TRANSPORT
Transport, in India, plays a crucial role in ensuring sustained economic growth and is vital for the development of the various segments of the economy. The need for according high priority to the transport sector flows virtually from the size of this country as well as from the geographical dispersal of its natural resources. Transport services, unlike other commodities, are neither tradeable nor can they be stored. Transportation is also an aggregate of many linear situations and, as such, highly susceptible to cumulative chain reactions. It is subject to wide fluctuations in demand intensities. Investments in transport infrastructure usually have to be in fairly large indivisible units which prevent precise or continuous 'matching' of demand and supply. All these factors, combined together, make it desirable, as far as possible, to provide a certain amount of flexibility and cushion in the transport system, to prevent bottlenecks and the consequent chain reactions in the economy.
REVIEW 17.2 The principal modes of transport in India have been the railways and roads. Passenger traffic by rail increased from 66 billion passenger kilometres in 1950-51 to 177 billion passenger kilometres in 197778 and freight traffic from 44 billion to 163 billion tonne kilometres. In the same period, passenger traffic by mechanised road transport is estimated to have increased from 23 billion to 250 billion passenger kilometres and freight traffic from 5.5 billion to 77 billion tonne kilometres. In the total freight traffic carried by railways end road the percentage share of road increased from 11 per cent in 1950-51 to 32 per cent in 1965-66, while that of railways came down from 89 to 68 per cent. After 1965-66 however, the proportion remained at about the same level i.e. 68:32 in 1965-66, 66:34 in 1970- 71 and 68:32 in 1977-78. In the case of passenger traffic, the proportion between rail and road changed from 74:26 in 1950-51 to 43:57 in 1968-69. From 1970-71, when the proportion was 41:59, it has remained more or less at the same level upto 1977-78. The passenger traffic cleared by airways has grown steadily from 0.3 billion passenger kilometres in 1955-56 to 3.4 billion passenger kilometres in 1977-78. Coastal shipping and inland water transport accounted for a small proportion of the total traffic.
17.3 In the non-mechanised transport sector, it is estimated that there are presently about 80 million work animals in the country, including 70 million bullocks. The total number of bullock carts is estimated at 13 million. The volume of freight traffic handled by animal power annually is estimated at about 10 billion tonne kilometres.
17.4 The railways have been, and are likely to remain the backbone of the country's transport infrastructure in the foreseeable future, more so in view of the emerging energy situation. The performance of the railways, in terms of output and efficiency norms, is therefore particularly important. Assessments made in this respect indicate that, by and large, the utilisation of assets has shown an improvement over the years and the physical outputs have increased at an equal if not higher pace than the physical imputs.1
17.5 Although there has been an increase in traffic cleared by the railways in absolute terms. the fact remains that there have been frequent bottlenecks when even important commodities particularly coal, fertilizers, cement, etc. have not moved adequately while the clearance of non-priority traffic has generally been inadequate. This has been mainly due to insufficient resilience in the railway 'system to absorb unforeseen shifts in the traffic pattern and other unavoidable fluctuations.
17.6 The problem of capacity being inadequate to meet the demand has not been confined to railways alone. A similar situation has prevailed in respect of two other major sectors e.g. road transport and ports. Severe shortage of trucks was experienced when the rail system was not able to meet the full demand. Likewise, major ports, particularly Bombay, remained frequently congested leading to long waiting periods for berthing of ships.
17.7 Another sensitive segment of the transport sector where constraints of capacity have been greatly in evidence, has been the airports. The congestion at the airports in India, specially during peak. periods, has now become a major factor affecting tourist traffic and thus the foreign exchange earnings of the country.
1 Report of the National Transport Policy Committee (May 1980) (para 9.3)
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17.8 The above review of the actual experience in the recent past confirms what has been mentioned earlier regarding the need for transport infrastructure, especially the more vital sectors of it like railways, ports and roads, being allowed to develop in a manner commensurate with the growth of the economy, particularly of segments with a. high transport coefficient, and to have, as far as possible, certain amount of flexibility in investment planning to avoid its becoming a serious bottleneck in the development of the economy.
OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES
Transport and Energy 17.9 The transport sector is one of the largest consumers of commercial energy, consuming nearly 33 per cent of the total. In assessing therefore, the desirable level of inter-modal split of freight traffic between railways and roads, and while making resource cost comparisons in this context, appropriate weightage has to be given to the relative energy intensities.
17.10 As a long term goal, efforts will have to be made for the railways to develop the capacity to clear (i) all train load traffic for long, medium and short distances and (ii) all non-train load traffic (i.e. piecemeal traffic) for long and medium distances (except for certain commodities). This would broadly leave all short distance piecemeal traffic for the road transport. While capacity will have to be developed by the railways to do so, and while fiscal measures would be in keeping with the above objectives, the choice of transport mode will, to a great extent, be conditioned by the consumers preferences as regulatory or legal measures will be difficult to implement, and could lead to misuse of the regulatory processes.
17.11 Within the railway system, it would be necessary to accelerate the pace of electrification in the interest of more efficient energy utilisation and in order to save use of diesel. Efforts will be made to phase out steam locomotives as early as possible, not only from the point of view of better railway operations but also from the point of view of better utilisation of scarce, resources of coal. It is estimated that coat used through electric traction is nearly five times more efficient than its direct use on steam locomotives.
17.12 Vigorous measures will be taken to improve the fuel efficiency of the diesel based road transport vehicles which would include improvement in vehicle design, installation of speed control devices, improvement in the condition of roads, and truck trailer combinations on selected stretches of national highways.
17.13 The transport modes which are relatively more energy efficient like coastal shipping, inland water transport and pipeline transportation and also those dependent on human or animal energy like cycles, bullock carts etc. would be encouraged, and efforts will be made to utilize their full potential.
17.14 Steps will be taken to expand and strengthen the public transport system and thus reduce the level of personalised motor transport which is highly energy intensive. Efforts will also be made to introduce electric based public transport in urban areas, like electric multiple unit (EMU) rail services and electric trolley buses.
17.15 Abolition of octroi in a phased manner and putting other check posts together are desirable objectives. They will reduce the impediments in the smooth flow of road traffic which is important, keeping in view the highly adverse cumulative effect of these stoppages on fuel consumption and fleet utilisation. It will be necessary therefore for State Government to take suitable steps in this direction.
17.16 Renewed and vigorous efforts will need to be made to achieve a break-through in research and development in respect of utilisation of alternative sources of energy in the transport sector.
Integrated Planning within, the Transport Sector 17.17 While planning for the future, balanced attention would be given to various, and sometimes competing, segments of transport like freight and passenger traffic, industrial and agricultural needs, rural and urban requirements etc. Special emphasis will need to be given to provision of transport facilities at reasonable cost to remote and isolated areas like the North Eastern Region and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, etc.
17.18 In a situation of scarce resources, while the needs of freight traffic will have higher priority, the minimum requirements of passenger traffic will also be catered to for avoiding serious inconvenience to the travelling public. Within the passenger sector, needs of rural, inter-urban and inter-urban passengers will be kept in view.
Transport and Environment 17.19 Unless adequate care is taken, transport, like many other forms of activity in an industrial society, can be a major pollutant of the environment. The problem is purticularly acute in cities where vehicles generate noise and fumes, and heavy lorries using roads in residential areas make the effect even more pronounced. Suitable regulatory measures to control noise and fumes by transport vehicles would be taken.
Pricing Policy 17.20 The need to run public sector transport organisations like railways, road transport corporations, airlines etc. on a remunerative basis has assumed even greater importance due to the extremely difficult resource availability position in this Plan period. Elimination of losses being incurred by most of these organisations is necessary not only because they should contribute to national resources rather than be a drain on them, but also because organisa- tions which run at loss lend to lose in morale which affects their productivity and thus set up a vicious circle of further losses. Keeping these considerations
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in view and the recommendations made in this respect by two recent Committees, viz., National Transport Policy Committee, May 1980, (NTPC), and Rail Tariff Enquiry Committee, April 1980 (RTEC), transport undertakings should be required to cover their short-run operating costs and also yield a reasonable rate of return on the capital. Apart from limited cross subsidization which a transport organization may undertake for its own commercial or operational reasons, subsidies will, as a, rule, be avoided. If, however, there are exceptional socio-economic considerations for a subsidy, it would, as far as possible, be provided direct to the users and not through the transport organisation. Efforts would thus be made to keep the commercial and non-commercial segments of transport undertakings separate not only to avoid their running at a loss but also in order to facilitate accountability for the proper and remunerative functioning of the commercial segments.
17.21 While tariffs of transport organisations would be suitably enhanced, wherever necessary, care will be taken that these increases are not made to cover avoidable fall in productivity, particularly in sectors where the organisation has a monopolistic of semi-monopolistic position.
Improvement in Productivity 17.22 Greater productivity in transport undertaking like railways, ports, state road transport corporations, airlines etc. would be ensured through various measures like satisfactory maintenance of existing assets, better and modernised management, greater discipline, better law and order conditions, More satisfactory power supply to the transport sector, etc. Norms of efficiency indices, based on past performance and scope for further improvement, would be laid down and their achievement effectively monitored.
Backward and Isolated Areas 17.23 It would be necessary to pay special attention to backward areas through a proper network of transport linkages, mainly through the construction of rural roads under the Minimum Needs Programme. It will also be necessary to provide special transport facilities at reasonable rates to isolated areas like North East, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir and also to hilly areas in general. In this context, a number of projects in the railways, as well as in the roads and bridges sectors, have been approved and in respect of air services a third level air service for the North Eastern Region would be introduced.
Urban Transport 17.24 The problems relating to urban transport have tended to become more and more complex due to massive increase in needs on the one hand and the shortage of resources on the other. Due to the growth in population and migration from rural to urban and metropolitan areas for job opportunities, the pressure of population on urban areas and metropolitan cities and consequently the pressure on metropolitan transport, has been extremely heavy. The experience of the West in providing rapid suburban transport systems at heavy cost, has not been entirely successful as it has tended to encourage the development of a suburbia consisting of dogmitory type of satellite towns with ever increasing growth of traffic in commuters, travelling in vast numbers in peak periods from the suburbs to the Central Business District and back. Efforts, therefore, would be made to pursue the question of the development of counter magnets, beyond the commutable distance, in the shape of self-contained residence-cum-work places through suitable incentives* Urban transport policy would also keep these objectives in view and avoid schemes which would encourage the further growth of existing, or development of new, dormitory type of satellite towns. Subject to this, urban transport facilities will be augmented to the maximum feasible. Pricing policy for urban transport would ensure that urban transport is not an undue strain on resources. In this context, the recommendations of the Rail Tariff Enquiry Committee that the railway fare structure for suburban services should be suitably revised in order to keep the suburban services either self- sustaining or at least part of a self-sustaining passenger segment of the Indian Railways, would be considered. In any case, there should be no occasion for continuous budgetary support for recurring expenditure on suburban rail services. Similarly, in case of city bus services, the fare structure would be rationalized so as to fully cover at least their operating costs.
Pipeline Transportation 17.25 In view of its low recurring cost, including low energy consumption, pipeline transportation tends to be more economic than other modes in case of certain commodities and in those segments where long-term heavy density corridors of traffic are anticipated. Movement of petroleum products by pipeline is already fairly well established but would need to be enlarged. Pipeline has also been laid for movement of iron ore in slurry form from Kudremukh to Man- galore. A significant and extremely useful development in pipeline transportation could be the movement of coal in slurry form from pitheads to thermal power houses whose requirements are heavy and of a long-term nature and where coal is, in any case, required in pulverised form. The possibility of movement of coal slurry through pipeline has assumed greater importance recently in view of the growing role of coal as a source of energy as well as the increased value and importance of the lower level of transit losses involved in pipeline transportation. There are, however, a number of parameters which have to be examined before assessing the techno-economic feasibility of pipeline transportation of
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coal slurry in a particular segment. Arrangements will be made in this Plan to have an in-depth techno-economic feasibility study of pipeline transporation of coal in slurry form, to enable further steps being taken.
International Traffic ond Export Promotion 17.26 One of the most remarkable changes in international transporation technology in the last two decades has been the spectacular growth of containerisation. This has been due to many compelling reasons like savings due to quicker turn round of ship at ports, economy in handling costs, facilitation of inter-modal transport, reduction in damage and pilferage, etc. It has therefore become imperative for India to develop container handling facilities in a big way in the absence of which it would become almost impossible for us to get our due share in international trade. The full benefits of containerisation are achieved only when complete door to door operations from origin to destination are arranged. While this may be difficult to realise in the near future in India, it is proposed to proceed in respect of containerisation in three stages as under:
(i) Movement of containers to and from Indian ports where containers would be retained and cargo stuffed and destuffed. This would be purely port-oriented arrangement.
(ii) Movement of containers to and from Inland Container Depots (ICDs.). This would involve coordinated transport and procedural arrangements.
(iii) Introduction of door to door containers from origin to destination.
17.27 The main objectives of the Sixth Five Year Plan in respect of container traffic would be (a) to enable the four main ports, viz., Bombay, Cochin, Madras, Haldia to handle gearless ships, (b) to develop facilities for handling cellular ships at Madras and at the proposed Nhava Sheva port, (c) to encourage inter-modal transport of containers by barge, rail and road in Calcutta/Haldia complexes and (d) to set up three Inland Container Depots at Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bangalore on a priority basis.
17.28 In order to promote the export of cargo by air, integrated air cargo complexes will be developed at a number of international as well as domestic airports. Strengthening of runways at certain airports like Varanasi and Kanpur to enable landing of bigger aircrafts in the interest of despatch of export cargo by air, will be completed during the Sixth Plan period.
Transport Coordination 17.29 For a country of the size of India, with varying regional and geographical characteristics, it is essential to compile data on traffic flows together with costs and to subject them to adequate analysis on a continuous basis for effective coordination and investment programming, as well as pricing, taxation and regulatory measures. The need for effective coordination in respect of these aspects being entrusted to a suitable agency like a National Transport Commission at the Centre, as recommended in the Report of the National Transport Policy Committee would be examined. With the growth in the dimensions of the energy problem, coupled with the transport sector being one of the heaviest consumers of energy, the need for maximum coordination and inter-modal integration, both at the investment plan- ning as well as operational levels, will be given attention.