Transport in India

Transport in India

Transport in India
⇒ The present transport system of the country comprises several modes of transport including rail, road, coastal shipping, air transport etc.
⇒ The share of transport sector in the GVA for 2017-18 was about 4.77% of which the share of road transport is the largest at 3.06%, followed by the Railways (0.75%), air transport (0.15%) and water transport (0.06%).
Road Transport
⇒ According to Economic Survey of India 2021-22 the total road length of the country increased from 3.99 lakh kms on 31st March, 1951 to over 63.71 (provisional) lakh kms as on 31st March, 2021.
National Highways
⇒ The total length of National Highways/Expressways (as on 31.03.2021) is 1.36 lakh kms. National Highways are constructed and maintained by the central government.
⇒ According to NHAI the National Highways constitute only 1.7% of the road network, but carry about 40% of the total road traffic of India. [Source: INDIA 2022]
⇒ The development and maintenance of the National Highways system is carried out through three agencies-1. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 2. State Public Works Departments (PWDs) and 3. Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
⇒ In order to give boost to the economic development of the country, the government has embarked upon a massive National Highways Development Project (NHDP) in the country.
⇒ The NHDP is the largest highway project everundertaken in the country. The NHDP is being implemented mainly by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Bharatmala Pariyojana 
The Bharatmala Pariyojana envisages development of about 26,000 km length of economic corridors, which along with Golden Qudrilateral (GQ) and North-South and East-West (NS-SW) Carridors are expected to carry majority of the freight traffic on roads. Further, about 8,000 km of inter corridors and about 7,500 km of feeder routes have been identified for improving effectiveness of economic corridors, GQ and NS-EW corridors. [Source: INDIA 2022]
⇒ According to the last update of MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) –
* Average road density of India-148 km per 100 sq. Kms.
* Average road length per lakh population (census 2011) 402.03 Kms.
* The length of NHs per 1000 sq. Kms of area-30.4 Kms and the length of NHs per lakh population-8.3 Kms.
* U.P. has the largest share 8483.00 Kms (8.47%) of the total length of NHs 1,00,087.08 Kms, followed by Rajasthan 7906.2 Kms (7.89 %) , Maharashtra 7434.79 Kms. (7.42%), Karnataka 6502.29 Kms (6.49%) and Andhra Pradesh 5231.74 Kms (5.22%). These five states accounted for about 35.5% of the total road length of NHS.
⇒ As on 31.3.2018, India had a road network of about 59.64 lakh km. The total length of National Highways was 1.32 lakh km as on March 1, 2019.
⇒ The pace at which roads have been constructed has grown significantly from 17 kms per day in 2015-16 to 29.7 kms per day in 2018-19. However, the pace seems to have moderated in 2019-20.
⇒ Total investment in the Roads and Highway sector has gone up more than three times in five year period of [Source: ES 2019-20] 2014-15 to 2018-19.
⇒ According to NHAI about 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads.
Longest National Highway (NH)
⇒ The longest NH in India is 3,745 km long NH-44 it Earlier (Srinagar-Kanyakumari). (Varanasi-Kanyakumari : 2369 km). The new NH-44 is the combination of NH-1A, 1,2,3,7,26 and NH-75. It passes through the UT of J & K and 10 states Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP, MP, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
⇒ The longest East-West stretch is the new NH 27, from Silchar (Assam) to Porbandar (Gujarat). NH 27, the second longest national highways in India (3,507 km long), is considered as the economical pulse of the country. It connects 7 states and 47 cities on a single stretch.
Bhupen Hazarika Setu
⇒ The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, also referred to as the Bhupen Hazarika Setu, is a beam bridge in India, connecting the northeast states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The bridge spans the Lohit River, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra River, from the village of Dhola in the south to Sadiya to the north.
Setu Bharatam Programme
Launched in 2016, the Setu Bharatam Programme (for building bridges for safe and seamless travel on national highways) is to make all national highways free of railway level crossings, by building Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Road Under Bridges (RUBs). [Source: INDIA 2021].
Green National Highways Corridor Project
⇒ The Green National Highways Corridor Project (GNHCP) was launched in 2016. The project includes upgradation of about 781 km of various national highways passing through Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. It was launched under the Green Highways Policy that was unveiled in 2015 to actualise the vision of developing eco-friendly and green national highways.
⇒ The objectives of the project include: to evolve a policy framework for plantation along national highways; to reduce the impact of air pollution and dust as trees and shrubs are known to be natural sink for air pollutants; to reduce the impact of ever increasing noise pollution caused due to increase in number of vehicles; to arrest soil erosion at the embankment slopes; etc. The project is being run with World Bank aid [Source: INDIA 2022]
One Nation One FASTag Scheme 
“One Nation One FASTag” scheme aims to integrate the collection of toll digitally and ensure seamless mobility of vehicles across India. The scheme has been implemented from December. 1, 2019, and can be availed upon activation by new cars having Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on national and state highways throughout the country.
FASTags are stickers that are affixed to the windscreen of vehicles and use RFID technology to enable digital, contactless payment of tolls without having to stop at toll The tags are linked to bank accounts and payment gates. methods.
A FASTag is valid for five years and needs to be recharged only as per requirement. 
Border Roads
⇒ State Highways and other roads are constructed and maintained by the state government.
⇒ Roads on the borders are constructed and maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
⇒ BRO was established in May 1960. BRO is a premier construction agency for the construction of roads airfields, bridges, buildings, hospitals and schools.
⇒ The BRO, through ‘Project Dantak’ is constructing and maintaining a large road infrastructure and executing other prestigious projects in Bhutan.
⇒ The BRO is doing highly commendable jobs of construction and maintenance in Myanmar and Afghanistan too.
Rail Transport
⇒ The Indian Railways have been a great integrating force for more than 169 years.
⇒ From a very modest beginning in 1853, Indian Railways have grown into a vast network of 7,325 stations spread over a route-length of 67,956 km. with a fleet of 12,729 locomotives, 67,956 passenger service vehicles, 6,372 other coaching vehicles and 2,93,077 wagons.
⇒ About 57.87% of the route kilometre, 67.97% of running track kilometer and 68.25% of total track kilometre is electrified. [Source: INDIA 2022]
⇒ Indian Railway network is the largest in Asia and world’s third largest under one management.
⇒ The first rail in India started on April 16, 1853 between Bori Bunder, Mumbai and Thane (34 kms or 21 miles).
⇒ Indian Railway Board was established in March, 1905.
Deccan Queen: The train was introduced on 1st June, 1930 to run between Pune and Mumbai. It has celebrated its 90th birthday in 2020.
Railways
⇒ According to Economic Survey 2021-22, being the third largest network in the world under single management and with over 68,102 route kms Indian Railways (IR) strives to provide safe, efficient, competitive and world class transport system.
⇒ An average of 1835 track km per year of new track length has been added through new-line and mutitracking projects, during2014-2021 as compared to the average of 720 track kms per day during 2009-14. IR is also adopting indigenous new technology such as KAVACH, Vande Bharat trains and redevelopment of stations to have safe and better journey experience.
⇒ During FY21, IR carried 1.23 billion tonnes of freight and 1.25 billion passengers. In addition, despite COVID-19 pandemic revenue earning freight loading, excluding loading by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL), was 1230.9 million tonnes in 2020-21 as compared to 1208.4 million tonnes during 2019-20. Passengers originating were 1250 million in 2020-21 as compared to 8086 million in 2019-20.
⇒ Safety Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and steps are being undertaken on a continuous basis to prevent accidents and to enhance safety of the passengers. During 2019-20, consequential train accidents decreased from 73 to 55 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.
⇒ Special Cleanliness Campaigns under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan were launched by Indian Railways on 2nd October 2014.
⇒ The Government of India (Gol) has allowed the private players to operate in the Railways sector through the PPP mode under the “New India New Railway” initiative. Ministry of Railways has identified over 150 pairs of train services for the introduction of 151 modern train sets or rakes through private participation. The private trains are likely to be introduced in 2023-24. [Source: ES 2020-21 & 2021-22]
Train 18 India’s First Engineless Train
⇒ India’s first indigenously designed engineless train known as ‘Train 18’, breached the 180 kmph speed limit during test run in Kota-Sawai Madhopur section on December 2, 2018.
⇒ On operational front, Delhi Main Station entered the Guinness Book for having the worlds largest route relay interlocking system.
⇒ Indian Railway was nationalised in 1950.
⇒ There are three types of rail lines in India: 1. Broad Gauge, 2. Meter Gauge and 3. Narrow Gauge.
⇒ The network runs multigauge operations extending over 66,687 route kilometres.
Light Rail-based Transit System
The board of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved a corridor for ‘Light Rail-Based Transit System’. One such system was also approved by the Government of Maharashtra for Nashik. In Delhi, the proposed Metrolite project, also being refferred to as Metro Neo is to serve as a feeder service to the conventional metro network while in Nashik, it will be the primary metro project.
Civil Aviation
⇒ India is the third largest domestic market for civil aviation in the world. India has 136 commerciallymanaged airports by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and 6 under Public- Private Partnerships (PPP) for Operation, Maintenance and Development of airports.
⇒ On airport connectivity, India stood first along with 7 others (USA, China, Japan, UK, etc.) in the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 of World Economic Forum. [Source: ES 2019-20]
⇒ According to Economic Survey 2021-22, India’s domestic traffic has more than doubled from around 61 million in FY 2013-14 to around 137 million in FY 201920, a growth of over 14% per annum.
Air Transport 
⇒ Airways in India started in 1911.
⇒ Indian National Airways Company was started in 1933.
⇒ All the airway companies were nationalised in 1953 and were put under two corporations namely — Indian Airlines and Air India.
⇒ An integrated civil aviation policy National Civil Aviation Policy (NACP), 2016′ was notified in June, 2016. The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN was envisaged in NACP with the twin objectives of promoting balanced regional growth and making flying affordable for masses.
⇒ Airports Authority of India (AAI), came into being in April 1995, is a Mini Ratna- Category – IPSE involved in building, upgrading, maintaining and managing airports infrastructure across the country. It owns and maintains 125(96-operational and 29-non-operational) airports comprising 21 International airports, 77 domestic airports and 19 domestic civil enclaves.
⇒ The present capacity of Indian Airports is 282 MPPA (Million Passenger Per Annum).
⇒ Consequent upon merger of erstwhile Air India Ltd. and Indian Airlines, a new company viz., National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL) was incorporated, which is known as “Air India” and the appointed date of merger is 1 April 2007. The “Maharaja” is retained as its mascot.
TATA regains Air India 
Talace Pvt. Ltd., a unit of Tata Sons, scht (ATTM) the holding company for the conglomerate, will acquire 100% of Air India. The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2021. It is noteworthy that the government had (in 1953) taken control of the airline from the Tata Group, which founded the carrier as Tata Airlines in 1932. 
The Mumbai-based conglomerate placed a winning bid of 18,000 crore, of which 2,700 crore will be paid in cash and the remaining 15,300 crore will be absorbed from the over 60,000 crore debt the airline had as of August 31, 2021. 
Air India and its affiliate companies had a combined debt of 61,562 crore as of August 31. of this the Tatas will take over a debt of 15,300 crore. The remaining 46,262 crore debt will go to Air India Assets Holding Ltd. (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle. Around 14,000 crore of this debt will be retired by the government by monetising some of its assets such as real estate, while the remaining will be infused by the exchequer. 
This was the government’s third attempt at selling the national carrier after two unsuccessful tries in 2001 and 2018. The privatisation of Air India is a message from the government to the markets and global investors that it has the political will to bite the reform bullet. [Courtesy: The IE, Oct.09, 2021]
⇒ Air India Ltd. (with registered office in New Delhi) is basically a passenger oriented airlines operating to 72 online domestic stations (including Alliance Air) and 42 international destinations in 28 countries. It is in transport services sector under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India.
⇒ Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU), a Central University under the administrative control of Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been established by the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Act 2013. It is situated at Fursatganj, Raebareli in Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh.
⇒ Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Akademi (IGRUA) was set up at Fursatganj, Raebareli (U.P.).
⇒ Govt. of India has raised FDI limit for 49 to 100% in scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services. [Source: INDIA 2021]
⇒ UDAN is regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of upgrading underserviced air routes. Till launching of UDAN in 2016, India had 74 airports having scheduled operations. But, within 4 years under UDAN, four rounds of bidding under RCSUDAN have taken place and 153 RCS airports including 12 water aerodromes & 36 Helipads have been identified for operation of RCS flights. During the last four years after commencement of the scheme, 948 valid awarded routes have been allotted to various airlines and out of which 389 RCS routes connecting 62 unserved and underserved airports (including 6 heliports & 02 water aerodromes) have been operationalized so far. [Source: Economic Survey 2021-22]
World’s First Fully Electric Commercial Plane 
⇒ The world’s first fully electric, commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight on December 10, 2019 taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver.
Maritime Transport
⇒ The Central Water Tribunal was established in 1887.
⇒ Its headquarter is in Kolkata.
⇒ The waterways of the country have been divided into Internal waterways and Oceanic waterways.
⇒ According to Economic Survery 2021-22, as on 31st December, 2021, India had a fleet strength of 1463 vessels with Gross tonnage (GT) of 13,011 thousand compared to 1429 vessels and 12,746 thousand of GT at the end of 2019. However, Indian fleet is just 1.2% of world’s fleet in terms of capacity and carries only 7.8% (for 2018-19) of India’s EXIM trade. In order to address the cost disadvantage suffered by Indian flag ships, in July 2021 the Union cabinet has approved a scheme providing subsidy support of Rs. 1,624 crore to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by Ministries and CPSEs over five years to promote flagging of merchant ships in India.
Internal Waterway
⇒ This transport is through rivers, canals and lakes. India has got about 14,544 km of navigable waterways which comprise rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks etc.
⇒ The waterway from Haldia to Allahabad was made a National Waterway in 1986.About111 inland water-ways have been declared as ‘National Waterways’ under the National Waterways Act 2016. [Source: INDIA 2021]
IWAI (Inland Waterways Authority of India)
The IWAI came into existence on 27th October, 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national water ways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping. The Head Office of the IWAI is at NOIDA. The authority also has its regional offices at Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi and sub-offices at Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Farakka, Hemnagar, Dibrugarh, Kollam, Chennai and Vijayawada.
Oceanic Waterway
⇒ According to INDIA 2021, India has 12 major and about 200 non major ports along India’s Coastline which is about 7,517 km. The 6 major ports – Kolkata, Paradip, Vishakhapatnam, Kamarajar (Ennore), Chennai and V.O. Chidambaranar are on the east cost and the other 6 major ports viz., Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT, Sheva, Navi Mumbai) and Deendayal (earlier known as Kandla) Port are on the west coast. These major ports are under direct control of the Central Govt. and fall in Union List 7th Schedule of the constitution.
Jal marg vikas project (JMVP)
The JMVP is being implemented by the IWAI for the capacity augmentation of National Waterway-I on the HaldiaVaranasi stretch of GangaBhagirathi-Hooghly river system with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank. [Source: INDIA 2021] 
⇒ Approximately 95% of the country’s trade by volume and 68% by value is moved through maritime transport.
⇒ Of the total traffic handled by all Indian ports, 57% is handled by major ports and 43% by others.
⇒ Large ports are maintained by the central government whereas small ports are included in the concurrent list and are managed by the state government.
Ports
⇒ Port performance in an economy is crucial for trade competitiveness of that economy. The capacity of 13 major ports which was 871.52 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at the end of March 2014, has increased by 79% to 1,560.61 MTPA by the end of March 2021. Traffic handled at these ports was to the tune of 672.68 MT during 2020-21, which was 4.6% lower than that in the previous year on account of the worldwide disruptions in international trade due to the pandemic. The average turnround time at these major ports has reduced from 62.11 hours in 2019-20 to 55.99 hours in 2020-21 due to the various measures taken by government to improve the ease of doing business. [Source Economic Survey 2021-22]
⇒ Largest port of India is Jawahar Lal Nehru Port in Mumbai.
⇒ The largest natural port is in Vishakhapatnam.
⇒ Deendayal Port (erstwhile Kandla Port) in Gujarat is a tidal port. It has been made into a free trade zone.
⇒ Haldia Port (WB) is said to be developed as the first Green Port of India.
India Facts and Figures 
* The stateand union territory capitalsaresorted according to the administrative, legislative and judicial capitals.
* The administrative capital is where the executive government offices are located. The legislative capital is where the state assembly convenes.
* The judicial capital is the location of the state or territorial High Courts of India.
* The year mentioned in the table refers to when the city became the capital of the state or territory.
* In the following table S and W refers to the summer and winter sessions respectively. B refers to the budget session of the legislature.
* The administrative (executive) capital is considered to be the main capital of the state.
* The former capital refers to a city which was the capital from admission into the Indian Union. An absence of a legislative capital means that it is administered by the Central government.
* Hyderabad remained the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states. The ancient town of ‘Amaravati’, place between Guntur and Vijayawada in central A.P. is being developed as the new Capital of Andhra Pradesh.
But there is a move by the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh to trifurcate the capital. According to the bill passed by the state assembly on June 16, 2020 and approved by the Governor on July 31, 2020, the formation of the three capital cities for Andhra Pradesh are proposed to be-1.Vishakhapatnam (the executive capital), 2. Amaravati (the legislative capital) and 3. Kurnool (the judicial capital). On Aug. 4, 2020 the Andhra Pradesh High Court stayed the nofification of YSR Congress government till Aug. 27, 2020.
** The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was enacted (MHA, SO No. 3979 (E)) dated November 2, 2019) to provide for reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into the two union territoriesone to be eponymously called Jammu and Kashmir and the other Ladakh. Accordingly, the “State Legislature including Legislative Council of the State” has been abolished and shall now onwards be construed as “Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir”. [Source: India 2020]
*** The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was enacted (MHA, SONo 3979 (E) dated November 2, 2019) to provide for reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into the two union territories -one to be eponymously called Jammu and Kashmir, and the other Ladakh. The union territory of Ladakh has two districts-Kargil and Leh with each having its autonomous district council. These councils work with village panchayats to take decisions on economic development, healthcare, education, land use, taxation and local governance. It has its own police force headed by a Director General of Police. Ladakh does not have an elected legislative assembly or chief minister.[Source: India 2020]

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