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A well-knit and coordinated system of transport plays an important role in the sustained economic growth of a country. The transport system of India comprises various modes of transport including rail, road, coastal shipping, air transport etc.
What is the importance of the Transport Sector of India?
The transport sector plays a crucial role in any economy for several reasons:
1) Facilitating Trade and Commerce: It enables the movement of goods and services from production centers to markets, both domestically and internationally. Efficient transportation networks reduce costs, improve accessibility, and foster economic growth by connecting producers to consumers.
2) Employment Generation: The transport sector creates jobs directly in areas like logistics, driving, maintenance, and indirectly in supporting industries such as manufacturing (vehicle production), etc.
3) Boosting Productivity: Efficient transportation systems reduce transit times, enabling quicker delivery of goods and services. This leads to improved productivity across various sectors, allowing businesses to operate more effectively.
4) Connectivity and Accessibility: Transportation networks connect remote areas to urban centers, providing access to essential services, markets, and opportunities. This connectivity helps bridge economic disparities and encourages regional development.
5) Supporting Tourism and Travel: A robust transport system encourages tourism and travel, which contributes significantly to economic growth through spending in accommodation, food services, entertainment, and other related industries.
6) Global Competitiveness: Countries with efficient transport systems can compete better in international markets by offering quicker and more cost-effective transportation of goods, thus enhancing their global competitiveness.
Overall, the transport sector serves as a critical backbone of economic activity, influencing various aspects of trade, productivity, employment, and development within a nation and across borders.
Roadways
India has about 62.16 lakh km of road network, which is the second largest in the world. This sector’s development rests on the following departments and schemes: 1) Bharatmala Pariyojana: Developing road connectivity to border areas, development of coastal roads including road connectivity for non-major ports, improvement in the efficiency of national corridors, development of economic corridors, inter corridors, and feeder routes, along with integration with Sagarmala, etc., is envisaged under it. 2) Green National Highways Corridor Project: Its objectives include: to evolve a policy framework for plantation along national highways; to reduce the impact of air pollution and dust as trees and shrubs are known to be natural sinks for air pollutants; to reduce the impact of ever increasing noise pollution caused due to increase in the number of vehicles; to arrest soil erosion at the embankment slopes; etc. 3) National Highways Authority of India: It was set up under the NHAI Act, 1988. It has been entrusted with National Highways Development Project (NHDP), which includes development, maintenance and management of 50,329 km of national highways. 4) PM GatiShakti Plan: PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity, 2021 is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 ministries, including Railways and Roadways together, for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another. 5) e-Tolling National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC ) programme has been implemented on pan-India basis in order to ensure seamless movement of traffic through fee plazas and increase transparency in collection of user fee using FASTag. |
Railways
The Railways provide the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers. Indian Railways have grown into a vast network of 7,308 stations spread over a route length of 68,043 km. It has played a vital role in the economic, industrial and social development of the country. About 78.46% of total track kilometer is electrified. This sector’s development rests on the following departments and schemes: 1) Research and Development: The Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) is the R&D wing of Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant in technical matters. 2) Vande Bharat Express: The Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high-speed, electric multipleunit train operated by Indian Railways. It began its operations in 2019 when the first of its kind was flagged off between New Delhi-Kanpur-Prayagraj-Varanasi route. By September 2023, 50 Vande Bharat trains were running across the country. |
Shipping
Maritime Transport is a critical infrastructure for the economic development of a country. India has a long coastline of about 7,517 km, spread on the western and eastern shelves of the mainland and also along the Islands. It is an important natural resource for the country’s trade. There are 12 major ports and about 200 non-major ports. Indian shipping industry has over the years played a crucial role in the transport sector of the economy. Approximately 95% of the country’s trade by volume and 68% by value is moved through maritime transport. Of the total traffic handled by all Indian ports, 55% is handled by major ports and 45 by others. This sector’s development rests on the following departments and schemes: 1) Sagarmala Programme: Government has embarked on the ambitious Sagarmala Programme to promote port-led development in the country. The vision of the Programme is to reduce logistics cost of EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment. The objectives of the Programme include: port modernisation, new port development, port connectivity, coastal community development, etc. 2) Inland Water Transport: India has about 14,500 km long navigable inland waterway network. Inland Water Transport (IWT) is a fuel-efficient, environment-friendly and cost-effective and lower carbon footprint mode of transport. However, cargo transport through it is, presently less than 2% of the total cargo movement in the country. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) was set up in 1986 for regulation and development of inland waterways for the purposes of shipping and navigation in the country. To promote IWT, Government declared 111 (including 5 existing and 106 new) National Waterways (NWs) spread over 24 states under the National Waterways Act, 2016, to promote inland water transport in the country. Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) is being implemented by the IWAI for the capacity augmentation of National Waterway I on the Haldia–Varanasi stretch of Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system. |
Civil Aviation
Air transport is one of those sectors which prominently influence economy and employment generation through its direct and catalytic multiplier effects. This sector’s development rests on the following departments and schemes: 1) Regional Connectivity Scheme: The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) was envisaged in National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016. The primary objective of RCS-UDAN is to facilitate/ stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable to masses through measures such as concessions by the central government, state governments/UT administrations and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes; and Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to meet the gap, if any, between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such routes. 2) Airports Authority of India: Constituted under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994. The primary responsibility of AAI is administration and cohesive management of airports and of all aeronautical communication stations for the purposes of establishing or assisting in the establishment of airports and for connected. 3) Airports Economic Regulatory Authority: As an independent economic regulator, AERA aims to create level playing field, foster healthy competition amongst all major airports, to encourage investment in airport facilities and regulate tariffs for aeronautical services. 4) International Connectivity: India operates a wide ranging network of international flights and currently has Air Services Agreement with 116 countries. India presently provides direct connectivity to more than 52 countries, whereas, connects more than 100 countries through indirect routes. 5) Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel DigiYatra policy is an initiative launched by Ministry of Civil Aviation for providing passengers seamless and hassle-free experience at airports without the need for verification of ticket and ID at multiple touch points. It envisages contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology. 6) Krishi Udan 2.0: The Scheme aims to ensure seamless, cost-effective, time bound, air transportation and associated logistics for all agri-produce originating especially from North-East, hilly and tribal regions of the country. |
