By IANS
New Delhi : India will have to remove its infrastructure impediments in sectors like roads, rail, air and sea transports to strengthen the foundation of sustained industrial growth, the Economic Survey 2007-08 said Thursday.
Stating that it was the biggest challenge before the country, the Survey urged to maximize the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in these transport sectors.
It said the government has taken several initiatives in the matters concerning PPPs, including policy, schemes, programmes and capacity buildings. For the railway sector, it has called for simplification and making rail tariff competitive to attract more traffic.
The Survey, presented in parliament by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, stated that 7,962 km of national highways with 5,629 km on Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) was completed last year.
The Survey also said about 7,744 km of national highways was under construction and the North-South and East-West Corridors are expected to be completed by December this year.
The government has approved the upgradation of 12,109 km of highway roads at an estimated cost of Rs.806.3 billion ($20.2 billion). In addition to these projects, the Survey also talked of proposals for two-laning 20,000 km of roads.
The annual report also mentioned the approval of six-laning of 6,500 km of National Highways. The government has approved the construction of 1,000 km of expressways and also of ring roads and service roads.
For the northeastern region, the ministry of road transport and highways has set up a high-power inter-ministerial committee.
For the ports, the report highlighted an impressive annual growth of 13.9 percent in container traffic during the five-year period ending 2006-07. It said the annual cargo handling capacity of major ports increased from 456.2 tonnes per annum in 2005-06 to 504.75 tonnes in 2006-07.