Transportation MixIn Economy

Deepak Punjabi (74)Hardeep Singh (101)

Transportation

• It is the movement of people and goods from one location to another.

• Transport in the Republic of India is an important part of the nation's economy.

• Since the economic liberalisation of the 1990s, development of infrastructure within the country has progressed at a rapid pace, and today there is a wide variety of modes of transport.

Transportation Mix

• Air• Road• Rail• Water• Pipeline

Air• Rapid economic growth in India has

made air travel more affordable. • Air India, India's flag carrier, presently

operates a fleet of 159 aircraft and plays a major role in connecting India with the rest of the world.

• India's vast unutilised air transport network has attracted several investments in the Indian air industry in the past few years.

• More than half a dozen low-cost carriers entered the Indian market in 2004-05. Major new entrants include Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, GoAir, Paramount Airways and IndiGo Airlines.

Road• India has a network of National

Highways connecting all the major cities and state capitals, forming the economic backbone of the country.

• As per the National Highways Authority of India, about 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads.

• Indian road network is the third largest road network in the world.

• To improve rural connectivity, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Prime Minister's Rural Road Program), a project funded by the Central Government with the help of World Bank, was launched in 2000 to build all-weather roads

Type of Road Length

Expressways 200 km (120 mi)

National Highways 66,590 km (41,380 mi)

State Highways 131,899 km (81,958 mi)

Major District Roads

467,763 km (290,654 mi)

Rural and Other Roads

2,650,000 km (1,650,000 mi)

Total Length3,300,000 km (2,050,000 mi)

(Approx)

Rail• Indian Railways provides an important

mode of transport in India, transporting over 18 million passengers and more than 2 million tonnes of freight daily across one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world.

• The rail network traverses through the length and breadth of the country, covering 6,909 stations over a total route length of around 63,465 km (39,435 mi).

• It is the world's largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.4 million employees.

• IR owns over 200,000 (freight) wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives.

Water• Maritime transportation in India is

managed by the Shipping Corporation of India, a government-owned company that also manages offshore and other marine transport infrastructure in the country.

• It owns and operates about 35% of Indian tonnage and operates in practically all areas of shipping business servicing both national and international trades.

• The ports are the main centres of trade. In India about 95% of the foreign trade by quantity and 70% by value takes place through the ports.

• There are twelve major ports: Kolkata, Paradip, Vishakapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Kochi, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Kandla.

National WaterwaysNational Waterway 1 - Allahabad - Haldia stretch of the Ganga - Bhagirathi - Hooghly river system with a total length of 1,620 kilometres (1,010 mi) in October 1986.National Waterway 2 - Saidiya - Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river system with a total length of 891 kilometres (554 mi) in 1988.

National Waterway 3 - Kollam - Kottapuram stretch of the West Coast Canal along with Champakara and Udyogmandal canals, with a total length of 205 kilometres (127 mi) in 1993.National Waterway 4 - Bhadrachalam - Rajahmundry and Wazirabad - Vijaywada stretch of the Krishna - Godavari river system along with the Kakinada -Puducherry canal network, with a total length of 1,095 km (680 mi) in 2007.National Waterway 5 - Mangalgadi - Paradeep and Talcher - Dhamara stretch of the Mahanadi - Brahmani river system along with the East Coast Canal, with a total length of 623 km (387 mi) in 2007.

Pipeline

• As on 2008:• Length of pipelines for

crude oil is 20,000 km (12,427 mi).

• Length of Petroleum products pipeline is 268 km (167 mi).

• Length of Natural gas pipelines is 1,700 km (1,056 mi).