ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that infrastructure is absolutely critical for sustaining the overall growth process of any country and India is no exception. This chapter concentrates entirely on the status of physical infrastructure in India and its implications. It examines the current status of these critical components of the Indian economy and outlines steps being taken to fill extant gaps in this area. Roadways and railways are the two pillars of the surface transport system. Both are key for movement of man and material across the length and breadth of the country at affordable rates, contributing vastly to economic and social mobility. Railways particularly are absolutely critical for providing climate friendly solutions for large-scale movements of people as well as freight. Apart from connecting economic centres to the hinterland, railways are also coming up in a very big way as an essential component of intra–city mass transit systems. A reliable network of all-weather roads is also being given urgent priority especially for the vast quantum of positive externalities that it unleashes. Similarly, policies with respect to civil aviation keep a careful watch on airfares, especially as the importance of air-transport has increased manifold for the country’s growing middle-class in the post-liberalization period. “Expansion and modernization with safety” is the cornerstone of the government’s transport policy in the present day. The question of energy-security also figures in a big way in the current geo-political scenario and in view of the spectre of climate change looming large, perhaps no issue holds as much importance as a smooth transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Given India’s fast developing digital infrastructure, finding affordable, IT-based solutions to climate and energy related problems will hold centre stage in India’s combat against climate change in the days to come.
