Transport

TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Transport system is a mirror of economic development and material prosperity. It is the trans-port which
helps in the movement of raw materials, fuel, machinery, etc. to the points of production and finished products
to the points of marketing and consumption. The transport also helps in the better and fuller utilization of
resources of any backward region by linking the same with the relatively more advanced and developed one.
The expansion of transport facilities accelerates the process of indus-trialization and urbanization. The transport also helps in maintaining the uniformity in prices, removes scarcity of goods during the time of crisis,
minimises the effects of natural calamities, aids in maintaining law and order and good governance and promotes national integration and cohesiveness. In a develop-ing country like India without an efficient transport
system no dream of economic development and self- reliance can be achieved. Here an attempt has been
made to analyse the spatial patterns of different modes of transport and various problems associated with
them.
ROAD TRANSPORT
Road is-the indigenous mode of transport in India. It is through roads that every village and hamlet can be
reached. Roads offer door to door service and their construction can be undertaken even in the areas of difficult terrain. The movement of goods is safer through road transport. It helps the farmers to move their perishable agricultural prod-ucts soon to markets and mandis. In a developing country like India road is a harbinger of
economic development and prosperity.
India has one of the largest road networks in the world. The countrys total road length was 42.36 lakh km
in 2007-08 (surfaced roads being 20.90 lakh km or 49.3 percent of the total. India has a long tradition of building roads since ancicnt times. In the ruins of Indus Valley Civilisation there is evidence of paved roads. Chandra
Gupta Myurya and Ashoka were the great road builders. Slier Shah and Mughal emperors took active interest in
road construction. With the consolidation of British power greater attention was paid on the road construction
so as to promote goods movement and maintain law and order. The Grand Trunk Road (following the old
Mughal Road) from Dacca (in Bangladesh) to La-hore (in Pakistan) was the most important road connecting
almost all the premier cities of the north India. Similarly the Deccan Road provided a direct link to the South
India from the north.
In 1951 India had a total length of 4 lakh km of roads (surfaced roads being 1,57 lakh km). This length
increased to 5.24 lalch km (surfaced roads 263,000 km) in 1960-61; and 46.90 lakh km.
Tabla 25.1 India : Progress in Road Construction (LengthQOO km.)
Year
Total
Surfaced
National Highways
State Highways
1950-51
399.9
157.0
19.8
1960-61
524.5
263.0
23.8 .
1970-71
914.9
398.0
23.8
56.8
1980-81
1,485.4
684.0
31.7
94.4
1990-91
2,327.4
1,091.0
33.7
127.3
2000-01
3,373.5
1,601.7
57,7
132.1
2005-06
4,003.9
1,910.8
66.6
148.1
2010-11
4,690.3
2,524.7
70.9
163.9
Maharashtra alone has 8.75 per cent of the total length of roads in the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh
(8.32%), West Bengal (6.38%), Karanataka (6.01 %), Odisha (5.52%), Assam (5.16%), Rajasthan (5.14%),
AndhraPradesh (5.07) and Kerala (4.29%). These nine states together had 54.6 per cent of the total road-length
of the country (Table 25.11). Maharashtra has the largest length of surfaced roads in India (14.51% of the
An Institute for Civil Service Examination
....Empowering the Pillars of Tomorrow
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country in 2011), followed by Uttar Pradesh (12.78%), Rajasthan (8.33%), Karnataka (7.65%), Tamil Nadu (6.77%),
Andhra Pradesh (6.64%), Gujarat (6.05%), Madhya Pradesh (5.12%) and West Bengal (4.93%). These ninestates
together have 73 per cent of the surfaced roads of die country (Table 25.111). On the other hand Sikkim,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, J & K and Goa share only 4 per cent
of the total surfaced roads of India.
A better measure is to analyse the road-length on the basis of area and population of the individual state.
Table 25.11 gives statewise length of total roads per 100 square km of area and per iakh of population. According to this table only 11 states i.e., Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Odisha, Nagaland, Assam, Uttar Pradesh,
Punjab, West Ben- gal and Karnataka record higher road-length than the national average (142.68 km.).
Table 25.11 India: Statewise Length of Total Roads, 2011 (in kms)
States/UTs
Total roads (km)
Per cent of India
Per 100 sq. km
Per lakh of
of area (km)
population (km)
States
Andhra Pradesh
238,001
5.07
86.53
281.11
Arunachal Pradesh
21,555
0.46
25.74
1,558.98
Assam
241,789
5.16
308.26
775.73
Bihar
130,642
2.78
138.74
125.85
Chhattisgarh
93,965
2.00
69.51
367.91
Goa
10,627
0.23
287.06
729.01
Gujarat
156,188
3.33
79.68
258.66
Haryana
41,729
0.89
94.38
164.59
Himachal Pradesh
47,963
1.02
86.15
699.53
Jammu & Kashmir
26,980
0.57
12.14
215.00
Jharkhand
23,903
0,51
29.99
72.51
Karnataka
281,773
6.01
146.92
460.94
Kerala
201,22
4.29
517.77
602.68
Madhya Pradesh
197,293
4.21
64.01
221,76
Maharashtra
410421
8.75
133.41
365.32
Manipur
19,133
0.41
85.70
702.98
Meghalaya
11,984
0.26
53.43
404.32
Mizoram
9,810
0.21
46 53
899.13
Nagaland
34,146
0.73
205.96
1,724.02
Odisha
258,836
5.52
166.23
617.05
Punjab
84,193
1.80
167.18
303.90
Rajasthan
241,318
5.14
70.51
351.67
4.630
0.10
65.25
761.92
Tamil Nadu
192,339
4.10
147.89
266.62
Tripura
33,772
0.72
322.07
919.96
Uttar Pradesh
390,256
8.32
161.98
195.54
Uttarakhand
49,277
1.05
92.14
487.08
West Bengal
299,209
6.38
337.13
327.55
Sikkim

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Union Territories
Andaman & Nicobar Is.
1,386
0.03
16.81
364.86
Chandigarh
2,284
0.05
2,003.94
216.60
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
808
0.02
164.61
235.74
Daman & Diu
236
0.005
211.08
97.32
29,648
0.63
1,999.18
176.97
190
0.004
594.69
295.36
2,740
0.06
572.10
220.21
4,690,342
100.00
142.68
387.57
Delhi
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
INDIA
In respect of per lakh of their population the sparsely populated states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,
Mizoram, Odisha, Goa, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Sikkim and Kerala record more than 500
kms of road-length. Densely popu-lated states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana and union territory
of Delhi lie on the other side of the scale with less than 250 kms of road- length per lakh of their population.
Remaining states and union territories of the country have road-length between 250-500 km per lakh of their
population.
Surfaced Roads
Amongst the roads surfaced roads are very important which provide all-weather link between different
places and, hence, play significant role in economic development and prosperity. In India about 25.25 lakh kms
of roads belong to this category which is only 54 per cent of the total roads of the country. India has an average
of 71.23 kms of surfaced roads per 100 square kms. of its area which is much lower if compared with various
developed countries of the world (cf. Netherlands 312.38.
Japan 271.82 km, Germany 167.36 km, U.K. 146.24 km, USA 63.77 km, and Sri Lanka 62.S9 km). Due to its
large population-size the road-length per lakh of population is still lower (India 193.48 km, USA 2907 km,
France 1545 km, Germany 967 km, Japan 971 km, Sri Lanka 328 km). Amongst the states Kerala has the highest
road-length per 100 sq. km of area (283.99 km), followed by Goa, Punjab, Tripura and West Bengal. On the
.oher hand Jammu & Kashmir, records the smallest road-length (6.38 km) per 100 sq. km of area. As many as 16
states and 1 union territory has less length of surfaced roads per 100 sq. km of area than the national average
(Table 25.ni).
There are 18 states and 6 union territories which have higher length of surfaced roads per lakh of population than the national average of 193.48 km (Table 25.III). Here higher value is noticed in sparsely populated
States and union territories
Table 25.III India: Statewise Length of Surfaced Roads, 2011 (in kms)
States/UTs
Total roads (km)
Per cent of India
Per 100 sq. km
Per lakh of
of area (km)
population (km)
States
Andhra Pradesh
155,579
6.64
. 56.56
183,76
Arunachal Pradesh
14,336
0.61
17.12
1,036.59
Assam
37,816
1.62
48.2)
121.33
Bihar
57,198
2.44
60.75
55.10
Chhattisgarh
64,078
2.74
46.47
250.89
Goa
7,531
0.32
203.54
516.53
Gujarat
141,565
6.05
72.22
234.44
Haryana
37,701
1.61
85.28
148.70

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Himachal Pradesh
33,247
1.42
59.72
484.86
Jammu & Kashmir
14,178
0.60
6.38
112.98
Jharkhand
16,379
0.70
20.55
49.68
Karnataka
179,099
7.65
93.38
292.97
Kerala
110,359
4.71
283.99
330.53
Madhya Pradesh
119,921
5.12
38.90
165.18
Maharashtra
339,794
14.51
110.43
302.38
Manipur
8,140
0.35
36.45
299.04
Meghalaya
7,072
0,30
31.53
238.60
Mizoram
7,001
0.30
33.21
641.70
Nagaland
15,470
0.66
93.30
780.92
Odisha
58,719
2.51
37.71
139.98
Punjab
76,612
3.27
152.13
276.54
Rajasthan
194,979
8.33
56.97
284.14
4,119
0.18
58.05
677.47
Tamil Nadu
158,473
6.77
121.85
219.68
Tripura
14,203
0.61
135.40
386.90
Uttar Pradesh
299,209
12.78
124.19
149.92
Uttarakhand
26,664
1.14
49.86
263.56
West Bengal
115,534
4.93
130.18
126.48
Andaman & Nicobar Is.
1,156
0.05
14.01
304.21
Chandigarh
2,284
0.10
2,003.51
216.49
806
0.03
164.15
234.99
Daman & Diu
236
0.01
210.71
97.12
20,962
0.90
1,416.35
125.12
190
0.008
593.75
296.87
2,404
0.10
501.88
193.25
2,341,480
100.00
71.23
193.48
Sikkim
Delhi
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
INDIA
like Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Anraachal Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland and Mizoraaa. Deaseiy popu-lated
States like B ihar, West Bengal Uttar-Pradesh, on the other liand, are characterised by lower road- length. These
states still have a number of villages which are not connected by all-weather surfaced roads.
A better understanding on road-density may be had through the study of the percentage of villages
connected by all-weather roads. While Kerala cranes on. the top with centrpercent road connectiv-ity to all
villages of die state, about 89 per cent of the villages in Arunachal Pradesh are devoid of the facility of paved
roads. A peculiar situation is no-ticed in case of Odisha which although enjoys good road density (in respect of
road-length per 100 km2, of area and per lakh of population) but has 85 per cent of its villages unconnected by
all weather roads. On the other hand states like Punjab, Goa and Haryana have less than 4 per cent of their
villages bereft of surfaced road facility. States with hilly, desert and forested terrain like Arunachal Pradesh,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have over
75 per cent of their villages not enjoying the facility of all-weather roads. Others like Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal etc have 50-75 per cent of
their villages deprived of paved road facility.

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Classification of Roads
lie Nagpur Plan (1943) has classified Indian roads into four categories, viz., National highways, State highways, District roads, and Village roads.
1. National Highways
National Highways are those major roads whose construction and maintenance are the respon-sibility of
the Central Government. These roads with total length of 76,818 km connect the state capitals, ports and
important cities and constitute the vertibra of Indias road transport system (Fig. 25.1). Al-though these highways constitute only 3.3 per cent of the total length of surfaced roads in the country, their share in the total
roads traffic is nearly 40 per cent. A list of important National Highways is being given in table 25.IV.
Table 25IV: List of State National Highway as on 31st March 2012
A.No.
Name of State
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
National Highways No.
Total Length (in km)
4,5,7,9,16, 18,18A, 43,63, 202,205,214, 214A,

219, 221,222 & 234
4537
52,52A, 153,229, 52B Ext. & 37 Ext.
2027
31, 3 IB, 31C, 36, 37, 37A, 38, 39,44, 51,52, 52A,
52B, 53,54,61,62,151, 152, 153 & 154
4. Bihar
2940
2, 2C, 19, 28, 28A, 28B, 30, 30A, 31, 57, 57A, 77, 80, 81,
26. Sikkim
27. Tamil .Nadu
82, 83, 84, 85, 98, 99, 101. 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 & 110
4106
21
24
6, 12A, 16, 43,78, 200, 202,216,217, 111, & 221
2289
1, 2, 8, 10, 24 & 236
80
4A,_17, 17A, & 17B
2*9
NE-I,6, 8, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 14, 15, 59, 113 & 228
4032
1, 2, 8, 10, 21A, 22, 64, 65, 71, 71A, 72, 73, 73A, 71B, 236 & NE-11 1633
1A, 20, 20A, 21, 21A, 22, 70, 72, 72B, 88 & 73A
1506
1A, IB, 1C& ID
1245
2, 6, 23, 31, 32, 75, 78, 80, 98, 99 & 100
2170
4, 4A, 7, 9, 13, 17, 48, 63, 67, 206, 207, 209, 212, 218 & 234
4396
17, 47, 47A, 47C, 49,208, 212, 213 & 220
1457
3, 7, 12, 12A, 25, 26, 26A, 26B, 27, 59, 59A, 69, 69A, 75, 76, 78, 86 & 92 5064
3, 4, 4B, 4C, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, 26B, 50, 69, 204, 211 & 222
4257
39, 53, 150 & 155
1317
40, 45,51 & 62
1171
44A, 54, 54A, 54B, 150 & 154
1027
36, 39,61, 150 & 155
494
5, 5A, 6, 23, 42, 43, 60, 75, 200, 201, 203, 203A, 215, 217 & 224
3704
45 A & 66
53
1, 1A, 10, 15, 20, 21, 22, 64, 70, 71, 72 & 95
1557
3,8, 11, 11 A, 1 IB, 11C, 12, 14, 15, 65, 71B, 76, 79, 79A, 89, 90, 113,
112, 114 & 116
7130
31A
149
4, 5, 7, 7A, 45, 45A, 45B, 45C, 46, 47, 47B, 49, 66, 67, 68, 205,
28. Tripura
29. Uttarakhand
207, 208, 209, 210, 219, 220, 226, 226E,227,230 & 234
4943
44 & 44A
400
58, 72, 72A, 72B, 73, 74, 87, 94, 108, 109, 123, 119, 121,87 Ext. & 1252042
5. Chandigarh
6. Chhattisgarh
7. Delhi
8. Goa
9. Gujarat
10. Haryana
11. Himachal Pradesh
12. Jammu & Kashmir
13. Jharkhand
14. Karnataka
15. Kerala
1
6. Madhya Pradesh
17. Maharashtra
18. Manipur
19. Meghalaya
20. Mizoram
21. Nagaland
22. Odisha
23. Puducherry
24. Punjab
25. Rajasthan
30. Uttar Pradesh
2, 2A, 3, 7, 11, 12A, 19, 24, 24A, 24B, 25, 25A, 26, 27,28, 28B,
28C, 29, 56, 56A, 56B, 58, 72A, 73, 74, 75, 76, 86, 87,91, 91A, 92,
31. West Bengal
93, 96, 97, 119, 231, 232, 232A, 233, 235 & NE-II
2, 2B, 2B Ext. 6, 31, 31A, 31C, 31D, 32, 34, 35, 41, 55, 60,

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7818
60A, 80, 81 & 117

32. Andaman & Nicobar
Island
2681
223
300
Total = 7
>,818
The statewise distribution of national high-ways is very skewed. There are 9 states (Madhya Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan) in which the
percentage of national highways varies between 5.25 to 10.2. In another three states (Assam, Odisha and West
Bengaj) this percentage lies be-tween 3.49 to 4.82. These 12 states have 73% length of the national highways of
the country.
2. State Highways
State highways are constructed and maintained by the state P.W.Ds. These provide link to all major towns
and cities of the state and are the main arteries of passenger and goods movement. In 2011 the total length of
state highways was 163,898 km of which 161,920 km was surfaced (98.79%). Among the staites Maharashtra
has the longest network of state high ways folowed by Karanataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu (Table
25.V). These five states together have 57 per cent of the total state highways of the country (Table 25.V).
Table 26. V India Statewise Length of State Highways, 2011
States/UTs
Length of State Highway (km)
Per cent of the country
Andhra Pradesh
10,491
6.40
Assam
3,134
1.91
Bihar
3,989
2.43
Chhattisgafh
5,240
3.20
279
0.17
Gujarat
18,421
11.24
Haryana
2,521
1.54
Himachal Pradesh
1,626
0.99
Jammu & Kashmir
67
ao4
Karnataka .
20,770
12.67
Kerala
4,341
2.64
Madhya Pradesh
10,249
6.25
Maharashtra
32,823
20.03
Manipur
1,137
0.69
Meghalaya
1,134
0.69
Mizoram
700
0.43
Nagaland
763
0.46
Odisha
3,576
2.18
Punjab
1,477
0.90
Rajasthan
11,300
6.89
179
0.11
10,561
6.44
689
0.42
7,941
4.85
States
Goa
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh

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Uttarakhand
3,788
2.31
West Bengal
4,505
2 75
Union Territories
fJ
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
229
0.14
Puducherry
40
0.02
42
0.03
163.898
100.00
INDIA
3. District Roads
These roads mostly connect the towns and large villages with one another and with the district headquarters. Formerly most of these roads were unsurfaced and lacked bridges and culverts. But now these are being
converted into surfaced roads to improve the rural accessibility and pave the way for economic development.
The construction and main-tenance of these roads lie with Zila Parishad and the P. W.D. In 2008 these roads had
a total kilometrage of 1371,849 of which 63 per cent were in the form of PWD roads and remaining as Zila
Parishad roads.
4. Village Roads
Village roads are constructed and maintained by the village Panchayats. The category includes village
panchayat roads, CD/Panchayat Samiti roads and rural roads constructed under Jawahar Rozgar Yojna. These
roads are narrow, zig-zag and unsurfaced and are not suitable for heavy mechanised traffic. Their condition
worsens during rainy season when these are converted into muddy cess pool. Up to 31 st . March, 2008 the
country had a total length of 11,68,788 kms of such roads, which is about 38.4 per cent of the total road-length
of India. Only 34.4 per cent of these roads were surfaced. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana efforts
are being made to improve rural transport net work and provide all-weather road linkage to all villages having
a population of 500 (250 in hill, desert and tribal areas) or more.
5. Border Roads
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was set up in 1960 for the development of roads of strategic importance in the northern and north-east-ern border areas of the country. Up to March 2005 it has constructed
40,450 km of roads and 21,314 metre length of bridges. It also helps in snow clear-ance on 64 roads inhigh
altitude areas. In 1997-98
the organisation completed the construction of Zojila- Kargil and the Manali-Sarchu-Leh roads which is
the main supply line for forces stationed in Siachin Glacier region. The organisation has been entrusted with the
responsibility of maintaining the Pathankot- Jammu-Srinagar-Uri National Highway. Recently it has taken up the
task of constructing 842 km roads in naxalite-affected Gadchiroli and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra; upgrading of NH 1A from Srinagar to Uri; 9 km long Rohtang Tunnel; construction & fencing of roads along
Bangladesh border; con-structing and maintaining road in Bhutan; and the development of Tamu-KalemyoKalewa road in Myanmar. It has also taken up the responsibility of strengthening of runway of the Naval Air
Station, Goa and construction of 219 km long Deleram- Zarang road in Afghanistan.
6. International Highways
Under the agreement with the Economic and Social Commission on Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) some of the
countrys highways linking the neigh-bouring countries have been declared international highways. These are
of two types : (a) main arterial routes linking the capitals of the neighbouring coun-tries(i) Lahore-AmritsarDelhi-Agra-Kolkata- Golaghat-Imphal-Mandalay, (ii) Agra-Gwalior- Hyderabad-Bengaluru-Dhanushkodi, and (iii)
Barhi- Kathmandu; and (b) routes joining main cities, ports etc with the arterial road network(i) Agra-Mumbai
road, (ii) Delhi-Multan road, (iii) Bangalore-Chennai road, and (iv) Golaghat-Ledo road. The world Bank provides
finance for the maintenance of these roads.

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
7. Express Highways
These are multi lane well paved highways with controlled access for fast movement of goods and traffic.
Some important express highways are :
Western and Eastern express highways in Mumbai, Kolkata-Dum Dum airport highway, Sukinda- Paradwip
port highway, and Durgapur-Kolkata high-way. Their total length is 200 km. which is to be increased to 1000 km.
by 2012).
National Highway Development Project

Under the new National Highway Develop-ment Project (NHDP) efforts are being made to construct 4/6
lane 5,846 km.Golden Quadrilateral highways connecting Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai- Kolkata-Delhi-Porbanderand
7,300km. north-south and east-west corridors connecting Srinagar to Kanniyakumari and SilchartoPorbander
(Fig. 25.2). The project also provides port connectivity and construction of 1000 km. of express ways. About
99% of GQ and 15% of NS-EW works have been completed..
Problems of Road Transport

Road transport of the country is facing a number of problems. Some of these problems are discussed
below:
1.
Most of the Indian roads are unsurfaced (44.52%) and are not suitable for use of vehicular traffic. The
poor maintenance of the roads aggra-vates the problem especially in the rainy season. According to
one estimate there is about per year loss of Rs. 200 crores on the wear and tear of the vehicles due to
poor quality of roads. Even the National Highways suffer from these deficien-cies.
2.
One major problem on the IncMn roads^ . the mixing of traffic. Same rpad is used by high speed cars,
trucks, <Ss*$wheelers, tractors, animal driven carts, cyclists and even by animals. Even highways are
not free from this malady. This in-creases traffic time, congestion and pollution and road accidents.
3.
There are multiple check-posts, toll tax and octroi duties collection points on the roads which bring
down the speed of the traffic, waste time and cause irritation to transporters. Rate of road taxes vary
from state to state and inter-state permits are difficult to obtain.
4.
Way side amenities like repair shops, first aid centres, telephones, clean toilets, restaurants, rest places
are lacking along the Indian roads. There is very little attention on road safety and traffic laws are
wilfully violated.
5.
There ^ very little participation of private sector in road development in India because of long gestation
period and low-returns. The road engi-neering and construction are yet to gear themselves up to
meet the Challenges of the future.
6.
There has been no stability in policy relat-ing to highway development in the country. It has changed
with the change of government. There are a number of agencies which look after the construc-tion
and maintenance of different types of roads. Since there is no co-ordination between these agen-cies
their decisions are often conflicting and contra-dictory.
7.
There is shortage of funds for the construc-tion and maintenance -of roads. Instead of giving high
priority to thisr task the percentage allocation has decreased over the years While percentage share
of plan allocation was 6.9 per cent in the First Five Year plan it has come do wn to less than three per
cent in the Eighth Plan.

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
Development Strategies
Ever since Independence various strategies have been formulated to promote road development in the
country.
1. Nagpur Plan (1943)

This plan fixed up a target of increasing the length of major roads to 1,96,800 km and of other roads to
3,32,800 km by 1953. The plan envisaged that no village in a developed agricultural region should be more than
8 km away from a major road or 3 km away from any other road, while the average distance of villages from the
major road should be less than 3.2 km. In non-agricultural areas the re-spective distance of a village from the
major and minor road was fixed at 32.8 and 10 kms. Due to fragmentation of thecountry into a number of
princely states during pre-Independence days Nagpur Plan could not meet desired results.
2. Twenty-Year Road Plan

This Plain (also called Hyderabad Plan) for road development was initiated in 1961 for a period of 20 years
to increase the countrys road length from 6.56 lakh km to 10.60 lakh km and make national highways as twolane carriage-ways. It also aimed at bringing every village (r) in the developed agricultural area within 6.4 km of
a metalled road and 2.4 km of any other road; (ii) in a semi-devel-oped area within 12.8 km and 4.8 km respectively; and (iii) in an undeveloped or uncultivated area within 19.2 km and 8 km respectively. The Plan also
targeted to bring the road density to 32 km per 100 sq. km of area. The total estimated expenditure was Rs.
5,200 crores.
3. Rural Development Plan

This includes construction of rural roads un-der Minimum Needs Programme (MNP), Rural Lan-dless
Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP), Jawahar Rojgar Yojana (JRY), and Command Area Development
(CAD) programmes to connect all villages having a population of 1500 or more with all-weather road and those
having less than the population of 1500 with link roads.
4. Build Operate Transfer (BOT)

Under the scheme private sector has been invited to invest in road development projects. Some 18 bridges
and by-passes involving a total invest-ment of Rs. 880 crores, have been constructed or under construction on
the National Highways on a BOT, If has been decided to allercate all the sub projects in H.D.D.P Phase-Ill to
Phase-VII under BOT.
5. Central Road Fund (CRF)

The Government has imposed additional ex-cise/customs duty at the rate of Rs. 2/- per litre on petrol and
HSD to create Central Road Fund. Fifty per cent of the cess on diesel is used to improve rural connectivity
.Remaining amount will be used for the development of state roads (30 per cent), national highways (57.5 per
cent) and rail/road overbridges (12.5 percent).
6. Pradhan Mantri
This is a ccntrally sponsored scheme launched on 25 Dec. 2000 to provide road connectivity to all villages
with a population of 500 and more (pop 250 in hilly and tribal areas).
Freight and Passenger Traffic on Roads

In India die fteifht and passenger traffic car-ried on roads has menaced enormously over the years. While
in 1950-51 the road network carried about 12 per cent of the total freight traffic and 26 per cent of the passenger traffic, in 2003-04 the share in freight traffic was about 61 per cent and in passenger traffic nearly 85 per
cent! In quantity terms, the freight traffic on roads has increased from 4 billion tonne km (BTK) in 1950-51 to
380 BTK in 1996-97, and passenger traffic from 10 BPK to nearly 700 billion passenger km (BPK) during the
same period. The number of registered vehicles has also risen sharply over the decade from about 3 lakhs in
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
1950- 51 to 89.6 million in 2006.
RAIL TRANSPORT
The railways, in Indiai, provide the principal modeoftransporationforfreightandpassengers.lt brings together people from the farthest corners of the country and makes possible the conduct of busi-ness, sightseeing,
pilgrimage and education. It has been a great integrating force during the last 155years. It has also played a vital
role in the economic, industrial and social development of the country.
India had 63,974 kms of rail lines in 2009-10 provid-ing the largest railways system in Asia and second
largest in the world. With a capital investment of Rs. 28,000crore and annual revenueofRs. 80,425 crore, the
Indian railways are the largest public sector undertaking in the country providing employment to about 13.62
lakh workers. During 2009-10 railways transported 7,246million passengers and 887.8 mil-lion tonnes of goods
from one place to another. There is daily movement of about 13,500 trains passing through 7,133 stations.
Growth-Trends
The Indian railways had a modest beginning in 1853 when the journey of the first railway train commenced from Mumbai to Thane covering a dis-tance of 34 km. This was followed by the opening of another line
between Kolkata and Raniganj (180 km) in 1854 and between Chertnai (Madras) and Arkonam (70 km) in 1856.
A detailed railway devel-opment plan was chalked out under Lord Dalhousie to connect all major cities of the
country and by 1871 the three presidency towns of Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai were interlinked through
railway. The rail-way-development was very fast and by 1900 the total length of railway line increased to 39,835
km. The growth was slowed down during the next 50 years so that the total length of rail line was 53,596 km in
1950-51. Originally the railways were oper-ated by private companies owned by Britishers. In 1925 the Government of India took over the first railway company and up to 1950 die entire manage-ment came under the
hands of Government.
During the post-Independence period with the beginning of planning era new strategy was chalked out
for the development of railways. This included expansion in route length, gauge conver-sion (from narrow/
metre gauge to broad gauge), electrification of tracks, modernisation of the sys-tem to improve efficiency of
operations, conversion of steam locomotives to diesel and electric traction, improvement of signalling and
telecommunication, improvement in passenger amenities and safety, self sufficiency in rolling stock, remove
traffic bottle-neck, better management of frieight and passenger traffic, high priority to the development of
freight terminals, introducing high speed passenger trains, use of computer in railway reservation and railway
operation and expansion of railway traffic to remote and backward areas. Accordingly the route length has
increased from 53,5% km in 1950-51 to 64,460 km in 2010-11 exhibiting a growth rate of20.27 per cent during
the last 60 years. Table 25.VI shows the progress of Indian railways after 1950-51 in respect of route length,
electrification of route length, passenger and goods movement, number of locomo-tives, coaches, and wagons. A look at the table shows that the progess is slotfbut steady. Also the railway is concentrating on
modernisation including conversion of metre gauge/narrotf gauge track to broad gauge, electrification of tracks
and phasing out steam locomo-tives by diesel and electric ones. Infact the progress of . the Indian railways has
almost reached its plateau stage. That is why there has been very little increase in the route length in recent
years. Railways are now facirig stiff competition from the road transport and their share in freight and passenger traffic has declined from 89 per cent and 80 per cent in 1950-51 to 25 per cent and 18 per cent respectively
in 2005-06.
Railway Gauges
The Indian Railways operate in four different gauges(i) broad gauge (width 1.676 mtres), (ii) metre
gauge (1.000 metre), (iii) narrow gauge (0.762 metre), and (i v) lift gauge (0.610 metre). These gauges were
originally devised during the colonial days keeping in mind the volume of traffic and goods movement, importance of the places connected and the nature of terrain. The port cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai, the
gate ways for the export of raw materials and the import of manufactured goods along with the inland centre
of Lahore were inter-connected by broad gauge and constituted the basic framework of the rail system during
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
10
the British regime. The plain lying north of the Ghaghra-Ganga alignment, whole of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the
southern Indian plaiitand the state of Hyderabad came under the metre gauge rail line. Narrow gauge rail lines
were laid down in the hilly, barren and thinly populated areas of less economic importance.
Table 25.VI India : Progress of Railways
Years
Route
length (Km)
Passengers
Goods
Total
Electrified
originating
originating
(lakhs)
(lakh tonnes)
Locomotives CoachesNo.
Wagons No.
(000)
1950-51
53,596
388
12,840
930
8,209
19,628
206
1960-61
56,247
748
15,940
1,562
10,624
28,439
308
1970-71
59,787
3,706
24,311
1,965
11,158
35,145
384
1980-81
61,240
5,345
36,125
2,200
10,908
38,333
401
1990-91
62,367
9,968
38,576
3,414
8,417
38,511
346
1995-96
62,915
12,306
40,180
4,055
6,909
45.308
261
2000-01
63,028
14,856
48,327
5,042
7,566
42,657
222
2005-06
63,465
17,900
57,250
6,823
8,025
50,080
207
2006-07
63,327
17,900
62,190
7,446
8,153
51,250
208
2009-40^ ^3,974
20,227
72,458
8,922
8,889
57,535
220
76,511
9,264
9,213
59,713
229
2010-11
64,460
After Independence it was realised that dif-ferent gauges of the railways are creating prob-lems in the
movement of goods and traffic. Hence, it was decided to bring the whole railway network under single broad
gauge. Here again priority was given to first convert metre gauge trunk routes. Out of the total route length
of62,367 km in 1990- 91 55.93 per cent was under broad gauge, 37.55 per cent under metre gauge and 6.52
per cent under narrow gauge. During 2009-10 the total rail length increased to 63,974 km of which 84.81 per
cent was under broad gauge (54,257 km), 11.22 per cent (7,180 km) under metre gauge, and re-maining 3.97
per cent (2,527 km) under narrow gauge. Since the prbcess of gauge conversion is very slow owing to the
paucity of funds it will take many more years to bring the total railway system under single gauge.
Railway Traction
Prior to Independence whole of the railway network was under steam traction. Since it had poor efficiency, caused njore environmental pollution and consumed more coal it was decided to replace it by diesel
and electric tractions. Consequently, new locomotives were set up to manufcture diesel and electric engines
and electrify railway tracts. Due to concerted efforts the number of diesel locomotives increased to 4,963 in
2008-09 against 1,169 in 1970- 71 and 17 in 1950-51.
Electric traction is even better than dieselisation because it is more capital intensive, and environ-ment
friendly. It leads to speeding up the trains and intensive use of the rail way track so as to bring down the running
cost. In 1950-51 only 388 kms of route were electrified. By 1980-81 the total length of electrified route rose to
5,345 km. In 2009-10 the total electrifiedroute length was 20,059 km account-ing for 31.33 per cent of the
total route length of the railways. Similarly the number of electric locomo-tives used by the Indian railways
increased from 72 in 1950-51 to 1,036 in 1980-81 and 3,586 in 2008- 09 exhibiting about 50 times growth
during the last 58 years.

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
11
Distributional Pattern
The railway network in India is largely influ-enced by the nature of the terrain,population density and
economic structure of the region (Fig. 25.3). Ganga plain with level topography, gentle slope, high agricultural
productivity and heavy density of population have attracted higher concentration of railway network. So much
so that about half of the railway route length is found in this region (Fig. 25.3). The rich mineral deposits of the
Chotanagpur region created high demand for rail network over peneplained plateau surface. The cotton growing tract of the Deccan Peninsula with fairly high popu-lation density and the pull factor of the industrial cum
port city of Mumbai favoured rail construction despite physical constraints arising out of the West-ern Ghats.
Besides some rail lines have also been constructed for defence considerations, for adminis-trative point of view
and for promoting tourism. But the hilly areas of the north, north-east and Western Ghats together with desert
tracts of Rajasthan constitute low density areas hindering the growth of railway network (Fig. 25.3). The regional analysis of the railway network may be made through density index calculated on the basis of rail length
per 1,000 km2 of area and per lakh of population (Table 25. VII). Thus we have following density categories:
(1) High Density (> 25 km/1,000 km2 area)
This category includes Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. In certain areas the level of density is higher than 40 km.
(2) Medium Density (15-25 km/1,000 km2 area)
This cpvers the western part of the Peninsula incorporating the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. Here plateau topography (sandy desert in Rajasthan),
medium to low,population density and medium agricultural productivity are the causing factor for rail network.
Table 25.VII India : Statewise Densitv of Rail Network
States/UTs
Rail Route
Rail Route/1000
km2 of area (km)
population (km)
Andhra Pradesh
5,241
19.06
6.19
Assam
2,433
31.02
7.81
Bihar
3,568
37.89
3.44
Goa
69
18.64
4.73
Gujarat
4,999
25.50
8.28
Haryana
1,533
34.67
6.05
Hiijiachal Pradesh
296
5.32
4.31
Jammu & Kashmir
256
1.15
2.04
Karnataka
3,073
16.02
5.03
Kerala
1,050
27.02
3.14
Madhya Pradesh
4,948
16.05
6.82
Maharashtra
5,602
18.21
4.99
13 .
0.78
0.66
Odisha
2,386
15.32
5.69
Punjab
2,133
42.35
7.70
Rajasthan
5,780
16.89
8.42
Tamil Nadu
4,061
31.22
5.63
Kms (2009-10)
Rail Route/lakh
States
Nagaland

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
12
Tripura
151
14.40
4.11
Uttarakhand
345
6.45
3.41
Uttar Pradesh
8,726
36.22
4.37
West Bengal
3,890
48,83
4.26
1,186
10,403.51
112.45 .
Delhi
183
123.40
1.09
INDIA
63,974
19.46
5.29
Union Territories
Chandigarh
(3) Low Density (5-15 km/1,000 km area)

This density category includes eastern part of the Peninsular Indiacovering the states of Himanchal Pradesh,
Tripura and Uttarakhand. Here undulating topography, low population density and poor eco-nomic development have led to low density of rail-net.
(4) Very Low Density (< 5 km/ 1,000 km2 area)

This category spreads over the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland where hilly terrain is the main
restrictive factor in the expansion of railway network. The states of Sikkim, Meghalaya, and union territories of
Andaman-Nicobar islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu are devoid of rail-line. The recently constructed Konkan
railway has filled up one such negative area along the Western Coast. The Rajasthan desert (west of the Aravallis
and west of jodhpur), forested and hilly tracts of the north-east and the tribal areas of the Central India are
other such negative/low density areas.
RAILWAY MANAGEMENT
Railway management is carried through Railway Board. The entire network is divided into 16 railway
zones (Table 25.VIII) which are subdivided into divisions. These divisions are the basic operating units for the
Indian Railways.
Table 25. VIII India: Railway Zones
Zones
Date of formation
Headquarters
1.
Southern
14.4.1951
Chennai
5,098
2.
Central
5.11.1951
Mumbai (CST)
3,905
3.
Western
5.11,1951
4.
Northern
14.4.1952
New Delhi
6,968
5.
North-Eastern
14.4.1952
Gorakhpur
3,667
6.
South Eastern
01.8.1955
Kolkata
2,631
7.
Eastern
01.8.1955
Kolkata
2,414
8.
North-East Frontier
15.1.1958
9.
South-Central
2.10.1966
Secunderabad
5,803
10.
East Central
1.10.2002
Hajipur
3,608
11.
North Western
1.10.2002
Jaipur
5,459
12.
East Coast
1.4.2003
Bhubaneshwar
2,572
. 13.
North Central
1.4.2003
Allahabad
3,151
Mumbai (Churchgate) 6,182
Maligaon (Guwahati) 3,907

Route Kms.
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
13
14.
South East Central
1.4.2003
Bilaspur
2,447
15.
South, Western
1.4.2003
Hubli
3,177
Rail Traffic
Due to population growth, urbanisation, in-dustrialization and economic development there has been
phenomenal increase in the passenger and freight traffic of the railways. Passengers originat-ing had increased
from 1,284 million in 1950-51 to 7,246 million in 2009-10. Similarly goods originat-ing had increasedfrom 93million tonnesin 1950-51 to 888 milliontonnes in 2009-lO (Table 25. VI), As regards revenue earning freight
traffic during this period the increase had been This growth trend is also substantiated by the increase in the
number of railway coaches andwagons. A closer study of rail traffic highlights following characteris-tics :
1.
The density of traffic is higher on the broad gauge route than on the metre gauge route.
2.
The density of traffic is also higher on the trunk routes than the branch lines.
3.
There is much concentration of traffic, espe-cially passenger traffic, in the commuting zones of the
major metropolices like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. In some of these
areas suburban local trains cover long distances (from Kolkata to Asansol and Kharagpur, and from
Mumbai to Pune and Bhusaval) where separate tracks have been laid down to facilitate their movement.
4.
The trunk routes connecting metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi have attracted
higher flow of rail traffic. Next in importance come trunk routes joining million cities and state capitals.
5.
Highest density of passenger traffic is noticed in theCanga Plain followed by the Tamil Nadu Plain.
6.
Haora-Gaya-Mughal Sarai route shows the highest density of goods traffic. Infact there is maxi-mum
flow of freight traffic over the trunk lines falling within Mumbai-Kolkata-Delhi triangle.
7.
The rail routes passing through the mineral belts of the country exhibit high density of freight traffic.
8.
The inward flow of freight traffic to four premier metropolices in the form of raw materials and food
items is higher than outgoing manufac-tured goods. The Mumbai-Vadodara section is ex-ception to
this general trend.
9.
The tracks passing through mainly agricul-tural areas depict low freight traffic density.
10. The freight traffic composition of the rail-ways is dominated by coal (44.62 percent in 2009-10), followed
by iron ore (14.95%), cement (10,49%), ferti-lizers (4.92%), POL (4.37%), foodgrains (4.35%) etc.
11. Road transport is offering stiff competi-tion to the railways as a result of which railways share in
countrys passenger and freight traffic is gradually declining.
Effect on Indian Economy

The railways have proved beneficial for the countrys economy. It has played significant role in the development of cotton textile industry in Mumbai, jute industry near Kolkata, coal industry in Jharkhand and tea
plantations in Assam and West Bengal. In post-Independence days railways have helped in the setting of industries to backward areas.
Railways have also been very helpful to the development of Indian agriculture. Now farmers can send
their agricultural goods to distant places and sell them in world market fetching remunerative prices. Railways
also help in maintaining uniform price level for agricultural products and play vital role in mitigat-ing sufferings
during natural calamities like droughts, famines, earthquakes etc.
Railways have removed isolation between country-side and cities and have played significant role in disseminating innovations, new ideas and also removing social evils like untouchability etc. They are good means
of national integration.
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
14
Railways have helped in the easy movements of bulky gobds and perishable commodities to distant places.
Railways play significant role in running countrys administration and safeguarding its free-dom and integrity. It
facilitates easy movement of police, troops and defence equipments to different parts of the country.
Problems and Prospects

Railways are the largest public sector under-taking of the country. Hence, its problems are also varied and
complex. Some of its problems are high-lighted here.
1. Railways existing network is overburdened and inadeqate to meet the new challenges of the present
times.
2.
There are still many.areas which are be-yond the reach of railways. For removing regional inequilities
in economic growth there is a need to open up such areas to railway traffic which would need heavy
investment.
3.
Railways are facing stiff competition from road transport. In many parts of the country roads are
running parallel to the rail lines and the concept of developing road transport complementary to the
railways has yet to take concrete form in India.
4.
Railways have about 14 lakh employees on its regular pay role. About 42percentofthe total manpower
is unskilled. About 56 per cent of the working expenses go towards the payment of salaries and wages
to its employees. This impedes the development work. Rail-ways will have to find solution to this
problem so as to improve staff productivity and reduce the surplus staff.
5.
Due to political pressure and interference the railways has introduced several projects which are not
commercially viable. These are generating constant losses.
6.
Railways have huge outstandings from power stations and state electricity boards.
7.
State Electricity Boards and NTPC often increase their tariffs on elelctricity. This adds financial burden
on the electric traction. Railways are the largest consumer of diesel. The increase in its price has
adverse effect on the finances of the railways.
8.
Administration and decision making for railways are under tire hands of the Central Govern-ment in
which Railway Minister has an upper hand. This at times leads to bad decisions whose effects are
detrimental to the organisation.
9.
A number of equipments used by railways are now obsolete and need replacement. Track re-newal,
improvement in signalling, communication system and safety measures are the need of the hour.
But despite these problems and shortcomings there is no substitutes for railways because these are more
energy efficient and more economical (The Hindu Survey of Indian Industry, 1998, p. 344). There is a need to
devise new strategy for the renaissance of the rail industry by aimingforahighergrowth trajectory .Efforts
should also be made to make room for more private sector participation and depoliticise Railway Boards. It is
the need of the hour to think for granting autonomy to the Railways.
Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs)

The Railway has proposed Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor Projects on Western and Eastern Routes in
the Rail Budget of 2006-07. The Western Corridor of 1469 km will connect Jawaharlal Nehru port to Dadri and
Tughlakabad in the north. The Eastern corridor of 1232 km will connect Ludhiana to Sonnagar via Dadri and
Khurja, thus facilitating transfer from one corridor to another. The Eastern corridor will be further extended to
Kolkata region to connect the proposed deep sea port. The estimated cost of these corridors is expected to be
around Rs. 28,000 crore and it is likely to be completed in five years. The DFCs are designed to run double stack
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
15
container trains with 25 tonne axle load at a maximum speed of 100 km/hour. An SPV (Dedicated Freight
Corridor Corporation of India) has been formed to plan, con-struct, maintain and operate the project. It is
hoped that with the operation of the project there will be substantial savings in the transport cost and
improve-ment in the quality of service.
WATER TRANSPORT
Water transport is one of the oldest means of transport in India. Prior to the advent of rail and road
transports, goods and people were moved from one place to another through water transport. Since there is
almost very small cost involved in the construc-tion and maintenance of waterways this transport system is
always cheaper. Waterways are of two types : (a) Inland waterways, and (b) Sea ways or ocean ways also called
shipping.
Inland Waterways
Inland waterways refer to using inland water bodies like rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc for transporting goods and people from one place to another. India has a long historical tradition of using such waterways. The decline of river transport began with the construction of the railways during the mid-dle of the 19th
century. Later on the development of roads adversely affected the prospects of such trans-port. The diversion
of river water into irrigation canals made many of these rivers unsuitable for navi-gation. So much so that to
day its share is only one percent in the countrys transport system.
India is a land of many long and perennial rivers. But water transport is not very popular in the country.
This is mainly due to seasonal concentration of rainfall, fluctuating river regime, devastating floods during
rainy season, shifting river courses, diversion of large quantity of river water into irrigation canals, heavy silting
and formation of sandbars, undulating topogra-phy in hilly and plateau regions leading to the forma-tion of a
number of rapids, and formation of delta and diversion channels making the mouth narrower for the entry of
ships and big boats.
The country has about 14,500 km of naviga-ble waterways. Of this only a length of 5,200 km of major
rivers is navigable by mechanised crafts but the length actually utilised is only 2,000 km. (Fig. 25.4). As regards
canals, out of 4,300 km of navigation canals, only 900 km is suitable for navigation by mechanized crafts. About
50 million tonnes of cargo is annually move,d by Indland Water Transport. The most important waterways of
the country are : the Ganga Bhagirathi Hugli, the Brahmaputra river , the Barak river, the delta and lower
courses of the Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna rivers, the lower courses of the Narmada and Tapi, the Zuari
and Mandovi rivers in Goa, the Kali, Shravati and Netravati in Karnataka, the backwa-ters and lagoons in Kerala,
th6 inland waters in Mumbai, and the Buckingham Canal of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Uttar Pradesh has
the largest length of navigable inland waterways (2,441 km or 17.01 per cent) of the country followed by West
Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Bihar (Table 25.IX). The Inland Waterways Authority of India
(27.10.1986) supervises the development of inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
1. The Ganga
The Ganga river provides an important inland waterway for the-country. It is a perennial river fed by
Monsoon rains during rainy season and melting of the snow during dry summer days. On its 2,510 km length
from snow to the sea it passes through most densely populated parts of the country nurturing a number of
premier cities of north India like Hardwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Patna, Munger,
Murshidabad and Kolkata. Despite heavy diversion of water to irrigation canals its main chan-nel still maintains
a depth of more than 1 Ometres from Patna downstream. As a national water way the river has been made
navigable upto Allahabad and regular steamer service operates between Haldia and Allahabad. Some of the
tributaries of the Ganga like Yamuna, Ghaghara, Gandak, Gomati may also be utilised for navigation.

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
16
Table 25. IX India : Length of Navigable Waterways (in km.)

States
Rivers
Canals
Total
Per cent of India
Uttar Pradesh
2,268
173
2,441
17.01
West Bengal
1,555
782
2,337
16.28
309
1,690
1,993
13.89
Assam
1,983
..
1,983
13.82
Kerala
840
708
1,548 .
10.79
Bihar
937
325
1,262
8.80
Orissa
761
224
985
6.86
Karnataka
.284
160
444
3.09
Goa, Daman, Diu 317
25
342
2.38
309
2.15
Andhra Pradesh
Maharashtra
309
Gujarat
286
...
286
1.99
Tamil Nadu
. ..
216
216
1.50
...
200
1.39
4,303
14,352
100.00
Jammu & Kashmir 200

INDIA
10,049
The Hugli river is an important distributary of the Ganga in its delta course and is intensively used for river
navigation between Kolkata and Diamond Harbour. Silting and consequent decrease in the depth of water is
the main obstacle in this navigation. The Farakka Barrage Project supplies 15,000-21,000cusecs of water through
a 42-km long canal to improve flow and clear silt deposits.
2. The Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra river is navigable by steam-ers throughout the year from its mouth to Tezpur and sometimes upto Dibrugarh (1,280 km). It carries Assam oil, tea, timber and jute to Kolkata. Pandu, Jogighopa and
Dibrugarh are important river ports. Navigation is difficult in the river due to barrier effects of Bangladesh,
presence of river islands, sand banks and shoals and very strong current of the river during rainly season.
3. Peninsular Rivers
Peninsular rivers are mainly rainfed and go dry during the dry season. Hence, these are not very suitable
for navigation. Some transport is carried on
in their lower reaches where ground is flat and quantity of water is satisfactory. Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi,
Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are such rivers navigable in their lower cpurses.
The Zuari and Mandovi rivers of Goa transport iron ores, manganese and timber to Marmagao port. The
creeks of the west coast rivers like Kali, Sharavati and Netravati etc. also provide navigation facilities.
4. Canals
The Buckingham Canal (412.8 km) is.an im-portant navigation canal in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. It
runs parallel to the eastern coast joining all the coastal districts from Guntur to South Arcot. It is 315 km long
north of Chennal and 100 km south of it. Its northern part connects the Kommamur Canal of the Krishna delta,
while the southern part terminates in Marakkanum backwaters. The construction of the Vijayawada-Chennai
rail line has adversely affected the canal traffic. It is now mainly used for the trans-port of salt and fire wood to
Chennai city.
Similarly Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal (116.8 km), Son Canal (326.4km), Orissa Canal (272km),Medinipur
Canal (459.2 km), Damodar Canal (136 km) ancFWest Coast Canal (connecting major ports along the western
coast) are also used for inland navigation. Some of the irrigation canals of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are also
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
17
utilised for local transport.
National Waterways
The National Transport Policy Committee (1977) has identified 10 important waterways to declare them
as National Waterways to promote the development of inland navigation in the country. Of these the stretch of
the Ganga between Haldia and Allahabad (1,620 km) on 27. Oct. 1986, of Brahmaputra between Sadiya and
Dhubri (891 km) on 26 Oct. 1988, of the West Coast Canal between Kollam and Kottapuram (168 km) along
with the Champakara Canal (14 km) and Udyogmandal Canal (22 km) in Kerala on 1 Feb. 1993, TalcherDharmra(Brahamani 623 km., Nov. 2008) and Kakinada-Puducherry stretch of canals, BhadrachatamRajahmundry (Godavari), Wazirabad- Vijayawada (Krishna, Nov. 2008) and Lakhimpur- Bhanga (Barak) have
been declared as national wa-ter ways. The inland Waterways Authority of Indiahas. been entrusted with the
responsibility of developing these national waterways. TTie Haldia-Allahabad wa-terway has already become
operational since Oct. 13,2000.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (H. Q. Noida) has been constituted on 27 October, 1986 as a
statutory body, it is entrusted with the responsibility of development, maintenance and regu-lation of national
waterways and also to advise the Central and the slate governments on matters relat-ing to the development
of inland water transport.
Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC)

The Central Inland Water Transport Corpora-tion (CIWTC) with its headquarters at Kolkata was set up as a
public undertaking in May 1967. It is mainly engaged in the transporation of goods by Inland Water-ways in the
Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hugli, Sunderbans and the Brahmaputra rivers. It is operating regular cargo services between
Kolkata and Pandu (near Guwahati), between Kolkata and Karimganj (Assam), KolkataBangladesh and between Haldiaand Patna. The Corpo-ration owns 101 vessels and transported 189,045
MT of cargo during 2009-10.
Vision 2000
The IWAI has drawn up a plan of Vision 2000 to make an investment of about Rs. 8,000 crores over the
next 20 years for the development of inland water transport. Private sector under BOT package has been
invited to make its contribution in this respect. The role of private sector will be largely focussed on the fleet of
vessels and ware housing facilities while the Centre and states willtake up the dredging anddesilting works
besides building the barrages and terminals.
SHIPPING
India had flourishing maritime trade during ancient days. Its vessels sailed to the coasts of East Indies and
Middle East, the shipping got a set back with the arrival of European companies during the colonial rule. During
First World War, the necessity of theshipping Was realised. Accordingly, the Scindia steam Navigation Co. Ltd.
started in 1919. At the time of Independence there were 59 ships with 1.92 lakh tonnes of GRT (Gross registered tonnage).
As on 30 Sept 2010 the net operative tonnage consisted of 1031 ships totalling to 10.05 million lakh GT
and 16.57 million lakh DWT. The country has the largest merchant shipping flleet among de-veloping countries
and ranks 16th in the world in shipping tonnage.
The share of Indian shipping in the transpor-tation of cargo in the countrys overseas trade has been rising
from 6.5 per cent in 1955-56 to 31.54 per cent in 1999-00 (15.1 % in 2004-05). Indian shipping at present
constitutes only 0.95 per cent of the total world fleet and only 1.07 per cent of the world GRT. Indian ships carry
15% of the countrys Jiner cargo and about 30% its bulk cargo.

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Table 25X:Growth of Indian Shipping

Year
No.
CoastalGRT
No.
OverseasGRT
No.
TotalGRT
1947
48
119,000
11
73,000
59
192,000
1951
71
205,699
23
166,679
94
372,378
315,397
74
528,619
172
844,016
1971
75
426,488
118
1,955,512
193
2,282,000
1981
65
300,220
338
5,588,525
403
5,888,745
1991
169
560,807
246
5,378,014
415
5,938,821
2001
329
731,367
228
6,236,390
557
6967,757
2005
485
815,759
236
7,426,800
721
8,242,559
2006
526
840,719
250
7,576,774
776
8,417,493
2010
696
1009,645-
335
9,042,276
1,031
10,051,921
2013
801
1055,487
361
9,314,415
1,162
10,369,962
1960 98
Indias total overseas trade presently consists of 40.6% of dry cargo, 37.8% liquid cargo and 21.6% of
general cargo (2009-10). About 70 per cent of general cargo consists of iron ore export to Japan. For this
purpose special ore handling capacity hs been developed at Marmagao, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Paradwip
and Haldia ports.
Shipping Companies
There were 136 shipping companies in the country jn operation as on 1 April 2002. Shipping Corporation
of India, a public sector undertaking, is the biggest shipping line of the country with a merchant fleet of 75
vessels and2.9 million GT, (5.1 million DWT), operating overseas tanker and bulk- carrier services on almost all
the important routes. Its tonnage accounts are about 32 per cent of the total Indian tonnage. SCI was conferred
Navratna Sta-tus in August 2009. Major private sector shipping companies which own two lakh or more GRT
are : Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited (14.5 lakh GRT), Mercator Line Ltd. (5.67 lakh GT), Essar Shipping
(3.92 lakh GT), Chambal Fertilizer & Chemicals (3.42 lakh GT), Varun Shipping Co. (3.14 lakh GT), and Tolani
Shipping Co. (2.49 lakh GT). The Mughal Line Ltd. (2 lakh GRT) with a fleet of 16 vessels mainly carries Haj
pilgrims fromMumbai to Jeddah and back. It also operates cargo services on the Indian coast as well as to
foreign countries.
Indian ships carried 56.11 million lakh tonnes of cargo (8.1 per cent of the total overeas trade) in 200910against 39.29 million tonnes of cargo (35.60 per cent of the total overseas trade) in 1990-91. Ministry of
Shipping is planning to construct a 1300km long Mumbai-Delhi container freight rail corridor at a cost of Rs.
6400 crore.
Coastal Shipping
Coastal Shipping is an energy-efficient, envi-ronment friendly and economical mode of transport in the
inland transport network and a crucial component for development of domestic industry and trade. India has
7,517 km long coast-line studded with 13 major and 184 minor and intermediate ports providing con-genial
and favourable conditions for the development of domestic transport infrastructure. The coastal fleet of the
country consists of 696 ships with 10.09 lakh GRT on 30 Sept. 20 H). Of 83 Indian shipping companies 49 are
exclusively engaged in coastal trade and 15 in both coastal and overseas trades. To improve coastal shipping
container service has been introduced in major ports.

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Problems
The Indian shipping is confronted with a number of problems which include inadequacy of tonnage capacity, shortage of container fleet, o veraged Vessels resulting into high operating costs, stiff com-petition from
foreign shippings which provide better ind cheaper service, congestion at the major ports mid inadequeate
infrastructural support like ship repair facility, dry docking and cargo handling.
In the Eighth Plan the basic thrusts were towards the replacement of aged and uneconomic ships, diversification of the fleet through the acqui-sition of container ships and specialised carriers, achievement of selfsufficiency in tankers, and im-provement of infrastructural facilities at the ports. The SCI is planning to acquire
14 new ship at a cost Rs. 2600 crones.
The current thrust is on the LNG sector. The National Shipping Board (1958) has been set up to advise the
Central Government for the im-provement of shipping. The LBS College of Ad-vanced Maritime Studies and
Marine Engineering and Research Institute (MERT) at Kolkata and Mumbai conduct training and research courses
in shipping.
Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project

Ships sailing from eastern to western coasts of India and vice-versa have to take a long route south of Sri
Lanka which is more time consuming and expensive. This problem attracted the atten-tion of the Britishers and
A.D. Taylor of British navy in 1860 proposed a shipping canal across the Thoni-thurai peninsula which could not
material- ise. Since Independence detailed investigations were oai i ied out in the 1950s and 1960s to exam-ine
the feasibility of the project. Finally the project (Sethusamudram ShipCanal Project) was approved by the Govt,
of India in September 2004 and its foundation stone wits laid down by the Prime Minister in July 2006.
Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) is an ambitious project planned and designed, on the pattern
of the Suez Canal. It aims at constructing; a 167.22 km long navigation channel linking the Gulf of Mannar with
the Bay of Bengal through the Adams bridge (Ram Sethu), Palk Bay and Palk Strait (Fig. 25.51). The channel will
be within Indias territorial waters, parallel to but keeping safe distance from the Indo-Sri Lanka maritime boundary. Of the total length of channel (167.22 km) 89 km would be dredged channelthe first across the Adams
bridge (35 km) through the chain of islets and shallows Between India and Sri Lanka, and the second through
the shallows of the Palk Bay, deepening the Palk Strait (54 km). The Palk Bay In between the two dredged
channels has adequate natural depth.and, hence, would not require any dredging. The project would involve a
total cost of Rs. 2000 crore of which 77 percent would be spent on 82 million cubic metres of dredging. If is
estimated to be completed in 3 years.
The Channel will have an average width of 300 m and depth of 12m facilitating the movement of average
size vessels (LOA: 265m, beam : 33 m, admissible draft: 10 m). Itwill shorten the distance
of424 nautical miles(780 km).and save 30 hours of sailing time. More than 3000 ships will iransit through
the channel which would not include laden crude oil carriers. The construction work of the project has been
assigned to the Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd. in which Tuticorin Port Trust is a nodal agency.
The project is facing rough weather due to protest from Hindu orthodox, environmentalist and social
thinker. A legal case is pending before the Supreme Court of India.
Ports
There are 11 major (Fig. 25.6) and 148 minor and intermediary ports studded along the 5)700 km coastline of India.
(1) Major Ports

Mjyor ports are the direct responsibility of the Central Government. Kandla, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru
Port (Nhava Sheva), Marmagao, New Mangalore and Kochi along the west coast and Tuticorin, Chennai, Ennore,
Vishakhapatnam, Paradwip and Kolkata-Haldia along the east coast are the major ports of India (Fig. 25.6).
These ports together handled 570 million tonnes of cargo in 2010-11 (272 million tonnesin 1999-2000). Kandla,
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
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port alone handled 14.37 per cent of the total cargo, followed by Vishakapatnam (11.94%), JNPT (11.28%),
Chennai (10.78%) and Paradwip (9.83%) (Table 25.XI). Table 25.XI shows the capatity, existing (2009-10) and
future volume of traffic in these major ports.
Kandla
Located at the head of the Gulf of Kachchh and about 48 km away from Bhuj, Kandla was developed after
Independence to take up the place of Karachi (which went to Pakistan). Kandla is a natural sheltered harbour in
the Kandla creek with average depth of 10 m.The port is well linked with broad gauge rail-line and a national
highway. It has a vast hinterland of 2,56,000 sq. km. which in-cludes Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat and western parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The area is rich
in mineral resources (gypsum, lime-stone, sand, lignite, bauxite), wheat, cattle wealth and fisheries.
a multi-commodity port. Four new bertiis are being constructed in the Vasco Bay to handle con- lainer
traffic and general cargo.
New Mangalore
It is a new port developed about 9 km north of the old port. The new harbour is situated at Panambur,
north of the Gurpur river. Its main items of traffic are ium and manganese ore, fertilizers, tiles, cement, foodgrains,
salt, forest products, coffee, cashewnuts etc. The port is well linked through broad gauge rail line and NH 17
with Mumbai and Kanniy akumari. The port handled 31.55 million tonnes of cargo in 2010-11.
Kochi
Kochi is a beautiful natural port located along Kerala coast ( area of 324 km2). It is open for cargo traffic at
all times of the year. The port is located close to the Suez-Colombo route. The main wharf of the port lies in the
Willington Island. The total cargo traffic of the port was 17.87 million tonnes in 2010- 11. The main items of
exports are coir goods, copra, coconut, oil lubricants, tea, rubber, cashew kernel and sea food while petroleum,
metals, chemicals, fertiliz-ers and edible oils constitute the principal items of import. Its hinterland covers
whole of Kerala and adjoining areas of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
New Tuticorin
This new port has been developed about 8 km south-west of the old Tuticorin port. The port has an
arliIicial deep sea harbour which can receive vessels upto X m of draft at all times. It has 4 alongside berths
with total quayage of 720 m one of which is an oil mooring berth. Two new berths are being developed lor
container terminal. The port is well connected with railways and roads (NH 7A). Its principal ex-ports are tea,
cotton, cardamoms, cotton textiles, hides and skins and senna leaves etc. Similarly main items of import are
machinery, hardware, coal and fertilizers etc. During 2010-11 its total volume of cargo traffic was 25.72 million
tonnes.
Chennai
Chennai is an important port of south India witli its hinterland extending over Tamil Nadu, south Andhra
Pradesh and eastern Karnataka. It is an artificial port enclosing a sea-area of 81 hectares i).9l km x 0.76 km) and
depth of 15 m. It can accommodate upto 21 vessels inside the harbour
which has 18 quay berths, 3 oil mooring berths, mechanical ore handling docks and 16 warehouses and
10 transit sheds. The port mostly imports petro-leum, coal, edible oils, fertilizers, chemicals, ma-chinery, cotton, iron and steel and metals etc. Its main exports are iron ore, foodgrains, hides and skins, turmeric, tobacco,
mica, sugar, oil cake and timber etc. During 2010-11 its total volume of cargo traffic was 61.46 million tonnes.
Vishakhapatnam
It is one of the best natural harbors of the country. It is a well protected deep sea port which can accommodate ships of length upto 195 m and draft cf 10.2 m. It can accommodate 15 ships along-side and has special
arrangement for expeditious handling of iron ore, manganese ore and pig iron. The outer habour has an iron
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
21
ore berth jetty. The hinterland of Vishakhapatnam commands an area of 340,600 km2 in Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh-Madhy a Pradesh and Orissa which is rich in agricultural pro-duce, minerals ores and sheltering
new industries. The total cargo traffic was 68.04 millon tonnes during 2010-11. Its main imports are petroleum,
fertilizers, chemicals, machinery and metals while iron ore, timber, leather goods and foodgrains are the principal items of export.
Paradwip
Paradwip is a deep water (depth 12 m) and all- weather port at 100 km east of Cuttack. The port has the
deepest harbour in the country capable of han-dling bulk carriers of over 60,000 dwt. The port has one Iron one
berth, one general cargo berth and a mooring buoy berth. The iron ore berth is equipped with a mechanical ore
handling plant with a rated capacity of 2,500 tonnes per hoar.The port is well connected through rail lines and
roads (NH 5A) widi different parts of-Orissa. The port handled 56.03 million tonnes of cargo traffic during 2010-11.
Kolkata-Haldia
Kolkata, is one of the leading ports of the country. The port has a large hinterland which ex-tends from
Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and parts of Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The area is densely
populated and is rich in agriculturl commodities and mineral resources. The port is well connected with railways and roads. Kclkata is a truncated port. It has two dock systems, viz., the Kiddcrpore Dock and Netaji
Subhas Dock. Recently (in J 978) one ancillary port has been built at Haldia, 90 km down stream from Kolkata,
for handling the bulk cargo and to rel ieve pressure on the old port.The principal imports of the port include
petroleum, ferti-lizers, chemicals, edible oil, railway equipment and machinery. Its main exports are local, tea,
sugar, gunnies, bone and bonemeal, leather goods, bunker oil, lac, mica and scrap etc. During 2010-11 ithandled
47.43 million tonnes of cargo traffic. The port is facing the severe problem of silting which prevents llie big ships
to call on the port.
Ennore
Ennore is a satellite port 20 km away from Chennai. It is a corporate port. Its cargo traffic was 11.01
million tonnes in 2010-11.
(2) Intermediate and Minor Ports

There are 184 intermediate and minor ports in the country. The responsibility for the development and
management of these ports lies with the respec-tive state government. Of these mention may be made of
Kalingapatnahi, Bhimunipatnam, Kakinada, Machi 11 ipatnam, Ennore, Cuddalore, Nagappattinam,
Tuticorin (along the east coast); Tellicherry, Calicut!
Alappuzha, Kollam, Kozhikode, Karwar, Murud, Daman, Veraval and Porbandar etc. (along the west coast).
AIR TRANSPORT
Air transport is the most modern means of transport which is unmatched by its speed, time- saving and
long-distance operation. It is very impor-tant for a large country like India. It is very useful during the times of
war and natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, famines, epidemics, hostility and collapse of law and order.
The beginning of the air transport was made in 1911 witha 10 km air mail service between Allahabad and
Naini. The real progress was achieved in 1920 when some aerodromes were constructed and the Tata Sons Ltd.
started operating internal air services (1922). Flying clubs were opened in Delhi, Karachi, Calcutta (now Kolkata)
and Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1928. In 1933 another company Indian National Airways was constituted to
serve between Karachi and Lahore. At the time of Independence 4 compan ies were operating their air services
(Tata Sons Ltd., Indian National Airways, Air Services of India and Deccan Airways). By 1951 there were 4 new
entrants : (Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation Ltd., Air-ways India, and Kalinga Airlines). The ownership of
these airlines was taken over by the Government in 1953 and two separate corporations were set upthe Air
India to cater for the international air routes and the Indian Airlines for the domesitic services.
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
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Under bilateral Open skies agreements India has granted permission to foreign airlines from U.S.A. Europe
and ASEAN countries to operate seri vices to India. Witjiin country a number of private compa-nies have been
given permission to operate air serv-ices. These include Jet Airways, Jetlite, Paramount, Kingfisher, Go, Indi Go,
Spice Jet etc.
Air Ports
India has has a total of I2fi air ports (H> international and 77 domestic ports) (Fig. 25.7 j. -is > major
international airportsare: Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji), Kolkata (Dum Dum), Delhi (Indira Gan-dhi), Chennai
(Meenambakkam) and Thiruvananthapuram (Fig. 25.6). These airports lie on the International Air routes and
are used by Indian and foreign airliners. Here landing facilities are of international standard.
The Air port Authority of India owns and manages 94 air ports and 28 civil enclaves.
There are 22 major aerodromes at Agartala Ahmadabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Barapani, Bhubaneshwar,
Bhuj, Delhi (Safadarjung), Guwahaii. Hyderabad, Imphal, (Tulihal), Jaipur^ Khajuraho. Lucknow, Nagpur, Panagarh,
Patna, Ranchi. Tiruchchirappalli, Udaipurand Varanasi. These are also equipped with modern airserviccs and
landing facilities.
Intermediate aerodromes (22) are located ai Belgaum, Bhopal, Bhavnagar, Chakulia, Dibrugarh, Mohanbari,
Gaya, lodore, Jabalpur, Kandla, Junagadh (Keshod), North Lakhimpur(Li!abari). Port Blair. R.upui. Rajkot,
Kumbhigram (Silchar). Tirupati (Ranigunta). Vadodara, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam and Madurai. Besides there
are 43 minor aerodromes located at impor-tant cities and towns of the country where landing facilities vary
from modem to mere usurijeed airstrips lhe Ministry of Defence also maintains some aero-dromes lor use of
defence purposes. There arc 20 Flying. Clubs. 5 st.itcgo\ eminent Hying schools. (Patna.. Bangalore Bhuhancsliw.tr.
Kolkata and Jaipur) and 8 Glkling club (Ahmadah.Kl.New Delhi. Pilani. Raipur. Nashik. kanpur
AgraCanttandHyderabad) 1 RashtriyaUran Akademi (Fursatganj, Rae Bareli) in the country..
Air Services
The air services are provided by Civil Avia-tion and are managed by two public sector corpora-tions. Air
India Limited is the major international carrier of the country. It has bilateral air services agreements with 100
countries of the world and operates air services to the USA, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, East Asia, Far East
and Africa. Air India. owns a fleet of 36 aircrafts. It operates 173 flights per week serving 59 stations (43 international and 14 domestic). It has code share agreements with 12 airlines. During 2006-07 it carried 4.4 million
passengers. Besides Air India, Jet Airways, Sahara Airlines and a number of foreign companies also operate in
the country on international routes.
Indian Airlines is the major domestic air car-rier of the country (Fig. 25.6). It also provides services to 14
countries, viz., Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore, UAE, Oman,
Myanmar, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Its operations cover 73 destinations including 18 abroad. It owns a fleet
of 73 aircrafts and carried 8.57 million passengers during 2006-07. Also there are 12 scheduled airlines which
provide regular domestic air services. In addition there are 41 nonscheduled op-erators providing air-taxi/air
transport services. Pri-vate operators presently cater to nearly 60 per cent of the domestic air traffic. There has
been phenomenal increase in domestic and international air traffic in recent years. During 2010 airlines earned
51.53 mil-lion domestic (up 19%) passengers.
Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited has been pro-viding helicopter support services to the petroleum sector
including ONGC, Oil India Limited, and Hardy Exploration at Chennai. It also provides services to certain state
governments and public sector undertak-ings and in the north-eastern stales. The company presently has an
operational fleet of 32 helicopters.
Over 70 per cent of the current air traffic is handled by four major air ports : Mumbai (10.5 million), Delhi
(9.4m), Chennai (4.3m) and Kolkata (2.8m). Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmadabad, Goa and Thiru
vananthpuram each handle more than 1 million and Calicut, Pune and Guwahati each more than half million
passengers every year.
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
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Air Cargo
Air cargo is an important aspect of air serv-ices. The total cargo handled at AAI airports was 4.7 million
tonnes in 2010. Most of the important cargo consists of perishable goods (meat, fish, fruits, veg-etables, flowers etc.), readymade garments, leather goods, machinery, pharmaceuticals, gems and jew-ellery, professional
and scientific equipments. Some mail to principal cities of the country is carried by air. Chhatrapati Shivaji
(Mumbai) airport tops in handling the air cargo, followed by Indira Gandhi (Delhi), Meenambakkam (Chennai)
and Dum Dum (Kolkata).
In order to help the Indian exporters and make their exports more competitive, the Government had
introduced in April 1990 an open sky policy for cargo. Under this policy any foreign airlines or association of
exporters can bring freighters to the country for upliftment of cargo.
Problems
Air transportin the country is facing a number of problems. Air India is incurring constant losses and
frequent strikes by the employees have become irritant. The surplus staff is another problem and source of
loss.
National Aviation Co. of India Ltd. maintains a small fleet of 113 aircrafts which are insufficient and no
match to advanced airlines. Majority of these aircrafts sire old and obsolete.
There has been constant decline in the quality of air services offered by the Air India. Even its fuli capacity
is not optimally utilised.
The airlines manpower base is highest in the world. Its average is 700 employees per aircraft as compared
to 200-250 average internationally.
The airlines in India still serve the eljte class of the Indian society. Their fare is beyond the reach of middle
class and poor people.
Indian airlines are facing stiff competition from foreign airlines whose services are better in quality and
cheaper.
These airlines also suffer from mismanage-ment. Frequent strikes by pilots, employees and political interference earn bad name to airlines.
The Government has recently merged Air India and Indian Airlines. Orders have been placed to acquire
new air crafts. Efforts are being made to modernise existing air ports, construction of green land air ports at
Bengaluru and Hyderabad and new air port at Navi Mumhui.
TRANSPORT PLANNING
Foregoing analysis leads us to conclude that there is lack of proper co-ordination between different modes
of transport in the country. There are several areas in the country which are devoid of modern means of transport. Many viliages of the country are still not linked by all-weather roads There exists neck to neck ompetition
between railways and roads. Very little efforts have been made to develop water transport. Country has to
spend huge sum to pay shipping freight. Air travel is costlier, and confined to big cities only. Above description
emphasizes for chalking ouhi com-prehensive transport policy for the country. Following viewpoints are worthy of consideration in formulting such policies :
Transport plan should he prepared taking into consideration the geographical conditions of the country.
For example, roads and railways are popu-lar means of transport in plain areas but in hilly and mountainous
areas road and air transport can help in removing the inaccessibility.
A comprehensive transport plan should be chalked out to promote complementarity and integration
amongst different means of transport. While railways should be developed for long distance bulk traffic, roads
should be laid down complementary to former short range traffic of diverse origin and door to door service.
09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363
24
Similarly, inland waterways should be used for trans-porting heavy and bulky goods. It may also be devel-oped
in those areas where road-rail transports are not developed.
The entire railway transport should be brought to single broad gauge to avoid transport bottleneck and
transhipment. Efforts should be made to increase railway revenues.
The road transport needs greater planning for improving its efficiency and performance. Road network
should be extended to inaccessible areas inhabited bv tribals.
While preparing future plans for transport development long-term perspective should be kept m mind.
While railways should be developed to reduce pressure on road transport air services may be augmented to
lessen burden on rail routes. Inter-city transport should be rationalised on the basis of actual travel times. This
needs improvement in railway tracks and introduction of high-speed trains.
There is a need for train-plane inter modality so as to install railway stations inside the passenger terminals
at airports and make room for easy transfer of passengers and freight from plane to rail and vice- versa.
Disparities in road management and taxation should be removed to introduce similar tariff and taxation
system throughout the country.
There is a need for greater attention of the development of water transport which is cheaper and cost
effective. The existing infrastructure for the transport sector should be optimally utilized through better management. The upgradation of the technology should be promoted. Another important aspect of the transport
plan-ning is related to diversification and technological upgradation .
There should be greater involvement of the private sector in transport development. This will attract
more capital for transport upgradation and improve the working of transport services.
INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMME

Indias space programme started in 1950 with the formation of the Deptt. of Atomic Energy but it got
momentum in 1962 when the Indian National Committee for Space Research was founded under the chairmanship of Vikram Sarabhai. The Indian Space Research Organisation was formed in 1969 and was followed by
the creation of the Space Commission and the Department of Space in 1972. Indias space programme is for
peaceful purposes and its prime objective is to develop space technol-ogy and its application to various national tasks. Geopolitical and economic considerations during the 1960s and 1970s compelled India to intiate
its own launch vehicle programme. During the first phase (1960s-1970s) the sounding rockets programme was
successful which yielded place to satellite launch vehicle (SLV) programme during 1980s. This was followed by
augmented satellite launch vehicle (1987), polar sattelite launch vehicle (1993), and geosynchronous satellite
launch vehicic (2001). ISRO is currently developing GSLV Mark-Ill to launch I leavy satellites into geostationary
orbit whose maiden llight is scheduled to take place in 2010.
Indian National Satellite System (INSAT)

The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest communication satellite systems in the
Asia-Pacific Region. It is a joint venture of the Deptt. of Space (DOS), Deptt. of Telecommunication, Indian
Meteorological Deptt., All India Radio and Doordarshan. India first satel-lite Aryabhata was launched by the
Soviets in 1975. Since then 21 satellites have been launched under the INSAT scries in which 11 arc presently in
service. These include INSAT 2E, 3A, 3B. 3C, 3E, 4A, Kulpana 1, GSAT-2 and EDUSAT. The system provides a total
ofmhre lhan 210 transponders in the C, Extended C and Ku-hands which help in telecom-munication, television
broadcasting, weather lore- casting, disatcr warning and search and rescue fields. Similarly Indian Remote Sensing
(IRS) Satellite System consists of K) satellites which provide imageries with resolutions lro in 1 to 180 m.
Chandrayaan Mission
Indias first mission beyond earth orbii was Chandrayaan-1. a lunar spacecraft which success-fully entered
the lunar orbit on Nov. 8, 2008 and conducted survey of lunar surface. This will follow Chandrayaan-2,
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25
unmanned missions to Mars and Near Earth objects and finally manned space craft to moon in 2020. Indias
space programme is eco-nomical and competitive and can letch alot of foreign exchange by launching salielilcs
of other countries.

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26

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TRANSPORT SYSTEM

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

Total roads (km)

Per cent of India

Per 100 sq. km

Jammu & Kashmir

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

Dadra & Nagar Haveli

Daman & Diu

Total roads (km)

Per cent of India

Per 100 sq. km

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

Jammu & Kashmir

Andaman & Nicobar Is.

Dadra & Nagar Haveli

Daman & Diu

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

National Highways No.

Total Length (in km)

4,5,7,9,16, 18,18A, 43,63, 202,205,214, 214A,

52,52A, 153,229, 52B Ext. & 37 Ext.

30. Uttar Pradesh

31. West Bengal

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

60A, 80, 81 & 117

Length of State Highway (km)

Per cent of the country

Jammu & Kashmir

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Dadra & Nagar Haveli

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

National Highway Development Project

Problems of Road Transport

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

1. Nagpur Plan (1943)

2. Twenty-Year Road Plan

3. Rural Development Plan

4. Build Operate Transfer (BOT)

5. Central Road Fund (CRF)

Freight and Passenger Traffic on Roads

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

1950- 51 to 89.6 million in 2006.

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

km2 of area (km)

Jammu & Kashmir

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363

(3) Low Density (5-15 km/1,000 km area)

(4) Very Low Density (< 5 km/ 1,000 km2 area)

Mumbai (Churchgate) 6,182

Maligaon (Guwahati) 3,907

An Institute for Civil Service Examination

09718797399, 09718793163, 09718793363