TRANSORT AND COMMUNICATIONS
THERE was continuing expansion, both in transport and in communications, during the Third Plan and subsequent years. The following table shows, category-wise the progress made since 1960-61 :
TABLE 1 : Category-wise Progress from 1960-61 to 1968-69
sl. item unit 1960-61 1965-66 1968-69
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
railways
1 route length kms. 56247 58399 59553
2 tonnes originating million 156 203 204
3 tonne kilometres thou. mill. 88 117 125
4 passengers originating million 1594 2082 2213
5 passenger kilometres thou. mill. 78 96 107
roads
6 surfaced roads thou. kms. 236 287 325
7 commercial vehicles on
the road thou. nos. 225 333 386
8 trucks thou. nos. 168 260 301
9 buses thou. nos. 57 73 85
traffic carried by road transport
10 goods thou. mill.
tonne-kms. 17 34 40
11 passenger thou. mill
pass/kms. 57 82 98
12 shipping thou. grt. 857 1540 2140
13 coastal thou. grt. 313 323 330
14 overseas thou. grt. 544 1217 1810
major ports
15 traffic handled mill. tonnes 40 50 55
civil air transport
16 Indian Airlines capacity
tonne-kms.
(million) 113 155 208
17 Indian Airlines revenue
tonne-kms.
(million) 83 108 153
18 Air India capacity tonne
kms. (million) 162 324 462
19 Air India revenue tonne
kms. (million) 76 149 225
communications
20 telephones thou. nos. 463 858 1120
21 post office; thou. nos. 77 97 102
broadcasting
22 transmitters numbers 59 110 127
15.2. Although there have been substantial investments in development of transport and considerable expansion of transport capacities, imbalances have emerged from time to time. Transport difficulties were experienced in the early years of the Third Plan, in the movement of coal from the Bengal and Bihar coalfields towards the northern, western and southern parts of the country. Difficulties were also experienced in the movement of raw materials and finished products of certain other industries. Measures were taken to increase rail capacity and to augment rolling stock. In the latter part of the Third Plan, however, some of this capacity turned out to be surplus since the traffic targets originally set did not materialise, mainly on account of the slow growth of the economy.
15.3. Transport has a crucial role in economic development. The results of a large number of surveys as
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TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS 181
well as past experience, have highlighted the. complexities involved in making accurate projections of transport demand, both in relation to its total volume and its spatial pattern. Investments in transport have long gestation periods and are often large and lumpy. It is necessary not only to make careful and realistic assessment of transport requirements in advance, but also to review them continually so that suitable adjustments are, made from, time to time. The problem is to avoid economic losses which might arise either because of transport bottlenecks for want of adequate provision or because of unutilised facilities created in excess of requirements.
Trends in Rail and Road Traffic 15.4. The growth and relative share of rail and road in goods and passenger traffic is shown below:
TABLE 2 : Relative Share of Rail and Road In Goods and Passenger Traffic
percentage share
year railways road
transport railways road
transport
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
I. goods traffic (billion tonne-kilometres)
1960-61 88 17 83.8 16.2
1965-66 117 34 77.5 22.5
1968-69 125 40 75.8 24.2
1973-74 159 84 65.4 34.6
TABLE 2-contd
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
II. passenger traffic (billion passenger kilometers)
1960-61 78 57 57.8 42.2
1965-66 96 82 53.9 46.1
1968-69 107 98 52.2 47.8
1973-74 135 140 49.1 50.9
Goods traffic carried by rail has increased by 42 per cent between 1960-61 and 1968-69 and that by road has increased by 135 per cent. The share of roads in the total goods traffic carried by rail and road together has increased from 16 per cent in 1960-61 to 24 per cent in 1968-69. Passenger traffic by rail has increased between 1960-61 and 1968-69 by 37 per cent and that by road by 72 per cent. The share of roads in passenger traffic has increased from about 42 per cent in 1960-61 to about 48 per cent in 1968-69. Trends observed in the past are expected to continue during the Fourth Plan period. It is estimated that the share of roads in the total traffic carried by road and rail may increase to about 35 per cent in respect of goods traffic and to 51 per cent in respect of passenger traffic.
Outlays 15.5. The total outlay on Transport and communications in the public sector during the Fourth Man is reckoned at Rs. 3237 crores including Rs. 2664 crores in the Central Sector and Rs. 573 crores in the Plans of States and Union Territories. The distribution of the outlay between different programmes is shown below :
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Railways 15.6. The railway development programme provides for anticipated increase in freight and passenger traffic. Equipment and operations will be modernised to improve efficiency of the system and reduce costs. The pace of conversion from metre gauge to broad gauge will be accelerated in areas of rapid economic development and high traffic potential.
15.7. The originating freight traffic on the railways increased from 156.2 million tonnes in 1960-61 to 203.0 million tonnes in 1965- 66. The traffic declined to 201.6 million tonnes in 1966-67. and further to 196.6 million tonnes in 1967-68. The traffic picked up in 1968-69 and the total originating freight traffic in that year amounted to 204.0 million tonnes. In terms of tonne-kilometres, there was a slight decline in 1966-67 and an increase of 2 and 5 per cent respectively in the subsequent two years. The following table shows the growth of rail traffic from 1960-61 to 1968-69.
TABLE 4: Growth of Freight Traffic on the Railways since 1960-61
(million tonnes)
sl. item 1960-61 1965-66 1968-69
no.
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
1 steel and raw materials 14.3 23.7 25.1
2 coal 50.4 66.7 68.6
3 iron ore for export 2.6 5.2 8.0
4 cement 6.5 8.6 9.4
5 petroleum products 4.7 7.5 7.9
6 foodgrains 12.7 14.5 15.9
7 fertilisers 1.4 2.5 5.0
8 other general goods 46.6 53.6 48.7
9 railway materials 17.0 20.7 15.4
10 total 156.2 203.0 204.0
The increase in traffic over the last 8 years is accounted for mainly by bulk commodities including steel and raw materials, coal, iron ore for export, cement, petroleum products, foodgrains and fertiliser. On the basis of estimates of production of major commodities in the Fourth Plan, it is estimated that originating freight traffic on the railways in 1973-74 would be about 280 to 290 million tonnes. As in the past, the bulk commodities are expected to account for a large part of the increase in traffic in the Fourth plan. With the programmes already completed and those included in the Fourth Plan, adequate line capacity is expected to be available to meet the requirements of likely growth of traffic. If changes in the volume and pattern grammes, these would regards rolling stock, the provision made at present may be adequate for about 265 million tonnes of originating freight traffic. The railways will be in a position to meet the requirements of additional traffic by more intensive utilisation of rolling stock and to the extent necessary by acquisition of additional rolling stock. As the additional rolling stock can be acquired at a notice of about twelve to eighteen months, no difficulty is envisaged by the railways in augmenting the rail transport capacity in keeping with the actual growth of traffic. It is proposed to keep the estimates of traffic under constant review and make suitable adjustments from year to year.
15.8. The growth of passenger traffic over the last 8 years has been as under :
Two broad trends have been observed in the growth of passenger traffic in the past. First, the increase of non-suburban passenger traffic in terms of passenger kilometres has been greater than in terms of passengers originating, showing an increase in the lead of traffic. Secondly, the increase in suburban traffic has been much faster than in non-suburban traffic. These trends may be expected to continue during the Fourth Plan period also. The programme for the Fourth Plan provides for an increase of about 20 per cent in passenger vehicle kilometres for non-suburban services, as against an increase of about 17 per cent achieved during the Third Plan period. As regards suburban traffic, provision has been made for an increase of 31 per cent in EMU services over the five-year period of the Fourth Plan Measures are proposed to be taken to improve utilisation of coaching stock. Further, it is proposed to run high speed trains on long distance routes, where over-crowding is comparatively heavy. A specific provision of Rs. 50 crores has been made in the Fourth Five Year Plan for schemes for mass transit facilities in the metropolitan cities of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Delhi.
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15.9. The Fourth Plan provides for an outlay of Rs. 1000 crores for the railway development programme, excluding an expenditure of Rs. 525 crores to be met by the Railways from their Depreciation Reserve Fund. In addition, a provision of Rs. 50 crores has been made for metropolitan transport. The main components of the outlay are :
TABLE 6 : Outlay for Railways Outlay for Railways
(Rs. crores)
sl. item plan from total
no. outlay deprecia-
tion
reserve
fund
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
1 rolling stock 397 223 620
2 workshops 28 2 30
3 machinery and plant 7 8 15
4 track renewal - 200 200
5 bridge works 8 20 28
6 line capacity works 275 40 315
7 signalling and safety 27 13 40
8 electrification 81 1 82
9 other electrical works 4 8 12
10 new lines 83 - 83
11 Staff welfare 13 2 15
12 staff quarters 27 3 30
13 users' amenities 20 - 20
14 other specified works 5 5 10
15 road services 10 - 10
16 inventories 15 - 15
17 total 1000 525 1525
18 metropolitan transport 50 - 50
19 grand total 1050 525 1575
15.10 The rolling stock programme provides for the following addition and replacements.
TABLE 7 : Additions and Replacements in Rolling Stock Programme
(numbers)
rolling programme for the
stock fourth plan
sl. item on line
no. at the addi- replace- total
end of tion ment
1968-69
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1 locomotives 11555 652 607 1259
2 steam 10046 - 161 161
3 diesel 996 369 389* 758
4 electric 513 283 57 340
5 wagons (in terms of
wheelers) 48498 576192 25340 101532
coaching stock
6 coaches 32729 3250 3168 6418
7 rail cars -- 50 - 50
8 electric multiple units 1562 596 172 768
*These are for replacement of steam locomotives.
The programme for acquisition of rolling stock is based entirely on indigenous production. In 1968-69, about 16,500 wagons were manufactured in the country. It is expected that to meet the requirements of the railways, the production will be stepped up to about 21,500 wagons by 1973-74. The manufacturing capacity for diesel locomotives is being developed at the Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi and for electric locomotives at the Chittaranjan Locomotives Works. It is expected that the production of diesel locomotives including diesel shunters, will increase from 87 locomotives in 1968- 69 to about 195 locomotives in 1973-74. Similarly, the capacity for production of electric locomotives is proposed to be stepped up from 48 in 1968-69 to about 70 in 1973-74. Dieselisation is proposed to be extended from 19,200 route kilometres in 1968-69 to about 22,000 route kilometres in 1973-74. Electric traction will be extended from 2900 route kilometres to about 4600 route kilometres in 1973-74. It is proposed to electrify or dieselise fully the high density routes which are at present under mixed traction. Dieselisation will be extended to other sections in an order of priority determined by relative densities of traffic and continuity of diesel traction, preference being given to those sections which are far removed from the coalfields so as to reduce the burden on the transport system. A techno-economic study on dieselisation of railways is being undertaken and the programmes for dieselisation will be reviewed in the light of the results of the study. The programme of conversion of metre gauge lines into broad gauge in intended to eliminate delay and damage, particularly at the transhipment points, and improve the economics of railway operation. In the Fourth Plan, a programme of converting 1500 kilometres of metre gauge lines into broad gauge lines will be taken up as part of long-term plan. It is expected that conversion of 750 kilometres of metre gauge lines into broad gauge will be completed during the Fourth Plan period. The main objective is to extend the broad gauge system to areas of intensive economic development and high traffic potential. Doubling of track is proposed to be provided on 1800 kilometres. This includes about 550 kilometres on which work was in progress at the beginning of the Fourth Plan. The sections to be taken up for doubling will be determined on the basis of their traffic and financial justifications.
15.11. At the beginning of the Fourth Plan, work was in progress on construction of a number of new railway lines extending over a length of 1022 kilometrs. In addition to making provision for these lines, the Fourth Plan provides for a limited programme of new lines mainly to meet the needs of basic and heavy industries and of the traffic in minerals like coal and iron ore. In view of heavy investment involved in the construction of new lines, it is proposed to consider the traffic and economic justification of each proposal and take into account the relative economics of alternative modes of transport, specially road transport.
Roads 15.12. Despite substantial progress made in road development over the last eighteen years, the road system has still large deficiencies. The national high way system has about 400 kilometres of missing road links and 17 missing major bridges. Of the total
184 FOURTH FIVE YEAR PLAN
24,000 kilometres. of national highways, about two thirds have single- lane width. The State road system also suffer from various handicaps. Besides inadequat road length, the existing roads in many areas have substandard surfaces, narrow width and weak bridges A number of roads originally meant for light traffic require to be strengthened for much high intensities of traffic that have developed or are anticipated to develop. Many economically backward regions and hilly areas have poor communications. A large number of villages still lack road links with market towns and with one another. In metropolitan cities, the development of the road system has fallen far behind the growing requirements of traffic.
15.13.A provision of Rs. 418 crores has been made for the road development programme in the Central sector. The programme provides for the following schemes:
TABLE 8 : Outlay for Central Road Programmes
(Rs. crores)
sl. item carryover new total
no. schemes schemes
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)
1 improvement to the
existing national high-
ways 20 293 328
2 new national highways 15
3 roads of inter-state or
economic importance
(centrally sponsored
programme) 15 10 25
4 lateral road 22 -- 22
5 special roads 8 35 43
6 total 65 353 418