Infrastructure


Infrastructure of the Indian economy plays a major role in the growth and development of the country. India, being the world's largest democracy, is the seventh largest country in terms of land area with the land area and the second most populous country in the world. The Infrastructure of India concentrates on transportation, banking and finance, telecom, energy resources, mining, and urban infrastructure. The Infrastructure requires investments for further development which can be achieved through either public investment or public-private-partnerships (PPPs) or exclusive private investments in some sectors.

Transportation Infrastructure:

For the sustained economic growth of a country, a well-connected and efficient transport system is needed. India has a good network of rail, road, coastal shipping, and air transport. The total length of roads in India being over 30 lakh km, India has one of the largest road networks in the world. In terms of railroads, India has a broad network of railroad lines, the largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. The total rail route length is about 63,000 km and of this 13,000 km is electrified. The major Indian ports including Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, and Goa handle about 90% of sea- borne trade and are visited by cargo carriers and passenger liners from all parts of the world. A comprehensive network of air routes connects the major cities and towns of the country, with the domestic air services being looked after by Indian Airlines and private airlines, while the international airport service is looked after by Air India.

Banking and Finance Infrastructure:

Banking and Finance is another important section of the core infrastructure of India, comprising of 84 scheduled commercial banks, 133 regional rural banks (RRBs), and four local area banks (LABs) apart from more than 13,000 non-banking financial companies, credit societies, and co-operatives.

Other than these, Indian Infrastructure has developed a lot over the years in the other sectors like Indian telecom network with their fully automatic International Subscriber Dialing (ISD) service available for better communication. Regarding international communications, progress has been made by the use of satellite communication and submarine links.

However there is still a long way to go in the development of the Infrastructure of the country, considering the serious impediments like population pressure, deterioration in the physical environment, and quality of life. The widening gap between demand and supply of essential services and Infrastructure is needed to be bridged in order to build a developed economy.