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Roads & rlys saw unprecedented expansion, says Economic Survey — ‘window for pvt sector to invest’

Capital expenditure on railway infra was ₹2.5 lakh cr in FY23, up by about 29 per cent against previous yr. Construction of highways went up from 6,061 km in FY16 to 10,457 km in FY22.

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New Delhi: Highlighting the importance of investments in high-quality infrastructure for accelerating economic growth as well as sustaining it in the long run, the Economic Survey 2022-23 said that the development of roads and railways has seen “unprecedented expansion” in the last eight years.

“This has helped the country move from unimodal to multimodal transportation, providing a window of opportunity to the private sector to invest and reinvest in these assets, which has already been facilitated by the policy of asset monetisation,” read the Survey, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

“Extending infrastructural facilities is only part of the story; modernisation is the other important principle that has been attempted with verve and achieved with commendable speed.” 

Presented every year a day before the Union Budget is announced,  the Economic Survey of India gives insights into the economy and outlook for the following year.

Railways on road to recovery from pandemic 

The Indian Railways, which is still recovering from the impact of the Covid pandemic, transported 418.4 crore passengers in the first eight months of the current fiscal (April-Nov 2022), it said.

The passenger traffic was 809 crore during 2019-20, but dipped to 125 crore in 2020-21, the survey noted.

“It has since recovered to 351.9 crore in 2021-22. During the current financial year, passenger traffic has seen further strong growth with the number of originating passengers already hitting 418.4 crore (up to Nov 2022),” it said.

However, the Survey added that the national transporter was able to sustain the freight traffic despite the Covid shock. Between FY20-21 and FY21-22, there was a sharp increase in the freight traffic, reflecting strong revival in economic activity in the  domestic economy, it stated.

Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint
Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint

It added that during FY 22-23 (up to Nov 2022), the railways carried 976.8 million tonnes of revenue-earning freight traffic (excluding Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd), as against 901.7 million tonnes during the corresponding period in FY 21-22, which is an increase of 8.3 per cent.

The Economic Survey added that the capital expenditure on railway infrastructure received a “tremendous boost” since 2014 and has seen a continuous increase in the last four years with capex of ₹2.5 lakh crore in FY23, up by around 29 per cent against the previous year. 

“A major transport infrastructure, that can very well be called India’s lifeline, and which had a huge role to play in national integration and regional development, is the railways. The Indian Railways, with over 68,031 route kms, is the fourth largest network in the world under single management,” it said.

During the current financial year (till 12 Dec, 2022), the Railways completed 2,022 track kilometres (TKM) which includes 109 TKM of New Line, 102 TKM of gauge conversion and 1,811 TKM of multi-tracking projects. 

“From FY2014-22, …20,628 km sections (3,970 km new line, 5,507 km gauge conversion and 11,151 km doubling) have been commissioned at an average of 2,579 km/year, which is 70 per cent more than the average commissioning during 2009-14 (1,520 km/year),” it said.

Electrification of the railway network saw a more than six-fold increase as it went up to 30,446 route kilometres (RKM) in the last eight years from 4,698 RKM of the previous eight-year period.

“The fast pace of infrastructure augmentation by Indian Railways has been a result of substantial increase in allocation of funds and various steps being taken by the government. This includes delegation of powers at the field level which has helped in commissioning of doubling projects, close monitoring of the progress of projects at various levels, regular follow-up with State Governments and relevant authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and wildlife clearances and resolving other issues pertaining to the projects,” it said. 


Also Read: What Economic Survey says about education: Decline in dropout rate, improved gender parity


Domestic demand props civil aviation 

India’s civil aviation sector has “great potential” due to growing demand from the middle class, growth in population and tourism, higher disposable incomes, favourable demographics, and greater penetration of aviation infrastructure, the Survey said .

Air travel rebounded with the containment of Covid infections and the lifting of travel restrictions worldwide, it noted.

Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint
Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint

While there was 54 per cent and 66 per cent decline in air traffic and passenger traffic in FY21, the following fiscal saw a recovery, mainly led by the domestic sector.

“The current financial year has further shown a rebound, with both passenger and cargo movement close to the pre-Covid levels,” the Survey said. 

It added that the total number of air passengers in December 2022 was 150.1 lakh, which was 106.4 per cent of the pre-Covid level (average for 11 months from April 2019 to Feb 2020).  

Similarly, the air cargo delivered in November 2022 was 2.5 lakh MT, which is 89 per cent of the pre-Covid levels, as per the Survey.

Construction of national highways up

Talking about development of physical infrastructure, the Survey noted there was an increase in the construction of National Highways/roads over time, with 10,457 km of roads constructed in FY22 as compared to 6,061 km in FY16. In FY23 (until Oct 2022), 4,060 km of NHs/roads were constructed.

Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint
Graphic: Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint

“Road infrastructure in the form of a network of national highways, state highways, district roads, rural roads, and urban roads acts as a major mode of transportation and connectivity for the country’s diverse population of consumers and businesses. Roads supplement the other modes of transport through last-mile connectivity to the far-flung regions of the country,” it said.

Further, the total budgetary support for investment in the sector has been “increasing rapidly” in the last four years and stood at around Rs 1.4 lakh crore during FY23 (as of 31 Oct 2022).

(Edited by Tony Rai)


Also Read: Economic Survey lauds Modi govt’s Aspirational Districts Programme — ‘good governance’ template


 

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