Focus on Growth & Opportunities for

Indian Railways, Roads, Aviation and

Waterways
The potential projects and trends imperative to realize an efficient, effective, lean and reliable
Indian transportation network
Railway...the heart line of the country, Roads....connecting the dots or Aviation.... lets fly
efficiently
Infrastructure is also being affected by global forces. The Euro Zone and the US economy are
having an impact on the infrastructure sector in India
The development of cities mainly depends upon their physical, social and institutional culture.
Hence, the importance of transportation is paramount
The vision of the twelfth five year plan (2012-17) is motivated by a modal mix which will lead
to a Sustainable, Economical, Efficient, Safe, Reliable, environment friendly and regionally
balanced transport system


Evolution of major Transportation Sectors:
Railways:
worlds fourth largest rail network and also second largest under single management
Roads
Roads bear about 90 per cent of the countrys passenger traffic and 65 per cent of freight
traffic
Aviation
9th largest civil aviation market in the world





Disaster Risk Shadow on PPP Projects
In PPP projects the government has very low control over the executing private partners
and latter has little interest in long term safety issues of the projects.
Its advised by the UN to the government to integrate disaster risk information into
investment decisions; building public private risk governance and disclosing disaster risks
and costs on balance sheets of companies.

Railways
Indias rail infrastructure suffers from chronic under-investment due to which its potential
for freight movement remains largely untapped.
The network needs extensive modernisation, increase of speeds, improvement in safety and
modernisation of rolling stock
The Indian railways (IR) have consistently lost out to road, as the preferred mode for goods
movement across the country. While traffic on rail has grown more than tenfold between
1951 and 2007, rail track length has only grown 1.4 times during the same period.
Moreover, trunk routes constitute merely 16% of the network and transport more than 50%
of total traffic, resulting in major congestion and a low average speed of 25 km/hr for
freight trains. As compared to global standards, Indias track length per sq. km. is
unfavourable at 44 km of track per 1,000 sq. km. of arable land, as against 137 km in the
US and 417 km in Germany.
Improvement of urban-rural connectivity by rail has been another major contributor to
passenger growth. Further, passenger traffic continues to enjoy significant priority over rail
freight. In addition to first right of movement, passenger rates are highly subsidized by
freight operations utilizing up to 72.3% of network capacity but contributing only 30% to
revenue, while passenger segment accounts only for 27.7%
Two-thirds of freight in India is transported over medium and long distances, for
which rail transportation offers significant time and cost savings.
The capital cost of setting up rail capacity is around 40% lower than that of comparable
modes such as expressways.
Cost of Rail transportation on high density traffic corridors are much lower than other
modes
Rails offer speed capacity benefits
I nfrastructure capacity creation:
The Eleventh Plan attempted a paradigm shift from the earlier incremental approaches to
one of significant infrastructure capacity addition to handle the quantum increase in traffic
levels and to sustain mobility on the network by setting ambitious targets as compared
The expanding requirements of the economy will need much faster expansion of the
freight network. The Rail Network has to develop a strategy to be a part of effective
multi-modal transport system to ensure environmental friendly and economically efficient
transport movement.
Investment needed in Dedicated Freight Corridors, high capacity rolling stock, last mile
rail linkages and port connectivity.

Rationalization of Railway freight and passenger fare:
Also the cross-subsidy through the freight business was no longer feasible because of fast
evolving competition from other modes of transport
Upgradation of passenger amenities:
High Speed Trains:
Seven corridors have been identified for conducting pre-feasibility studies for running
high-speed trains (popularly referred to as bullet trains)
Benefits of High Speed Trains:
Improve the economic development of the regions served, increase their
competitiveness and reduce their peripherally
Contribute to the countrys longer-term environmental goals by attracting
passengers from air and car
Unlock the development of improved commuter and regional services whilst
permitting improvement in both the capacity and transit times of freight services
Reducing the carbon footprint of passengers
Reduced demand for runway capacity with a reduction in congestion
the advantage of being compatible with the conventional rail network
concentrate development in and around communities
is a key element for interurban passengers transport in the future
Dedicated Freight Corridor:
Innovation in rail transport in India
To drive a fundamental shift in the modal mix from less efficient, usually uneconomic
and environmentally unfriendly road-based transportation to rail
Paradigm shift in the transportation scenario, resulting from the segregation of freight
on trunk routes, improving service delivery and generating additional freight carrying
capacity
Reduction in unit cost of transportation
Increase in rail freight share
Segregation of freight and passenger lines
Creation of additional rail freight capacity
Time tabled freight service for guaranteed transit time
Major Trends
Rapid increase in demand for rapid urban mass transportation system (mertos)
Mobile ticketing system to make the ticket issuing process more efficient
Increased investment in the Railways from overseas
High speed rail corridors
Modernisation of I ndian Railways
The focus is on two fundamental drivers
Safety and Growth
Five pronged strategy:
Modernise core assets
Explore new revenue models

Review projects
Focus on enablers
Mobilise resources
Aviation
Expanded rapidly with the opening up of domestic skies to the private carriers in the
second half of the 10th plan via public private partnership investment in the airport
infrastructure.
Becomes strategically important in the absence of widespread water ways network
Growth drivers:
Increased FDI inflows
Higher household Incomes
Entry of low cost carriers increased cargo movement
Strong economic growth
Surge in tourist inflow
Government policies
Major Trends
Increased private sector participation
Increased passenger traffic
Hike in user development fees
Focus on non-aeronautical revenues like increase in beverage and food retail segments at
airports
I nvestments: The aim of 11th plan was to provide world class infrastructure for safe,
reliable and affordable air services, hence increase the passenger growth and cargo traffic
and air connectivity to remote and inaccessible areas. Now as per 12th plan, GoI aims to
propel India among the top five civil aviation markets in the world with the base of the 11th
plan.
I nfrastructures: construction of new airports, expansion and modernisation of existing
airports, improvement in connecting infrastructure (road, metro, sea link, and so on) and
better airspace management, developing airports in remote areas
Roads
Road Transport is vital to the economic development and social integration of the country.
Easy accessibility, flexibility of operations, door-to-door service and reliability have earned
road transport an increasingly higher share of both passenger and freight traffic vis--vis
other transport modes
This dominance arises from decades of poor supporting infrastructure development on the
rail, coastal, pipeline and air transportation side.
The most expensive mode of transportation is road transportation however majority of
freight operations are done through it- about 90% of the countrys passenger traffic and
65% of freight traffic
National Highways constitute only 2% and they carry around 40% of the total road freight.
Indias logistics sector is currently not only constrained by lack of infrastructure; it is
perhaps even more restricted by the misuse of transportation modes for certain types of
commodity , as well as limits on the free use of transportation modes for others.
The industry is highly fragmented, and with low entry barriers, it has seen significant
commoditization leading to intense competition among truckers who find their realizations
and margins continuing to be squeezed progressively.


Shortfall in construction of bypasses, inadequate capacity, insufficient pavement thickness
and weak, narrow and distressed bridges/culverts
Maintenance of roads treated as non-plan activity and hence neglected. It is unsystematic
and inspections are irregular
Completion of National Highway Development Programme, modernisation of road cargo
transport community will be game changers
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna
The villages which are connected by PradhanMantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) have
several socio-economic impacts on villages which indicate multiple benefits generated
through it
Improved connection to the markets
Reducing the time spent in travelling
Improving villagers access to timely treatment, especially in emergency
Improvement in the accessibility to education
Aster access to health facilities
Decline in infant and child mortality
Improvement in agricultural production, income, employment generation
This kind of initiative can also be exercised at country level to maximize the benefit for
all, similarly like villages.
Major Trends
increase private sector participation
the government has made infrastructure development a key policy issue
Through Five-Year Plans, India has increased the length of national highways
Several incentives such as declaring the road sector as an industry, providing 100 % tax
exemptions in any consecutive 10 years out of 20 years, duty free imports of certain
identified construction plants and equipment, FDI of up to 100 %, and increased
concession periods (up to 30 years). Given these incentives, the private sector is expected
to fund 33 % of the total investment in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
There is need for maximizing the investment in R&D, green technology and design for
better and safer roads.
Major reasons behind the higher road traffic are, growth in small and medium enterprises
Main hurdle in the development of highways at a faster pace is the delay in land
acquisition and statutory clearances.
The government has allowed 100 % FDI under the automatic route for all road
development projects and 100% income tax exemption is granted for a period of 10 years
Waterways
The aviation sector is struggling for survival, while roadways and railways are bleeding the
treasury dry. Inland navigation is economical and environment
Lack of long term vision and support from government, hinders the growth of inland
waterways
Major Trends
Improvement in turnaround time
Improvement in the average output per ship berth
Setting up of port based SEZ, Increased private participation, specialist terminal based
ports and landlord port model
Service Port: port authority provide all the services
Landlord Port: port authority acts as a regulator and landlord while port operations are
done by the private companies
Advantages
Efficient and Economic: Land acquisition costs 60% of the total cost of building a road or
a railway line. Waterways: 105 tonnes/km/ltr of diesel, Railways: 85 tonnes, Roads: 24
tonnes. Operating cost per tonne: Waterways: Rs.0.53, Railways: Rs.1.32, Roads: Rs.2.75
Safe and Eco-friendly: minimal loss due to accidents, less fuel consumption
Conclusion:
Efficient mobility of people is one of the key factors for the progress and prosperity of a
society and a nation. Public Transport services play a major role in reducing the poverty and
keeping deprivation at check in rural areas. Apart from offering the rural population a viable
and convenient way to market their agricultural produce, it also enables them to access other
sources of income such as engagement in informal services in nearby urban nodes and formal
employment in manufacturing, food processing, transport and other industries, etc. Certain
inherent characteristics of the Bus transport system make it the ideal mode for meeting the
huge and increasing demand for passenger transport services. Bus transport makes the most
optimum use of the available road space and fossil fuel by transporting the maximum number
of people per unit of road space.
The transport sector of India is facing several challenges which can be taken as opportunities
to overcome from them and make India leader of this sector in the group of developing
countries. The challenges are,
Congested and inefficient ports,
Severe capacity constraints facing by Railways,
Airport infrastructure is strained,
Hinterland connectivity by different modes of transport
Roads are congested and poor in quality
Way forward
Expanding construction capacity- construction industry capacity already over
stretched- quality, price affected
Improving Contract Management- on average publicly financed road construction
contracts suffering 35% cost over runs
Poor quality of designs and site investigations
Land acquisition
Tariff /pricing policy
Multi modal connectivity transportation modes. It reduces total journey time, reduce
congestions.
Focus on high-growth potential of Indias waterways segment which remains largely
untapped and underutilized
Shift the passenger traffic from railways to airways, because they have the vacant
capacity and railways have the extra passengers