LECTURE 32, 33 & 34– INFRASTRUCTURE

BY – C. JAYA RENUHAA, [Link], MA Economics, UGC NET Commerce

This PDF contains areas of infrastructure like Transport, Energy, Power and
Communication.

Bonds, yields and inversions

A bond is an instrument to borrow money. A bond could be floated/issued by a country’s
government or by a company to raise funds. Since government bonds (referred to as G-secs
in India, Treasury in the US, and Gilts in the UK) come with the sovereign’s guarantee, they
are considered one of the safest investments. As a result, they also give the lowest returns on
investment (or yield). Investments in corporate bonds tend to be riskier because the chances
of failure (and, therefore, the chances of the company not repaying the loan) are higher.
Simply put, the yield of a bond is the effective rate of return that it earns. But the rate of
return is not fixed — it changes with the price of the bond.
Suppose the face value of a 10-year G-sec is Rs 100, and its coupon payment is Rs 5. Buyers
of this bond will give the government Rs 100 (the face value); in return, the government will
pay them Rs 5 (the coupon payment) every year for the next 10 years, and will pay back their
Rs 100 at the end of the tenure. In this case, the bond’s yield, or effective rate of interest, is
5%. The yield is the investor’s reward for parting with Rs 100 today, but for staying without
it for 10 years.
A yield curve is a graphical representation of yields for bonds (with an equal credit rating)
over different time horizons. Typically, the term is used for government bonds — which
come with the same sovereign guarantee.
Yield inversion happens when the yield on a longer tenure bond becomes less than the yield
for a shorter tenure bond.
A yield inversion typically portends a recession. An inverted yield curve shows that investors
expect the future growth to fall sharply; in other words, the demand for money would be
much lower than what it is today and hence the yields are also lower.
InvITs (Infrastructure Investment Trust)
Infrastructure investment trusts are investment instruments that work like mutual funds and
are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The primary objective of InvITs is to promote the infrastructure sector of India by
encouraging more individuals to invest in it which can be modified according to a given
situation.
Through InvITs, individuals can park their funds into infrastructure projects in two ways, i.e.
either directly or through particular purpose vehicles, thus classifying them into two different
types – (i) Investment in Revenue-generating Finished Projects and (ii) Investments in
Project under construction
The purpose of InvITs is to enable Infrastructure Companies to repay their debt obligation
quickly and effectively. Since infrastructure-oriented projects tend to take time to generate
substantial cash flow, InvITs come in handy for paying off loan interests and other expenses
conveniently.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-
producing real estate. A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-
producing real estate or related assets. These may include office buildings, shopping malls,
apartments, hotels, resorts, self-storage facilities, warehouses, and mortgages or loans.
Unlike other real estate companies, a REIT does not develop real estate properties to resell
them. Instead, a REIT buys and develops properties primarily to operate them as part of its
own investment portfolio.
REITs provide a way for individual investors to earn a share of the income produced through
commercial real estate ownership – without actually having to go out and buy commercial
real estate.

NSE Indices Ltd, an arm of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), launched the country’s
first-ever Real Estate Investment Trusts and Infrastructure Investment Trusts index — Nifty
REITs and InvITs Index.
The index aims to track the performance of REITs and InvITs that are publicly listed and
traded on the NSE
The Nifty REITs and InvITs index has a base value of 1,000 and the index will be reviewed
and rebalanced on a quarterly basis. The weights of securities within the index are based on
their free-float market capitalization
INFRASTRUCTURE
Projects related to infrastructure improvements may be funded publicly, privately, or through
public-private partnerships.
Basic infrastructure facilities in the country provide the foundation of growth. In the absence
of adequate infrastructure, the economy operates at a suboptimal level and remains distant
from its potential and frontier growth trajectory. The strong backward-forward linkages of
the infrastructure sector are well established. Therefore, investment in infrastructure is
quintessential for more rapid and inclusive economic growth.
National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP):
Government of India has launched the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for the FY
2020-2025 to facilitated world class infrastructure projects to be implemented. This first of
its kind initiative will boost the economy, generate better employment opportunities, and
drive the competitiveness of the Indian economy. It is jointly funded by the Central
Government, State Government, and the private sector .The NIP was launched with the
projected infrastructure investment of Rs. 111 lakh crore ($1.5 trillion) during the period
2020-2025.
NIP is hosted on the Invest India Grid (IIG) platform and provides opportunities for
States/UTs and Ministries to collate all major infrastructure projects at a single location. IIG
thus acts as a centralised portal to track and review project progress across all economic and
social infrastructure sub-sectors. The portal also enables project-sponsoring authorities to
showcase investment opportunities to national and international investors. Project
Monitoring Group (PMG) is an institutional mechanism put in place by the government for
resolution of issues related to large-scale projects. PMG is also involved in the fast-tracking
of approvals/clearances for projects with an anticipated investment of ₹500 crore and above.
Now, it has been proposed to integrate NIP and PMG portals. When implemented, NIP will
become the first entry point (database) for all infrastructure projects (costing ₹100 crore or
more). PMG portal will pick up data, as per requirements (project cost of ₹500 crore or
more), from the NIP database. This will save substantial time and effort by Ministries and
States/UTs and ease the monitoring of large infrastructure projects.
Atanu Chakraborty task force - The task force was set up after the Prime Minister, in his
Independence Day speech of 2019, promised to roll out an infrastructure push worth ₹100
trillion over five years to make India a $5 trillion economy. The task force headed by Atanu
Chakraborty (economic affairs secretary).
The task force have suggested the following :
a) Aggressive push towards asset sales
b) Monetisation of infrastructure assets
c) Setting up of development finance institutions
d) Strengthening the municipal bond market
The task force has also recommended to set up of three committees:
i. Panel to monitor NIP progress and eliminate delays.
ii. Steering committee in each infrastructure ministry for following up implementation
iii. Committee in the Department of Economic Affairs for raising financial resources for
the NIP

NIIF:
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund is India’s first infrastructure specific investment
fund or a sovereign wealth fund that was set up by the Government of India in February
2015.
A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned fund. An SWF is used to invest in capital assets
such as real estate, metals, stocks, and bonds.
The primary goal of setting up NIIF was to optimise the economic impact largely through
investing in infrastructure-related projects.
Across its three funds- Master Fund, Fund of Funds, and Strategic Fund - it manages over $3
billion of [Link] funds are registered as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The NIIF signed the first investment deal of worth USD 1 billion with the Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority (ADIA) in October 2017. The ADIA became the first-ever international
investor in the NIIF’s master fund.
The Indian Government holds a 49% share in the NIIF. Domestic investors such as ICICI
Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life are the other notable investors in the
NIIF.
The UK Government in association with the NIIF started the Green Growth Equity Fund
(GGEF) under its Fund of Funds to invest in transportation, water, waste management,
renewable energy, and other similar sectors in the country.
National Monetisation Pipeline – Creation through monetisation
The need for scaling up infrastructure investment despite fiscal pressures from Covid-19
pandemic required unlocking of capital from various projects across sectors. The National
Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), was thus announced on 23 August 2021. Based on the principle
of ‘asset creation through monetisation’, it taps private sector investment for new infrastructure
creation.
It is expected that private players would operate and maintain the assets. The estimated
aggregate monetisation potential under NMP is ₹6.0 lakh crore through core assets of the
Central Government, over a four-year period, from FY20-25.
The process of monetisation entails a limited period license/ lease of an asset, owned by the
government or a public authority, to a private sector entity for upfront or periodic
consideration. Funds so received by the public authority are reinvested in new infrastructure
or deployed for other public purposes. Such contracts include provisions for the transfer of
assets back to the authority at the end of the contract period. It includes a selection of de-risked
and brownfield assets with a stable revenue generation profile (or long-term revenue rights)
that can be clearly ring-fenced. It contains 20+ asset classes across 12+ line ministries/
departments. In addition, the top 5 sectors (by estimated value) capture around 83 per cent of
the aggregate pipeline value: roads (27 per cent) followed by railways (25 per cent), power (15
per cent), oil & gas pipelines (8 per cent), and telecom (6 per cent). Roads and railways
together contribute around 52 per cent of the total NMP value
National Logistics Policy
Given that India aims to increase its exports manifold, it is important that the logistics aspects,
that will facilitate this goal, be addressed. Logistics costs in India have been in the range of
14-18 per cent of GDP against the global benchmark of 8 per cent. Key dimensions to be
addressed to improve logistics for trade include: ensuring efficiency of the clearance process
(i.e., speed, simplicity, and predictability of formalities) by border control agencies, including
customs; improving the quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure (e.g., ports,
railroads, roads, information technology); easing of arranging competitively priced shipments;
enhancing the competence and quality of logistics services (e.g., transport operators, customs
brokers); providing for tracking and tracing of consignments and ensuring timeliness of
shipments in reaching destinations within the scheduled or expected delivery time. These
aspects have been captured by the World Bank in the form of a Logistics Performance Index
(LPI).
Many efforts have already been made by the Government of India to improve the logistics
ecosystem through ‘infrastructure initiatives’ such as Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN),
Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Parvatamala, National Rail Plan, and through ‘process reforms’ GST,
e-Sanchit, Single Window Interface for Trade (SWIFT), Indian Customs Electronic Data
Interchange Gateway (ICEGATE), Turant Customs, and others
However, a need was felt to integrate all these efforts by different government agencies and
lay an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, and multi-jurisdictional framework for the
logistics sector. To realise this idea, NLP was launched on 17 September 2022, addressing the
components of improving efficiency in logistics through streamlining processes, regulatory
framework, skill development, and mainstreaming logistics among others.
The vision of the NLP is “to develop a technologically enabled, integrated, cost-efficient,
resilient, sustainable and trusted logistics ecosystem in the country for accelerated and
inclusive growth.” The policy is an endeavour to improve the competitiveness of Indian goods,
enhance economic growth and increase employment opportunities. It is aimed at bringing
global standards to warehousing, multimodal digital integration, ease of logistics services,
human resources, and skill enhancement.
The targets for achieving the vision of the NLP are to
(i) reduce the cost of logistics in India to be comparable to global benchmarks by 2030;
(ii) improve the Logistics Performance Index ranking - endeavour is to be among the top 25
countries by 2030, and
(iii) create a datadriven decision support mechanism for an efficient logistics ecosystem
The Policy will be implemented through a Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan (CLAP). The
interventions under the CLAP are divided into specific key action areas, including Integrated
Digital Logistics Systems, standardisation of physical assets & benchmarking service quality
standards, Logistics Human Resources Development and Capacity Building, State
Engagement, EXIM (Export-Import) Logistics, Service Improvement framework, Sectoral
Plan for Efficient Logistics and Facilitation of Development of Logistics Parks.
Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) index:
The Government undertook a survey-based assessment of logistics ease in various States and
UTs in the form of the LEADS index in 2018 to gauge their logistics ecosystem. It was
followed by surveys in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Achievers: States/UTs achieving a percentage score of 90 per cent or more, Fast Movers:
States/UTs achieving percentage scores between 80 to 90 per cent, and Aspirers: States/UTs
achieving percentage scores below 80 per cent.
Road Sector
India runs on the road, be it the passenger or goods movement, road transport is the
dominant mode of transportation in the country.
The road network is the backbone of the transport system in India and it is very well
integrated with the multi-modal system of transportation, which provides crucial links with
airports, railway stations, ports, and other logistical hubs. India has about 63.73 lakh km of
road network, which is the second largest in the world, next only to the United States of
America that has a road network of 66.45 lakh km. With the proactive policy initiatives in
the sector, the road network has continuously been expanding in the country.

Total investment in the Roads and Highway sector has gone up more than three times in the
six years period from FY15 to FY20 ,which also led to increased road density across the
states.
Types of Roads in India:
As World War II saw a rapid increase in the volume of road traffic in India, the government
of the Raj convened a conference of engineers in Nagpur in 1943 to discuss the condition of
roads, and the way forward. The conference produced the Nagpur Plan, which divided roads
into 4 main categories: National Highways, State Highways, District Roads and Village
roads. Later, Expressways were added as an additional category.
Under the Nagpur Plan Classification, National Highways connect all major ports, state
capitals, large industrial and tourist centres, and foreign highways. Roads that are required
for strategic movement, those that reduce the travel time substantially, and those that open up
backward areas and help economic growth, are also classified as National Highways. Earlier
in 1927, a road development committee under M R Jayakar had recommended that National
Highways should be the frame on which the country’s road connectivity should rely. State
Highways, according to the Nagpur Plan, are the arterial roads of a state that connect to
National Highways, district headquarters and important cities. These are also linked to
district roads. Major District Roads (MDRs) are roads that connect areas of production, main
markets and the State and National Highways crossing the state. Village Roads connect
villages to each other or to the nearest District Roads.
Indian Road Congress:
The Indian Roads Congress, a semi-official body that was set up by the government in 1934
on the basis of the Jayakar Committee’s recommendations, and registered as a society in
1937, decides the minimum requirements for roads, keeping in mind geography, speed,
volume of traffic and safety. The IRC is the apex body of road engineers in the country and
regularly updates the technical requirements — such as width, sight distance and other
related parameters — for highways and other roads.
National highways of India:
The National highways is constructed and managed by the National Highway Authority of
India (NHAI), the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation
(NHIDCL), and the public works departments (PWD) of state governments.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the nodal agency responsible for
building, upgrading, and maintaining most of the National Highways network. It operates
under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The National Highways Development
Project (NHDP) is a major effort to expand and upgrade the network of highways. NHAI
often uses a public–private partnership model for highway maintenance, and toll-collection.
India has 151,019 km (93,839 mi) of National Highways as of March 2021.
National Highways constituted 2.7% of India's total road network, but carried about 40% of
road traffic, as of [Link] 2016, the government vowed to double the highway length from
96,000 to 200,000 km.
In the new system of numbering the national highways, all east-west highways have odd
numbers, and all north-south highways have even numbers. It is based on the orientation and
the geographic location of the highway. On odd-numbered highways, the number increases
from north to south. So a highway from Jodhpur to Kanpur will have a smaller number than
a highway from Mumbai to Chennai. For even-numbered highways, the numbers increase
from east to west. A highway from Kolkata to Chennai will have a smaller number than a
highway from Delhi to Mumbai.
The longest National Highway is NH44,which runs between Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir
and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, covering a distance of 3,806 km (2,365 mi).The shortest
National Highway is NH966B, which spans 6 km (3.7 mi), from Ernakulam to Kochi in
[Link] Leh–Manali Highway connecting Leh in Ladakh to Manali in Himachal Pradesh
is the world's second highest-altitude motorable highway.
Some dedicated corridors:
(i) corridor connecting the major metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and
Kolkata—known as the golden quadrilateral;
(ii) north–south corridor connecting Srinagar to Kanyakumari (4,000 km); and
(iii) east–west corridor that connects Silchar to Porbandar (3,300 km).
Green Highways Policy 2015:
Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy, aims to
promote greening of Highway corridors with participation of the community, farmers,
private sector, NGOs, and government institutions.
It works with the objective to reduce the impact of air pollution and dust by planting trees
and shrubs along the National Highways. They will act as natural sink for air pollutants and
arrest soil erosion at the embankment slopes.
The policy will strike a balance between highways development and environmental
protection. It will also help in providing employment to 5 lakh people of the rural areas.
The Government had signed loan agreement with the World Bank to develop Green National
Highway Corridors (GNHCP). The project include Upgradation of about 781 km length of
various National Highways passing through the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
International Border Highways:
The responsibility of connecting Indian borders with the neighbouring countries lies with the
Border Road Organisation (BRO).The organisation's operations are spread across India,
Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. BRO is functioning under the control of the
Ministry of Defence since 2015.
State Highways:
The state highways are usually roads that link important cities, towns and district
headquarters within the state and connect them with National Highways or state highways of
neighbouring states. These roads are constructed and managed by the states' Public Works
Department. Maharashtra had the largest share in the total length of state highway roads
,followed by Karnataka , Gujarat , Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
District Roads:
It connects the district centre with other important places, they provide the crucial function
of linking main roads and rural roads. The Zila Parishads have the authority and
responsibility to build district roads.
Rural Roads:
It connecting villages / Habitation or groups of Habitation with each other and to the nearest
road of a higher category. They are maintained by Panchayats and PMGSY
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana:
“Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana” (PMGSY) was launched in the year 2000, as a
centrally sponsored Programme. The primary objective of the Programme was to provide
connectivity by way of All-weather roads to unconnected [Link]-gradation of
selected rural roads to provide full farm to market connectivity is also an objective of the
scheme, though not central.
The unit for this Programme is a Habitation and not a Revenue village or a Panchayat. A
Habitation is a cluster of population, living in an area, the location of which does not change
over [Link] PMGSY shall cover only the rural areas. Urban roads are excluded from the
purview of this Programme.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-lll (PMGSY-III). It involves consolidation of Through
Routes and Major Rural Links connecting habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets
(GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals.
The funds would be shared in the ratio of 60:40 between the Centre and State for all States
except for 8 North Eastern and 3 Himalayan States (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh &
Uttarakhand) for which it is 90:[Link] period: 2019-20 to 2024-25.
Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Area (RCPLWEA):
Government launched Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism affected Areas in
the year 2016 as a separate vertical under PMGSY to provide all-weather road connectivity
with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures in 44 districts (35 are worst LWE
affected districts and 09 are adjoining districts), which are critical from security and
communication point of view. Under the Scheme, 5,066 Km road length has been
sanctioned.
Bharatmala Pariyojana
Bharatmala Pariyojana is a new umbrella program for the highways sector that envisages
building more than 80,000 Km of roads, highways, greenfield expressways, bridges with an
investment of around US$ 107 billion
The Bharatmala Pariyojana was launched with the primary focus on optimizing the
efficiency of the movement of goods and people across the country. The Phase I of the
Bharatmala Pariyojana approved in October 2017, focuses on bridging critical infrastructure
gaps through development of 34,800 km of National Highways. The Pariyojana emphasized
on a “corridor based National Highway development” to ensure infrastructure symmetry and
consistent road user experience. The key components of the Pariyojana are Economic
Corridors development, Inter-corridor and feeder routes development, National Corridors
Efficiency Improvement, Border and International Connectivity Roads, Coastal and Port
Connectivity Roads and Expressways.
As a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana, India’s largest expressway, i.e.,1,386 km long Delhi-
Mumbai Expressway is being developed
In Bharatmala Pariyojana, 60% projects on Hybrid Annuity Mode, 10% projects on BOT
(Toll) Mode and 30% projects on EPC mode have been envisaged respectively
Amrit Sarovar: Under the aegis of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, “Amrit Sarovar Abhiyan”, an
initiative to develop and rejuvenate ponds has been taken. The soil, silt and other things
extracted from these reservoirs are being used for construction of National Highway work.
Parvatmala
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) is responsible for the
development of highways and regulating the road transport sector across the country.
However, an amendment in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961 in
February 2021, enabled MoRT&H to oversee and undertake the development of Ropeways
and Alternate Mobility Solutions in the country. Ropeways have emerged as a convenient,
safe and preferred mode of transportation to provide both, first as well as last mile
connectivity to such hilly & inaccessible areas or to help de-congest urban congestion areas.
In this backdrop, the Centre is giving a major push to ropeway development in the country.
Vehicle Scrapping Policy
As a part of the forward-looking Budget 2021-22, the Government of India has introduced
the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program (V-VMP) or “Vehicle Scrapping
Policy”, which is aimed at creating an eco-system for phasing out of unfit and polluting
vehicles in an eco-friendly manner. The policy targets voluntary scrapping of unfit
commercial and passenger vehicles, based on their fitness, irrespective of vehicle age.
Railways
The Indian Railways (IR), with over 68,031 route kms, is the fourth largest network in the
world under single management.
During the FY20, IR carried 1.2 billion tonnes of freight and 8.1 billion passengers – making
it the world’s largest passenger carrier and fourth-largest freight carrier.
The Union Budget 2020-21 made an announcement to run the Kisan Rail services to provide
better market opportunity by transporting perishables and agri-product, including milk, meat,
and fish. Railways had actively pursued with various stakeholders – including the Ministry
of Agriculture, state governments, and local bodies – to rollout the Kisan Rail services.
To develop capacity- both infrastructure and rolling stock- ahead of demand, the Ministry of
Railways has developed a National Rail Plan (NRP). It aims at developing adequate rail
infrastructure by 2030 to cater to the projected traffic requirements up to 2050. NRP has
attempted to map the entire transport infrastructure of the country on a common platform. It
has also assessed the existing passenger and freight traffic carried on all modes and forecast
the growth for the period 2030 to 2050 and then strategize a significant modal shift to rail.
The objective is to increase the modal share of rail in freight from the current level of 27 per
cent to 45 per cent. Innovative financing has been devised to fund these priority projects with
the help of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC).
Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is a high speed and high capacity railway corridor that is
exclusively meant for the transportation of freight, or in other words, goods and
commodities.
Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) aims at reduction in unit cost of transportation with
higher speed of freight trains and better turnaround of wagons. Around 70 per cent of freight
is expected to shift to DFC, freeing up capacity on Indian Railways.
DFC consists of two arms:
Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC):
It starts at Sahnewal (Ludhiana) in Punjab and ends at Dankuni in West Bengal. The EDFC
route has coal mines, thermal power plants and industrial cities. Feeder routes are also being
made for these. The EDFC route covers Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand
and West Bengal The World Bank is funding a majority of the EDFC.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC):
The other arm is the around 1,500-km WDFC from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal
Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai, touching all major ports along the way. The WDFC covers
Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. It is being funded by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency.
Connecting Link for Eastern and Western Arm: It is under construction between Dadri and
Khurja. The industrial corridor of Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Kolkata are also being
developed around both these DFCs.
Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) under the Ministry of
Railways is a special purpose vehicle tasked with planning and completion of 3,306 kms of
DFCs.
Bharat Gaurav Scheme:
Launched in November 2021, under the scheme, trains now have a third segment for
tourism. Till now, the Railways had passenger segments and goods segments.
These trains are not regular trains that will run as per a timetable but will be more on the
lines of the Ramayana Express being run by the IRCTC.
It was announced under the theme-based tourist circuit trains. These trains will be run by
both private players and IRCTC, in theme-based circuits.
Anyone, from societies, trusts, consortia and even state governments can apply to take these
trains and run them on special tourism circuits based on a theme.
Service Provider will offer all-inclusive packages to tourists including rail travel, hotel
accommodation, sightseeing arrangement, visit to historical/heritage sites, tour guides etc.
Some other initiatives –
Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project: The MAHSR project, which was
sanctioned by the government in 2015, with technical and financial cooperation from
Government of Japan
GatiShakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT): GCTs are being developed by private
players on non-railway land as well as fully/ partially on railway land, based on demand
from industry and potential of cargo traffic. This will boost investment from industry in the
development of additional terminals for handling rail cargos.
Induction of semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Trainsets: Semi High-Speed Self-Propelled
Vande Bharat Trainsets were manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, with
indigenous efforts. These trains have ultra-modern features like quick acceleration,
substantial reduction in travel time, having maximum speed of 160 kmph, on-board
infotainment and Global Positioning System (GPS) based passenger information system, etc
Indian Railways has collaborated with IIT Madras for developing Hyperloop Technology by
setting up Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technology at IIT Madras
Civil Aviation
The aviation market of India is one of the fastest growing in the world. India’s domestic
traffic has more than doubled from around 61 million in FY14 to around 137 million in
FY20, a growth of over 14 per cent per annum. From the third largest domestic aviation
market, it is expected to become the third largest overall (including domestic and
international traffic) by the year FY25.
NCAP:
National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2016) covers the broad policy areas, such as Regional
connectivity, Safety, Air Transport Operations, 5/20 Requirement for International
Operations, Bilateral traffic rights, Fiscal Support, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, Air-
cargo, Aeronautical 'Make in India'. The UDAN Scheme which was launched in, 2017 is a
key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP).
Some key features of the NCAP are:
i. Viability Gap Funding for operation under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
ii. Revival of un-served or under-served routes under RCS.
iii. The requirement of 5 years and 20 aircraft for international operation has been
modified to 0 years and 20 aircraft or 20% of the total capacity (in terms of average
number of seats on all departure put together) whichever is higher for domestic
operations.
UDAN:
UDAN-RCS, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional airport development and
"Regional Connectivity Scheme" (RCS), with the objective of "letting the common citizen of
the country fly", aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread, to boost inclusive
national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development of
all regions and states of India. The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served
and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing air-strips and airports.
The scheme is operational for a period of 10 years.
UDAN 4.1: The UDAN 4.1 focuses on connecting smaller airports, along with special
helicopter and seaplane routes. Some new routes have been proposed under the Sagarmala
Seaplane services Sagarmala Seaplane Services is an ambitious project under the Ministry of
Ports, Shipping and Waterways with potential airline operators.
UDAN 1.0: Under this phase, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 flight routes to 70
airports (including 36 newly made operational airports).
UDAN 2.0: In 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced 73 underserved and unserved
airports. For the first time, helipads were also connected under phase 2 of the UDAN
scheme.
UDAN 3.0: Inclusion of Tourism Routes under UDAN 3 in coordination with the Ministry
of Tourism. Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes. Bringing in a number
of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN.
UDAN 4.0: In 2020, 78 new routes were approved . Kavaratti, Agatti, and Minicoy islands
of Lakshadweep will be connected by the new routes of UDAN 4.0.
UDAN 5.0: Launched in 2023, only aircraft operations of Category 2 (20–80 seats) and
Category 3 (>80 seats) will be eligible.
UDAN 5.1: Launched in 2023, focusing on helicopter routes
Port and Shipping
The ports and shipping sector is the backbone of international shipment of goods and
services. It not only facilitates international trade but also reduces the cost of international
shipping and waiting period at the ports. In India, around 95 per cent (68 per cent) of total
volume (value) of international trade is transported by sea.
India is endowed with a rich coastline of ~7500 km and has a strategic location on key
international maritime trade routes. To harness and unleash the potential benefit of navigable
waterways, the Government of India has embarked on the ambitious Sagarmala Programme
to promote port-led development in the country and reduce logistics costs for trade.
The Sagarmala program has identified 500+ projects under four pillars— 211 port
modernization projects, 200 port connectivity projects, 32 port-led industrialization projects,
and 62 coastal community development projects which can unlock the opportunities for port
led development and are expected to mobilize more than Rs. 3.59 lakh crores of
infrastructure investment. Between July 2019 to October 2020, 37 Sagarmala projects worth
Rs.8,461 crores have been completed which comprise 17 projects of port modernization
worth Rs. 2,721 crores, 14 port connectivity projects worth Rs. 5,372 crores and 6 coastal
community development projects worth Rs. 368 crores.
GoI has also been striving to improve operational efficiencies of major ports through
mechanization, digitization, and process simplification.
Multi-Modal Logistics Parks shall act as hubs for freight movement enabling freight
aggregation, distribution and multi-modal transportation. They would provide modern
mechanized warehousing space and value-added services such as customs clearance with
bonded storage yards, warehousing management services, etc.
NATIONAL WATERWAYS:
Inland waterways have been accorded a central role in maritime development in India. The
National Waterways Act 2016, has declared 111 rivers or river stretches, creeks, estuaries in
India as National Waterways.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory body in charge of the waterways
in India. Its headquarters is located in Noida, [Link] main function is to build the necessary
infrastructure in the inland waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects
and also carrying out administration and regulation.
Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on National
Waterway-1 (NW-1) is being implemented with the technical assistance and investment
support of the World Bank. The Project is expected to be completed by March 2023. States
covered under the JMVP NW-1 are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal.
Telecom Sector
The telecom sector plays an important role in implementation of JAM-trinity (Jandhan
Aadhar Mobile) based social sector schemes and other pro-development initiative of the GoI.
The sector has been recognized all over the world as a powerful tool for development and
poverty reduction. The GoI has laid considerable emphasis on broadband for all as a part of
its Digital India Campaign. Efforts are being made to address the digital divide by extending
inclusive internet access to every Indian citizen
The GoI has taken various initiatives including BharatNet for achieving the goal of Digital
India programme. Under the project, network infrastructure is being established for
Broadband Highways, accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to provide affordable
broadband services to citizens and institutions in rural areas, in partnership with States and
the private sector.
Petroleum and Natural Gas
India is the third-largest energy consumer in the world after USA and China. With a share of
5.8 per cent of the world’s primary energy consumption, the Indian energy consumption
basket is primarily dominated by Coal and Crude Oil.
At present, there are about 17000 km long Natural Gas pipeline network which is operational
in the country.
Oil demand in India is projected to register a 2x growth to reach 11 million barrels per day by
2045.
Diesel demand in India is expected to double to 163 MT by 2029-30, with diesel and gasoline
covering 58% of India’s oil demand by 2045.
Consumption of natural gas in India is expected to grow by 25 billion cubic metres (BCM),
registering an average annual growth of 9% until 2024.
India aims to commercialise 50% of its SPR (strategic petroleum reserves) to raise funds and
build additional storage tanks to offset high oil prices.
(Strategic petroleum reserves are substantial stockpiles of crude oil to meet the emergencies
of supply shocks of crude oil. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), the
government-owned company is mandated to manage the SPRs. In India, SPR are located in
Mangalore, Visakhapatnam and Padur (Udupi, Karnataka) )
In May 2022, ONGC announced plans to invest US$ 4 billion from FY22-25 to increase its
exploration efforts in India.
In July 2021, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) approved
an order allowing 100% foreign direct investments (FDIs) under automatic route for oil and
gas PSUs.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) :
It is a statutory authority constituted under The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory
Board Act, 2006. It was established to protect the interests of consumers and entities engaged
in specified activities relating to petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas and to promote
competitive markets. Its primary functions include regulation of refining, transportation,
distribution, storage, marketing, supply and sale of petroleum products and natural gas.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is the first level of appeal for
regulatory dispute Appeals against the decision of PNGRB goes to Appellate Tribunal for
Electricity.
Power :
Electricity is essential for powering economic activity and is also required in leisure time.
The power sector has witnessed substantial transformation from both the demand (universal
electrification) and supply-side (the advent of green energy). Commendable progress has
been made in the generation and transmission of electricity in India
The decline in energy deficit may be partially attributed to enhanced energy efficiency and
improved energy intensity in India. Energy intensity is defined as the quantity of energy
required to produce a unit of output. Therefore, lower the energy intensity better it is.
In 2014, GoI approved the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) to facilitate state
utilities to ensure quality and reliable 24x7 power supply in the urban areas with a total
outlay of Rs. 32,612 crores.
India has already accomplished two major landmarks in rural electrification arena: (i) 100
per cent village electrification under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Joyti Yojana, and (ii)
universal household electrification under ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’
(Saubhaagya).
Housing and Urban Infrastructure
India is witnessing rapid urbanisation. According to Census 2011, India’s urban population
was 37.7 crores, which is projected to grow to about 60 crores by 2030. Urbanization in
India has become an important and irreversible process, and it is an important determinant of
national economic growth and poverty reduction. Though the cities are engines of growth, a
rapid pace of urbanization poses significant challenges to basic infrastructure services such
as water supply, sanitation, solid waste and wastewater management.
The GoI has been implementing the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Urban
Livelihoods Mission in all the statutory towns to address the social & occupational
vulnerabilities of the urban poor. Under the mission, urban poor are imparted skill training
for self and wage employment and assisted in setting up self-employment ventures by
providing credit at subsidized rates of interest. The Mission also provides for shelters for
urban homeless and infrastructure for street vendors.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojan-Urban (PMAY-U):
To provide impetus to innovative technology for housing construction, Prime Minister laid
foundation stones of Light House Projects (LHPs) on 1st January, 2021. The six LHPs for
construction of 6,368 houses involving project cost of Rs. 790.57 crores are being
implemented at six places – Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi and Agartala using
innovative technologies identified through Global Housing Technology Challenge– India.
These LHPs will act as live laboratories for all stakeholders leading to mainstreaming of
these global technologies in Indian context.
PM GATI SHAKTI
The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan entails creation of a common umbrella platform
with all infrastructure projects pertaining to various ministries/ departments incorporated
within a comprehensive database for efficient planning and implementation on a real-time
basis. The projects pertaining to seven engines (roads, railways, airports, ports, mass
transport, waterways, and logistic infrastructure) in the NIP will be aligned with PM
GatiShakti framework
The focus is on integrated planning and synchronised implementation across ministries/
departments, with innovative use of technology. The aim is to improve multimodal
connectivity and logistics efficiency while addressing the critical gaps for the seamless
movement of people and goods, with a focus on minimising disruptions and timely
completion of infrastructure projects
Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga
The Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project is a major initiative to provide piped natural gas
(PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) to households and industries in five states: Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.
It was launched in 2016 and project is implemented under the Union Minister of Petroleum
and Natural Gas
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM)
The PM-KUSUM was launched by the MNRE in 2019, in order to endow installation of off-
grid solar pumps in rural areas and reduce dependence on grid, in grid-connected areas
It aims to enable farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their arid lands and to
sell it to the grid.
It also seeks to increase the income of farmers by allowing them to sell surplus solar power
to the grid. MNRE has extended the deadline to install 30,000 MW solar power capacity in
rural India to March 2026.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for
providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.
The scheme was launched on 1st May 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
The target under the scheme was to release 8 Crore LPG Connections to the deprived
households by March 2020. Under the Union Budget for FY 21-22, provision for release of
additional 1 Crore LPG connections under the PMUY scheme has been made. In this phase,
special facility has been given to migrant families.
PRELIMS PLUS
2019
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is primarily
A. Rural Water Supply Programme
B. Rural Employment Generation Programme
C. Rural Roads Development Programme
D. Rural Health Programme
Answer: C
2022
Which one of the following statement is correct about the aim of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala
Yojana (PMUY)
A. to provide Health Service and Clean Environment to Rural Women
B. to provide clean energy fuel of liquified petroleum gas to all rural households
C. to provide clean water and environment
D. to provide quality food and health
Answer: B
MAINS PYQ
State the objectives of National Investment Fund of India. (2016)
Describe challenges faced by e-commerce. Explain how hyperlocal commerce model is
imperative for next generation e-commerce. (2015)
What is meant by capital formation? Distinguish between Gross Capital Formation and Net
Capital Formation. (2013)