To bring about improvements in the existing network of national highways, it is proposed to complete all the missing read links and improve all the low-grade sections. Of the 17 major missing bridges on the national highways system, 16 will be completed and work on the remaining one will be in progress by the end of the Plan. The programme provides for reconstruction of weak bridges and culverts and widening of important sections of the national highways to two lanes. Provision has been made for completion of the Lateral Road from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh to Amingaon in Assam. It is proposed to add a limited length of roads to the national highways.
15.14.For the road development programmes in States and Union Territories, a provision of Rs. 453 crores had been made. Besides completion of the works in progress, priority will be given to removals of deficiencies in the existing road systems such as missing links, unbridged river crossings and improvement of low-grade sections. Provision has also been made for reconstruction of weak bridges and widening of roads. The road system will be strengthened to some extent to meet the requirements of metropoiltan cities, industrial and mining areas and hilly and backward regions. It should be possible to increase the length of surfaced roads from about 325,000 kilometres at the end of 1968-69 to about 385,000 kilometres at the end of the Fourth Plan.
15.15. Special emphasis is being laid on the development of rural roads. They are necessary for the growth of the rural economy and for increases in agricultural production. State Governments have agreed to set apart about 25 per cent of the total outlay on road development for rural roads. Local resources will also be mobilised. Priority is to be given to roads leading to market towns.
15.16. Proper maintenance of existing roads is of importance for the efficiency of the system. Allocation of funds for maintenance is made outside the Plan provisions. With the increase in the intensities of traffic in recent years, maintenance of roads has assumed special significance and larger budgetary provision is being made for maintenance by Central and State Governments.
Road Transport 15.17. The total goods traffic by road transport is expected to increase from about 40 thousand million tonne-kilometres in 1968-69 to about 84 thousand million tonne-kilometres in 1973-74. The passenger traffic is expected to increase from about 98 thousand million passenger kilometres in 1968-69 to about 140 thousand million passenger kilometres in 1973-74. In order to cater for the estimated increase in traffic, it is reckoned that the number of trucks on the road will need to be increased from about 301,000 in 1968-69 to about 4,70,000 at the end of 1973-74. The number of buses will need to be increased from about 85,000 to about 115,000. The production of commercial vehicles is estimated to increase from 35,000 in 1968-69 to 85,000 in the last year of the Plan
15.18. A provision of Rs. 89 crores is proposed for augmenting the services of the nationalised transport undertakings in the States. In addition, a provision of Rs. 10 crores has been included in the Railways' plan for contribution to the capital of State road transport undertakings. In the programmes of the undertakings, priority will be given to the strengthening of services on the existing routes. In the Central Plan, a provision of Rs. 3 corres is proposed for the Central Road Transport Corporation which operates in the north-east region and for financial assistance to the Central Road Transport Training & Research Institute, Poona.
15.19. A large part of the expansion of road transport is expected to be in the private sector. The investment in road transport in the private during the Fourth plan period is estimated at Rs 935 crores. As a result of the likely increase in the share of road transport in the total traffic, the share of roads and road transport in the total investment is likely to increase substantially during the Fourth Plan period as compared to the Third Five Year Plan. The following table compares the investment in railways and roads and road transport both in public and private sectors :
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TABLE 9: Investment in Rail and Road Transport
sl item total investment percentage share in
no. railways road and railways roads and
road transport road transport
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1 third plan 1368 828 62 38
2 1966-69 509 610 45 55
3 forth plan 1050 1898 36 64
Ports 15.20 The traffic handled by major ports is expected to increase from about 55 million tonnes in 1968-69 to about 77 million tonnes in 1973-74. A major part of the increase in traffic is on account of bulk commodities such as petroleum products, iron ore and fertilisers (including raw materials). The increase in the proportion of these bulk commodities in the total traffic at ports will necessitate development of specific facilities for handling such traffic. The total cost of the programme for the development of major parts included in the Central sector is about Rs.280 crores. The Port Trusts are expected to contribute about Rs.100 crores from their own resources and a provision of Rs. 160 crores has been made in the Plan. There will be a spill-over of Rs.20 crores beyond 1973-74. The more important schemes in progress which are proposed to be completed in the Fourth Plan are the Haldia dock system and the Mangalore and Tuticorin port projects. Provision has been made for completion of the dock expansion scheme at Bombay and the oil dock in Madras outer harbour which were started in the Third Plan. Among the new major schemes, mention may be made of the installation of modern ore handling facilities at Mormugao and Madras harbours, construction of an outer harbour at Visakhapatnam for handling deep draft ore carriers initially up to 100,000 dwt (dead weight tonnage) and ultimately up to 200,000 dwt, construction of a satellite port for Bombay at Nheva Sheva and an oil terminal at Cochin. It is proposed to set up a Central dredging requirements of major and minor ports. Provision is being made for technical investigations relating to problems common to various ports as also for the setting up of a consultancy organisation.
15.21 The traffic handled by minor ports was of the order of 8 million tonnes in 1968-69. For the development of minor ports, a provision of Rs. 35 crores has been made in the Fourth Plan which includes Rs. 20 crores in the Central Plan and Rs. 15 crores in the Plans of States and Union Territories. In the Central Plan, provision has been made for a Minor Ports Dredging and Survey Organisation development of ports facilities in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and a Laccadive, Minicoy & Amindivi Islands and a few other selected ports in States such as Porbandar, Mirya Bay, Cuddalore etc. In the State Plans, provision has been made for improvements at important ports.
Shipping 15.22 Shipping tonnage reached the level of 2.1^4 million grt (gross regisetred tonnage) by the end of 1968-69. It is made up of 1.80 million grt of oxerseas tonnage and 0.34 million grt of coastal tonnage. Ships with a capacity of 0.62 million grt were on order to be delivered during the Fourth Plan Period. At present, the Indian tonnage is catering for about 15 per cent of the overseas trade. While in the case of liner trade, the share of Indian shipping is 40 to 45 per cent, the share is less than 10 per cent in the bulk cargo trade. A provision of Rs. 135 crores has been made for acquisition of ships. By the end of the Fourth Plan, it might be possible to reach about 3.5 million grt of shipping tonnage. This would include about 3.1 million grt of overseas tonnage and 0.4 million grt of coastal tonnage. Another 0.5 million grt will be on order. The main addition will be in respect of liners, tramps (including bulk carriers) and tankers. It is expected that Indian shipping would cater for about 40 per cent of country overseas trade at the end of the Fourth Plan. A provision of Rs. 5 crores has also been made in the Plan for loan assistance to sailing vessels industry, replacement of the training ship "Bufferin", expansion of training facilities and programmes for the welfare of seamen.
Inland Water Transport 15.23. The provision of Rs.9 crores in the Central Plan for the development of inland water transport includes Rs. 5 crores for the Central schemes, such as the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation, (CIWTC), technical organisation, training establishment, development of Pandu and Jogigopa ports and Rs. 4 crores for Centrally sponsored schemes. The main programme of the CIWTC is modernisation of the Rajabagan Dockyard at Calcutta.
Farakka Barrage 15.24. The Farakka Barrage was taken up mainly to improve the navigability of the Calcutta Port. Its total cost is estimated at Rs. 156 crores, against which the expenditure incurred up to 1968-69 is about Rs. 78 crores. The scheme is expected to be completed in the Fourth Plan.
Civil Air Transport 15.25. Important technological changes are taking place in the field of air transport. During the period of the Fourth Plan, aircraft of much bigger size and with greater speed than in use at present are expected to be introduced. These aircraft are expected to be operated through the country by Air India by about 1971 and by foreign airlines even earlier. A provision of Rs. 202 crores has been made in the Fourth Plan for development of civil air transport in the Central sector.
TABLE 10 : Outlay for Civil Air Transport
sl. item outlay
no. (Rs. crores)
(0) (1) (2)
1 Civil Aviation Department 72
2 Indian Airlines 55
3 Air India 60
4 India Meteorological Department 15
5 total 202
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15.26. The Fourth Plan envisages improvements of runway, terminal and communication facilities, at the four international airports at Bombay, Calcutta Delhi and Madras, so as to make them suitable for operation of heavier and larger capacity aircraft like Boeing 747 (Jumbo) jets. The Plan also provides for the development of various airports for domestic air services. With the anticipated growth of internal air traffic including tourist traffic and the gradual replacement of Dakotas by larger aircraft, it would be necessary to remodel the runways and, to some extent, the terminal facilities.
15.27. The available capacity of Indian Airlines is expected to increase from 208 million tonne-kilometres is 1968-69 to 392 million tonne-kilometres in 1973-74. The Plan provides for an increase in the fleet strength of the Corporation, which proposes to acquire Boeing 737 jets for deployment on the trunk routes. The propose outlay of Rs. 55 crores is expected to be financed to the extent of about Rs. 50 crores from the internal resources of the Corporation.
15.28. The available capacity of Air India is expected to increase from 462 million tonne kilometres in 1968-69 to 990 million tonne kilometres by 1973-74. During the Plan period Air India is expected to acquire four Boeing 747 (Jumbo) jets. The programme of the Corporation is expected to be financed entirely from its internal resources, except that it will require Rs. 15 crores from Government to enable it to maintain a proper debt-equity ratio.
15.29. A provision of Rs. 15 crores has been made for the programme of the India Meteorological Department which includes establishment of Regional Meteorological Centre and Regional Telecommunication Hub under the World Weather Watch Scheme.
Tourism 15.30. Tourism is an important means of earning foreign exchange. It also provides employment and promotes international contacts and understanding. The broad approach in the Fourth Plan is to expand and improve tourist facilities with a view to promoting 'destinational' traffic as distinct from `transit' traffic. It is proposed to take up integrated development of selected areas and encourage charter traffic. Emphasis is being laid on provision of accommodation, transport and recreational facilities. Efforts ,will be concentrated in areas where there is an identified large flow of foreign tourist traffic.
15.31. An outlay of Rs. 36 crores is proposed for Tourism including Rs. 25 crores for the Central programmes and Rs. 11 crores for the States and Unions Territories. The provision in the Central Plan includes Rs. 14 crores for programmes of the Central Department of Tourism and Rs. 11 crores for programmes of the India Tourism Development Corporation. The programme of the Central Department of Tourism mainly provides for loans to the hotel industry in the private sector, loans for the purchase of tourist vehicles by private operators and integrated development or selected centers. The programme of the India Tourism Development Corporation provides for construction of hotels, motels and cottages, renovation and expansion of tourist bungalows and setting up of transport units and duty-free shops. In the State Plans, provision has been made largely for creating facilities for home tourists. The programme provides for construction of low-income rest houses, development of important tourist centres and publicity.
Communications 15.32. An outlay of Rs. 520 crores is proposed for development of communications :
TABLE 11 : Outlay for Communications
sl. item outlay
no. (Rs. crores)
(0) (1) (2)
1 Telecommunications 466.25
2 Postal services 26.00
3 Overseas Communications Service 12.04
4 Wireless Planning and Coordination 1.00
5 Hindustan Teleprinters 1.75
6 Indian Telephone Industries 12.96
7 total 520.00
The demand for telephones has been increasing rapidly on account of several factors, such as expansion of industry and commerce and growing urbanisation. The number of telephones at the beginning of the Fourth Plan was about 1.1 million. During the Fourth Plan period, an addition of about 760,000 telephone connections is envisaged. For the development of trunk telephone services, it is proposed to install 7000 route kilometres of co-axial system, 12,000 route kilometres of the micro-wave system and 17,300 lines for trunk automatic exchanges. The Plan provides for about 31,000 new post offices. Expansion of the telephone factory at Bangalore and the setting up of a new factory for manufacture of long distance transmission equipment at Naini are envisaged. The Hindustan Teleprinters Limited is expected to have manufacturing capacity of 8,500 teleprinter units per annum by the end of the Plan as against the production of 5010 units in 1968-69.
15.33. So far as the Overseas Communications Service is concerned, the objective is to provide stable wide band telecommunication channels to satisfy the rapidly growing needs for external telecommunication facilities. It is proposed to set up an additional satellite earth station at Delhi, besides completing the satellite earth station at Arvi near Poona.
Broadcasting 15.34. A provision of Rs. 40 crores has been made for expansion of broadcasting facilities. The total cost of the programme to be undertaken during the Plan period is estimated at Rs. 45 crores and there will be a spillover to the extent of Rs. 5 crores beyond 1973-74. The programme aims at extension of medium-wave coverage, development and strengthening of the external services
187 TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION
and extension of commercial broadcasting on a regional basis. The programme for the extension of internal coverage has been so drawn up that at the end of the Fourth Plan, nearly 80 per cent of the population in all the States and Union Territories would be covered by medium-wave broadcasts. Under external services, the Plan makes provision for the completion of the two super-power medium wave transmitters at Calcutta and Rajkot, and the establishment of two new 250 KW short-wave transmitters at Aligarh. Provision has been made for the construction of a new broadcasting house at Delhi to meet the need for studio facilities and other office accommodation for the External and News Services Divisions of All India Radio, Commercial broadcasting will be extended on a regional basis with the main centres located at Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Jaipur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Jullundur and Sringar. The programme for television envisages the strengthening of the existing facilities at Delhi and the extension of television to five new centres, namely, Bombay (with relay facilities at Poona), Calcutta, Madras, Kanpur/Lucknow and Srinagar.
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