Page 249 - DECO502_INDIAN_ECONOMIC_POLICY_ENGLISH

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

• Inland water transport (IWT) comprising a variety of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks etc. is the Notes
cheapest mode for certain kinds of traffic, both over long and short levels, provided the points of
origin and destination are located on water front and no transhipment of goods is involved.
• Before Independence, Indian shipping companies did not succeed because of severe competition
from foreign shipping companies and lack of support by the foreign rulers in india. It was only
the Scindia Steam Navigation Company which could face foreign competition.
• Air transport has a significant role to play. It offers saving in time that cannot be matched by
surface transport over long distances. Air transport helps optimise technological, managerial
and administrative skills in a resource scarce economy.
• The Government of India has selected two joint venture companies (JVCs) to modernize, upgrade
and operate Delhi and Mumbai airports. This step to restructure and modernize the Mumbai
and Delhi airports through the joint venture route has been taken despite stringent opposition
from the left parties.
• The Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Plans have kept certain important considerations while planning
for investment in civil aviation. In the first place, they have planned for rationalisation of air
services and of tank structure.
• The communication system comprises posts and telegraphs, telecommunication systems,
broadcasting, television and information services. By providing necessary information about
the markets and also supplying necessary motivation, the communication system helps to bring
buyers and sellers together effectively and helps to accelerate the growth of the economy.
• Indian telegraphs is one of the oldest Government-owned public utility organisations in the
world. The number of telegraphs offices has increased from 8,200 in 1951 to over 30,000 now.
• The Government introduced the Communication Convergence Bill, 2001 in Parliament, with
the purpose of promoting and facilitating the carriage and content of communications (including
broadcasting, telecommunications and multimedia) in an orderly manner.
• Urban infrastructure includes water supply and sanitation which are important basic needs for
improvement of the quality of life and enhancement of the productive efficiency of citizens.
• Given the need of mega infrastructure required, public sector cannot cope with the need of the
hour. Though the Government has been emphasizing the importance of infrastructure for the
development of the economy, we witness a cut back in the investment by the government in the
infrastructure, both at the central and state level.
• The Planning Commission has openly accepted the fact that lack of infrastructure is a major
constraint in India’s economic performance.
• During recent years, the UPA Government at the Centre has adopted such an approach in the
construction of roads, ports, airports and in railways. Naturally, the people would expect state
governments too to adopt similarly transparent approach to ensure that the private projects succeed.
19.8 Key-Words

1. Infrastructure : The term infrastructure has been used since 1927 to refer collectively
to the roads, bridges, rail lines, and similar public works that are
required for an industrial economy, or a portion of it, to function. The
term also has had specific application to the permanent military
installations necessary for the defense of a country. Perhaps because
of the word's technical sound, people now use infrastructure to refer
to any substructure or underlying system. Big corporations are said
to have their own financial infrastructure of smaller businesses, for
example, and political organizations to have their infrastructure of
groups, committees, and admirers. The latter sense may have
originated during the Vietnam War in the use of the word by military
intelligence officers, whose task it was to delineate the structure of

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