estimated cost for the project is US$2 billion. The project involved construction of 722 km of conveyance systems, 591 km of canals, 20 km of pipeline, 22 km of 12 tunnel and integration of 26 reservoirs. Approximately 1.4% of the river would be diverted for the municipal water supply, industry and irrigation purpose.

Kazan is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. It is the eighth most populous city of Russia. Kazan is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. The Kazan Kremlin is a World Heritage Site. In the year 2009, Kazan was branded as the “Sports Capital of Russia”. The city was one of the host cities for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Seven of Russia’s 14 largest cities are located within a 1000 km radius of Kazan. Kazan was the most economically diverse region within the Republic of Tatarstan with a total land area of 7075 km2. Kazan Smart City project is a path breaking urban development project which is designed to promote growth of investment in sectors such as high technology, medicine, education and tourism. Kazan smart city project is a greenfield development project which is being developed using the latest advancements in urban planning and engineering.

Masdar City is the sustainable city project in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is built by Masdar a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company. The city is designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners. The city sources energy from solar and other renewable energy sources. The city hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The city is designed as a hub for clean tech companies. In 2007, the government of Abu Dhabi announced the intent of building “the world’s first zero carbon city” the custom designed settlement called Masdar.

The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project was conceived as a symbol of Indo-Japan strategic partnership in 2006. Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is a mega infra structure project in India covering a distance of 1438 km between the political capital (Delhi) and the business capital (Mumbai) of India. The total project cost was valued at USD 90 billion. In 2006 a MOU was signed between Government of Japan and India for the development of the project. DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC) incorporated in the year 2008 is the implementing agency for the project. DMICDC ownership structure consists of 49% equity stake by Government of India, 26% stake by Japan Bank for International Corporation and the rest are held by government financial institutions. DMICDC is managed by a shell structure with USD 2.5 million. The project is being funded through private public partnership and foreign investment. The initial Japanese government support for the project was US$4.5 billion which was offered as a loan for a period of 40 years at a nominal interest rate of 0.1%. The project includes 24 industrial regions, eight smart cities, two international airports, five power projects, two mass rapid systems and two logistical hubs. The main objective of DMIC is to develop the corridor project as a “Global Manufacturing and Trading Hub”.

Road transport accounts for 65% of freight movement and 80% of passenger traffic in India. National highways account for 40% of the total national traffic but account for just 2% of the total road infrastructure. This largest highway project ever undertaken in India was aimed at improving the Golden Quadrilateral network, the North–South and East–West (NS–EW) corridors, port connectivity and other projects. Golden Quadrilateral Highway is the fifth longest highway project in the world with total length of 5846 km. It is the first nationwide central project to build a network of four lane highways to link the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The project consists of four/six lane express highways. The large network of highways in India are managed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

In December 1999, the Walt Disney Company and Hong Kong Government entered into an agreement to develop Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL), the US$3.6 billion theme park complex. Disney the multinational multimedia entertainment company have Theme Parks and Resorts as one of its business segment. The company owned and operated the Disneyland projects in California and the Walt Disney World resort complex in Florida. The company also earned fees and royalties on Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. The Hong Kong Disney land project was developed on the northeastern end of Lantau Island. The agreement specified the development of project in three phases. The HKDL project is owned and managed by Hong Kong International Theme Parks (HKITP). The park was opened to visitors during September 2005. The ownership structure of the park is such that 53% is owned by the Hong Kong government and 47% by the Walt Disney Company. HKITP and Walt Disney decided to raise a HK $2.3 billion, 15 year, non-recourse term loan for construction of the theme park project. The provisions in the Disney’s proposal had 15-year final maturity for debt repayment and options for repayments to start as late as 3 years after opening of the park.

Reliance Jamnagar Marine Terminal is situated in the Gulf of Kutch, State of Gujarat, India which is, about 35 km west of the town of Jamnagar. Jamnagar refinery is the world’s largest refinery and petrochemicals complex owned by Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries, the flagship company is the largest private sector company in India. The Reliance Jamnagar is the world’s largest refinery and aromatics complex. It is the largest industrial project implemented by Indian corporate sector completed by Bechtel. The first refinery was completed in the year 2000. The Jamnagar refinery project is the largest single investment at a single site in India. The Jamnagar complex is the first manufacturing complex of its kind with a fully integrated petroleum refinery, petrochemicals complex, captive power plants and a captive port. There are more than 50 process units in the refinery which carry out functions such as crude oil distillation, catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming and delayed coking. The refinery project incurred a cost of US$207 million and the first phase of the complex construction incurred a total cost of $437 million. The construction of the plant was initiated in the year 1996. The estimated completion period was of 30 months. However, the company was able finish the construction of the refinery plant well ahead of the schedule in 24 months. The first refinery plant at Jamnagar had the capacity to produce 15 million tonnes per year of refined crude.

The Big Dig (Central Artery/Tunnel Project) was mega road infrastructure project which was undertaken in Boston, Massachusetts, USA to improve the flow of traffic and avoid travel congestion across Boston. The project replaced the outdated elevated Central Artery road. The Central Artery/Tunnel project was one of the most challenging project in the history of United States. The project replaced the six lane Central Artery (I-93) with an underground highway and two new bridges over the Charles River. The project undertaken by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was initiated in the year 1991. The cost of the project was estimated to be US$14.8 billion. The project was completed in year 2007. The project covered 7.8 miles of highway and 161 lanes miles. The project facilitated 62% reduction in vehicle hours of travel on I-93, the airport tunnels and the connection from Storrow Drive. The new underground route I-93 Central Artery has improved the peak period travel times through downtown Boston. The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the US. According to Massachusetts Turnpike Report 2008, the project incurred a final cost of US$ 14.8 billion.

The North South Corridor program is a major program aimed to enhance the economic potential of countries in Southern and Eastern Africa by improving the infrastructure in the region and increase the power generation capacity and trading potential. This multi modal (road, rail and ports) trans-continental interconnector project basically aims to connect Cape Town in the south and Cairo in the north. South Africa is the lead undertaker of this project and other countries taking part in the project include Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Malawi.

Libya’s Great Man-Made River project consists of a long term plan to supply the country’s water needs by drawing water from aquifers beneath the Sahara region and carry it through a network of huge underground pipes to the northern coastal belt. The Great Man Made River Authority (GMRA) project is one of the largest civil engineering projects in the world. The GMRA Water Supply project consists of five phases. The project duration is estimated to be 25 years. The total cost is estimated to be $27 billion according to 2004 estimate. This “Great Man Made River” project is the world’s largest irrigation project. Agriculture received a boost on account of this fresh water project. The government have made investments in seven big agricultural schemes. Libya has constructed this mega project without financial support from other countries or source of funding from financial institutions. The funding for the project was sources from fuel revenues and taxes on tobacco. The total cost estimated currently amount to more than $36 billion.