India Transportation , transport

Transportation in India is a large and varied sector of the economy. Modes of conveyance for transport of goods in India range from people's heads (on which loads are balanced) and bicycle rickshaws to trucks and railroad cars. The national railroad was the major freight hauler at independence, but road transport in India grew rapidly after 1947. Both rail and road transport remain important.

The share of India's transportation investments in total public investment declined during the period from the early 1950s to the early 1980s; real public transportation investment also declined during much of that period because of the need for funds in the rest of the economy. As a consequence, by the early 1980s the transportation system in India was barely meeting the needs of the nation or preparing for future economic growth.

Many roads, for example, were breaking up because of overuse and lack of maintenance; railroads required new track and rolling stock. Ports needed equipment and facilities, particularly for bulk and container cargo; and at many airports the national civil airlines needed supporting equipment, including provision for instrument landings. The government planned to devote 19 percent of the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1992-96) budget to transportation and communications, up from the 16 percent devoted to the sector during the seventh plan.

Although there is a large private-sector involvement in transportation in India, the government plays a large regulatory and developmental role. The central government has ministries to handle civil aviation, railroads, and surface transportation. Counterpart agencies are found at the state and union territory level. Critical to improving the entire transportation sector in the late 1990s is the ability of the sector to adjust to the central government's national reform initiatives, including privatization, deregulation, and reduced subsidies. The sector must also adjust to foreign trade expansion, demographic pressures and increasing urbanization, technological change and obsolescence, energy availability, and environmental and public safety concerns.