Expansion, Modernisation and Technology Upgradation |
Expansion, Modernisation and Technology Upgradation |
| 4.1 Despite
impressive expansion over the years, the entire Indian
transport network is characterised by many deficiencies
and a major exercise in expansion of capacity and
modernisation is necessary. This will have to be
accompanied by technological upgradation in many critical
areas. The need for new technology acquires immediate
relevance since the transport sector has been suffering
from a technological freeze for a long time. The
magnitude of the tasks of capacity augmentation and
replacement of overaged assets offer an opportunity for
technological upgradation in each of the transport
sub-sectors.
4.2 Although some attempts were made at technological upgradation in the past, a renewed concerted effort is needed in order to ensure that the Indian Railways catapult itself to a high growth trajectory over the next decade. 4.3 Despite accelerated track renewal programmes taken up during Seventh and Eighth Five Year Plans, about 11,000 kms. of track length was overdue for renewal at the start of the Ninth Plan. The total requirement of railway track renewal during the Ninth Five Year Plan is estimated at 24000 kms. The increased frequency of engine failures, hot mix detachments, rail fractures and other track failures and the tardy working of signalling and telecommunication equipment put a question mark on the reliability of rail assets. While on the one hand, the poor reliability of assets affects adversely the productivity of Indian Railways, on the other it threatens to jeopardize the safety of rail operations. The incidence of asset failure has to be controlled by providing technology back up to the human element in the area of train operations in order to enhance safety. 4.4 Our transport network is characterised by a system of high density corridors (HDC) linking major urban areas. Within the high density corridors system, the corridors linking up the four major metropolitan cities (Golden Quadrilateral and its diagonals) carry a very heavy volume of traffic as compared to the existing capacity. The augmentation of capacity of HDC system should receive high priority. In the case of railways, strengthening of Golden Quadrilateral would involve doubling/ tripling/ quadrupling in different sectors according to operational needs and upgradation to higher axle loads. Construction of bypasses for major cities and upgradation of passenger and freight terminals is also needed to augment capacity on the busy sections of Indian Railways. 4.5 The railways must focus on reducing the speed differentials between freight and passenger services by raising speeds of freight cars to 100 km/hr. This will help improve traffic throughput in the system. It is also necessary to improve freight car designs to secure higher pay load to tare ratios for freight and to improve speeds. Locomotive technology is being improved through adoption of latest-state-of-the art locos as well as upgradation of existing fleet through retrofitment. This process must be accelerated. Mechanisation of track maintenance is another area which should receive higher priority. 4.6 In order to promote intermodalism for safe, efficient, customer friendly and faster movement of goods, there is need to increase Inland Container Depots (ICDs). The Railways have to increasingly focus on creation of rail hubs with sufficient warehousing facilities and accelerate the programme of containerisation not only to promote intermodal transport but also for increasing its market share and catering to high value traffic. Indian Railways have also initiated facilities like Roll on – Roll off on the Konkan Railway. This arrangement enables loading of a truck directly on a flat thereby avoiding movement of longhaul traffic in hilly and difficult terrain through road transport. Such facilities need to be replicated. 4.7 The augmentation of capacity of the existing High Density Corridors should receive high priority. A massive programme of upgradation of HDCs in the highways involving about 12,000 kms. has already been announced. Within this, the development of the four major corridors of the Golden Quadrilateral linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta must be given highest priority. Development of North-South and East-West corridors should be incorporated in the existing alignment of Golden Quadrangle by the addition of spurs and spines which would expand the alignment from North-South and East-West extremities. The spine and grid system also needs to serve a number of important ports and industrial centres through suitable spur connections. With such an approach it would be possible to optimise the utilisation of resources and at the same time ensure improved accessibility and mobility. The upgradation of HDC system in roads must be integrated with parallel efforts in railways so that each mode can perform the job for which it is best suited on the basis of its comparative advantage and also provide competition when appropriate. 4.8 Some of the State Highways carry heavy traffic. HDCs on the State Highway Network should be developed in such a way that they may provide a feeder system to the rail and National Highway network. There are several deficiencies at present, in the form of missing links, weak and narrow bridges and the absence of bypasses. These should receive higher priority than the extension of the network itself. The priority for linking up villages and habitation with all weather roads is too obvious to need any emphasis. Programme for construction of rural roads under various schemes needs to be integrated and co-ordinated under one umbrella in the State sector. 4.9 India is committed to the concept of development of Asian Highway network for the economic and social growth of the region and has been taking all possible measures to develop the routes within India and establish linkages with neighbouring countries. Two priority international routes pass through India, the first commencing from Pakistan border and terminating at Bangladesh border and the second starting from Delhi, going to Nepal and finally Bangladesh. Such road transport linkages will facilitate the movement of goods and people across the BIMST-EC countries along Asian Highway routes. The major development works on other Asian Highway routes would be completed on priority. Efforts towards development of Trans Asian Railway Network are also important in this regard and need to be encouraged. 4.10 The existing road network is now showing signs of serious deterioration because of neglect of maintenance. Continuance of this is highly uneconomic. A rupee spent on maintenance saves two to three rupees in vehicle operating cost besides providing a very cost effective option to improving traffic flow. Serious attention is required to improve the situation. Maintenance operations should be given to the private contractors in order to secure the benefits of competitive price and quality. 4.11 There is an urgent need for the introduction of the new technology in the designs, engineering and construction methods as also carrying out surveys through remote sensing techniques particularly in the upgradation of the roads which are covered by the HDC. Use of machines to improve both the quality and speed of construction need to be pursued more vigorously. The possibility of creating engineering leasing companies need to be encouraged. The concept of awarding big road projects as turnkey Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts, would help reduce construction time and improve quality. The Public Works Departments of the States also need to be thoroughly modernised. These steps would help in reducing by at least 50% the abnormally high time taken for construction of roads. Several new materials of road construction are emerging such as polymer modified bitumen, geosynthetics etc. that would need to be encouraged depending upon the cost effectiveness. For rural roads, use of local material need to be maximised to economise on investments. 4.12 There has been substantial induction of new technology in passenger transport segment, particularly in personalised vehicles, though there is almost no progress in so far as bus transport is concerned. More importantly there has been technological stagnation in the field of road freight transport business. Low diesel prices in the past and extreme overloading made possible by lax implementation of rules and regulations which themselves are not very stringent, unhelpful, tax regime and congested roads - all militate against the introduction of new technology in the trucking industry. There is an urgent need that the country should profit from the increased use of low tare weight and heavy haul multi axle trucks which are more fuel efficient. 4.13 Multi-axle vehicles cause much less damage to roads than two axle trucks. These vehicles offer cost reduction not merely in terms of lower line-haul cost per tonne km. but in terms of increased loading/unloading efficiency and maximum interchangeability of loads between vehicles and modes. Since the benefits in terms of lower road damage do not accrue to the user, it is necessary to use differential taxation on multi-axled vehicles to encourage their use. 4.14 Octroi and sales tax barrier lead to unnecessary detention apart from causing avoidable harassment and adding to operating cost. At present 5 States and 3 UTs levy octroi. Beginning with small localities these states may also phase out levy of octroi. While sales tax barriers may be necessary to check evasion of tax revenue, it is necessary that these barriers may be only at the entry and exit points of States and not enroute. Streamlining the procedures and computerisation of sales tax posts may help in reducing detention time and also curbing malpractices. 4.15 Safety of operation is an area of concern in all modes of transport. The sheer magnitude and severity of road accidents require immediate attention. The number of fatalities on Indian roads has increased to 60,000 per annum which is completely unacceptable. India’s share in the world vehicle population is only 4.2% whereas in terms of fatality it is 9%. The severity of accidents in India is evident from the fact that 1 person gets killed out of 5 accidents whereas in other countries a fatality occurs out of 10 to 70 accidents. The total estimated loss on account of accidents in the country is estimated at Rs. 6,000 crore per year. A multi pronged attack encompassing engineering, education and enforcement of regulatory provisions is the need of the hour to tackle this problem. 4.16 Capacity augmentation at the existing major ports needs to be pursued, but there is a limit to expansion of capacity of these ports. A substantial part of port capacity therefore will have to be generated through the development of a series of specialised minor ports along the coastline of the country. There is a strategic need to explore inter-port complementarities in future capacity creation programmes. 4.17 At present JNPT and Chennai ports are capable of berthing large mother vessels carrying containers requiring such cargo to be inevitably routed via transhipment ports like Colombo and Singapore through feeder vessels. The trend of increased containerisation in international trade calls for two major gateway / transhipment ports with efficient and modern container handling facilities. These fully equipped and developed efficient container ports will act as a counter magnet to Colombo and Singapore and can directly receive main line cargo vessels destined for India. It is also necessary to provide efficient inter-modal linkages in the form of rail and road services between two ports namely JNPT and Chennai as well as between Chennai and Cochin so as to facilitate movement of large transhipment containers. 4.18 Multi-modal Transport Act which has been in vogue for the last five years has not been able to achieve the objective of promoting multi-modal transport of goods in an appreciable manner. The experience gained in the implementation of the Act indicates that there is a need to have a legal framework as also a system established to coordinate the various operators. It is also necessary to further simplify, streamline and rationalise documentation. This may call for the amendment of the Act so that multi-modal transport of goods can be promoted. 4.19 Low port productivity in India is to a considerable extent, a consequence of obsolete equipment, inadequate mechanised handling facilities and poor port management techniques. The technology variable acquires sharper focus today in view of the rapid changes being witnessed across the world both in port handling equipment and in the design and size of the ship. Future ship sizes would be much larger especially in respect of liquid bulk cargo. It is imperative that infrastructure facilities (e.g. the pumping capacity in case of tankers) provided in the port are compatible with the ship capacity. Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transport 4.20 Coastal shipping and Inland Water Transport have not been able to realise their full potential of growth though they are more energy efficient, environmentally cleaner and economical. In the case of coastal shipping, the development has been stymied by the constraints of port capacity and custom procedure problems. Inland Water Transport has its spatial limitation. Most of the waterways suffer from navigational hazards like shallow water and narrow width of channel during dry weather, siltation, bank erosion, absence of infrastructural facilities like terminals and inadequacy of navigational aids. There is a need to remove the constraints faced by these modes of transport so that they become viable alternatives to surface modes of transport. 4.21 The North-Eastern region offers immense potential for the development of Inland Water Transport (IWT) as a cheap, viable and eco-friendly transportation mode for various commodities through Bangladesh. The existing IWT infrastructure which offers an assured 2 metre draft is being under utilised and therefore, further investment on infrastructure in this region may not need to be large 4.22 Inland Water Transport offers a very bright scope for evolving an inter-modal approach in its development. There is an opportunity now to undertake projects linking the inland waterways with the ports particularly the minor and intermediate ports, so that cargoes emanating from the hinterland can be transported directly to the ports through inland waterways without any diversion to roads. Such a programme will benefit both the shipping and inland water transport sector and if combined with an attractive incentive system, large investment from the private sector can be infused as the assured cargo traffic will make the package commercially profitable. 4.23 The growth of the two sectors of coastal shipping and inland water transport can be synergised to achieve optimisation of transport development. While it is necessary to continue the cabotage law it is also essential to provide separate berthing facilities for coastal vessels and the area kept outside the purview of the customs authorities. Capacity creation at minor ports should also be oriented towards handling coastal cargo so that coastal vessels are gradually drawn away from the over-congested major ports. Coastal shipping also needs to be encouraged through suitable fiscal measures, such as, enhancement of depreciation rate to facilitate acquisition of vessels. 4.24 The infrastructure facilities in the establishment of terminal runways and operational and safety oriented equipment need upgradation particularly at the international airports. Delhi and Mumbai are our main airports and each is well connected with the rest of the country in a regional hub. The high volume of traffic on these airports and their interconnection offer the most immediately viable opportunity for their upgradation to world class international airports. Other airports can be taken up subsequently for such upgradation depending upon traffic intensity. 4.25 There is a continuing need for the upgradation and modernisation of air traffic services. The navigation and surveillance facilities should be upgraded as a matter of priority to be in line with world standards. New approaches in airport designs should be considered to accommodate technological innovations like the New Large Aircraft. Technological upgradation should be extended to cover the ground facilities by introduction of automation and computerisation, mechanisation of baggage handling facilities and provision of aerobridges etc. The broad policy objectives of the integrated national transport policy can be summarised as follows:
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