India’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar reviews progress of Afcons' Greater Male’ Connectivity Project
India's External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, reviewed the progress of Afcons' Greater Malé Connectivity Project. He visited the project site, which links Malé to Thilafushi
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, August 12, 2024: India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, and the Maldives' Foreign Minister, Mr. Moosa Zameer, renewed the Memorandum of Understanding MoU for capacity building of 1000 Maldives civil services officers during the period 2024-2029 Malé as part of the development partnership discussions between both the nations on 9th August in Malé, Maldives.
Under the guidance of the Ministry of External Affairs, the National Centre of Good Governance NCGG has successfully conducted capacity building programs for civil servants from Bangladesh, Tanzania, Gambia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia, along with multi-country programs for Latin American countries and FIPIC/IOR countries.
As part of the capacity building initiatives, an MoU was signed between National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Government of India and Maldives Civil Service Commission, Republic of Maldives for capacity building programs for 1000 Maldivian Civil Servants on June 8, 2019.
By 2024, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) achieved the remarkable milestone by fulfilling the mandate of training a total of 1000 Civil Servants including Permanent Secretaries, Secretary Generals and High-Level Delegates from Maldives over a total of 32 Capacity Building Programmes in Field Administration for the Civil Servants of Maldives including one programme for Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and one for Information Commission Office of Maldives (ICOM).
Recognizing the success of this collaboration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives, requested the renewal of the MoU for another five years. On August 9, 2024, the MoU was officially renewed, committing to train another 1,000 Maldivian civil servants by 2029. This renewed partnership will continue to enhance the capabilities of Maldives civil servants in public policy, governance, and field administration, further strengthening the ties between India and the Maldives.
The National Centre of Good Governance (NCGG) is committed to fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration on public policy and governance across several countries. Its mid-career capacity building programs emphasize citizen-centric governance, improving service delivery, and promoting innovations in governance. These programs also showcase India's best practices in Digital Empowerment of Citizens and Digital Transformation of Institutions.
During his three-day visit to the Maldives, India's External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, reviewed the progress of Afcons' Greater Malé Connectivity Project. He visited the project site, which links Malé to Thilafushi, to assess the ongoing superstructure works at Villimalé and the overall marine construction activities. Dr. Jaishankar was accompanied by the Maldivian Minister of Construction and Infrastructure, Dr. Abdulla Muththalib, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moosa Zameer.
After visiting the Greater Male Connectivity project, EAM Minister, Mr. S. Jaishankar said "This is truly an amazing project. When you look at what this project is about, the kind of challenges which that they face, the depth of water for which they have to go down, the height of the bridges that they have to make, the length of what they are trying to connect, the load that it will take and to do this all and working in very difficult sea conditions. I must tell you i came out very very proud today What India had to”.
“Afcons has made one of the highest bridges over the Chenab in India. But, to me this is naturally for the company they are proving themselves, they are making a statement about their capabilities and their design and their engineering, but i think that are many ways to is to the country, but they are proving themselves in Maldives. But when this project is completed, it would for many people actually being a testimony of what India is capable and what the relationship can what actually develop" he added.
Afcons Infrastructure Limited (AIL), the flagship engineering and construction arm of the Shapoorji Pallonji group, is spearheading this landmark project, which is the largest infrastructure endeavor in the Maldives. The project, secured in 2021, stands as the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in the Maldives, commissioned by the Maldives' Ministry of National Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure, is valued at ₹3,752 crore.
The project scope includes the design and construction of 6.7 km of bridges and roads, consisting of 3.7 km of marine bridges and 3.0 km of at-grade roads and embankments. Additional civil works involve interchanges and approximately 210,000 cubic meters of reclamation work. With an order book value of ₹2,635.90 crore, the Greater Malé Connectivity Project represents 7.56% of the company's total order book.
