Page 247 - DECO502_INDIAN_ECONOMIC_POLICY_ENGLISH

Unit 19: Sectoral Performance II: Role of Infrastructure in Economic Development

Self -Assessment Notes
1. Choose the correct option:
(i) The Keynesian theory of employment provides the solution of?
(a) Frictional unemployment (b) Disguised unemployment
(c) Cyclical unemployment (d) Seasonal unemployment
(ii) The concept of disinvestment was introduced by?
(a) Friedman (b) Kaldor
(c) Keynes (d) Myrdal
(iii) Full employment is a situation when?
(a) Cyclical unemployment is zero (b) Frictional unemployment is zero
(c) Seasonal unemployment is zero (d) Disguised unemployment is zero
(iv) The coal production including lignites rose from 32 million tones to ---------between 1951
and 2010:
(a) 566 million tones (b) 400 million tones
(c) 800 million tones (d) None of these
19.7 Summary

• The prosperity of a country depends directly upon the development of agriculture and industry.
Agriculture production, however, requires irrigation, power, credit, transport facilities, etc.
• In the last 200 years or more industrial and agricultural revolutions in England and other
countries were accompanied, by a revolution transport and communications, the extensive use
of cargo and later oil as source of energy, tremendous expansion in banking, insurance and
other financial institute to finance production and trade, an explosion knowledge of science
and technology, and so on.
• Indian planners were fully aware of the link between infrastructural facilities and general
economic development and, accordingly, they gave high priority the rapid expansion of these
facilities right from the First plan itself.
• The most important single factor which can act as a constraint on economic growth of a country
is the availability of energy. India is both a major energy producer and consumer. Currently,
India ranks as the world’s seventh largest energy producer and fifth largest energy consumer.
• Broadly, there are two sources of energy, viz., commercial energy and non-commercial energy.
Commercial energy, or more correctly, commercial sources of energy, consist of coal, petroleum
and electricity.
• The Government has also launched a scheme for utilisation of agricultural biomass available at
Taluka level for decentralised power generation to meet the power requirements of the people
locally.
• The Government of India has announced various policy measures to encourage direct foreign
investments and collaborations. NRIs particularly are taking up projects such as wind, farms
and solar plants in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and
Kerala, totalling an aggregate capacity of 450 MW.
• National Bio-Fuel Board is being set up to promote the use of bio-fuels. The short term target is
to encourage jatropa farming, suitable adoption of vehicle engines to use bio-fuels along with
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minimal oil and target bio-fuel consumption to 20 percent by the end of the 12 Plan (i.e. by the
Year 2017).
• Electric power, which is one form of energy, is an essential ingredient of economic development
and, it is required for commercial and non-commercial uses. Commercial uses of power refer to
the use of electric power in industry, agriculture and transport.

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