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The six core and
infrastructure industries, viz., electricity, crude oil, petroleum
refinery products, coal, steel and cement, having a weight of 26.7 per
cent in overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP) achieved 6.8 per
cent during 2000-01. Several fiscal incentives were announced by the
government for boosting investment in infrastructure projects.
Ten-year tax holiday offered to projects in core sectors like roads,
highways, waterways, water supply, sanitation and solid waste
management systems can now be availed of during the initial 20 years.
Projects in airports, ports, inland ports, industrial parks and
generation and distribution of power can now avail of 10-year tax
holidays during the initial 15 years. The facility of five-year tax
holiday available to the telecommunication sector till 31 March, 2000
was reintroduced for units commencing their operations on or before 31
March, 2003. The concessions were extended to internet service
providers and broadband networks. Tax incentives were made available
to investors providing long-term finance to enterprises engaged in
infrastructure. The Electricity Bill 2001 and the Communication
Convergence Bill 2001 were introduced in Parliament.
Power
The generation of power has increased impressively in recent
years. In 1990-91, India generated 6.6 billion kilowatt hour of
electricity; in 1995-96 the figure was 380.1 billion kilowatt hour.
The installed capacity, which was 1400 MW at Independence in 1947, has
crossed 83,288 MW. The policy of inviting private sector has been well
received; about 140 offers that can generate over 60,000 MW of power
have came in.
Coal
Coal is the primary source for power generation in India. The
country has huge reserves of coal, approximately 197 billion tonnes. A
sufficient amount of lignite (brown coal used in thermal power
stations) is also available.
India produced about 270 million tonnes of coal in 1995-96. The
government now welcomes private investment in the coal sector,
allowing companies to operate captive mines.
Petroleum and Natural Gas
The recent exploration and production activities in the
country have led to a dramatic increase in the output of oil. The
country currently produces 35 million tonnes of crude oil, two-thirds
of which is from offshore areas, and imports another 27 million tonnes.
Refinery production in terms of crude throughput of the existing
refineries is about 54 million tonnes.
Natural gas production has also increased substantially in recent
years, with the country producing over 22,000 million cubic metres.
Natural gas is rapidly becoming an important source of energy and
feedstock for major industries. By the end of the Eighth Five-Year
Plan, production was likely to reach 30 billion cubic metres.
Railways
With a total route length of 63,000 km and a fleet of 7,000
passenger and 4,000 goods trains, the Indian Railways is the second
largest network in the world. It carries more than 4,000 million
passengers per year and transports over 382 million tonnes of freight
every year. It is well equipped to meet its demands for locomotives,
coaches and other components. Lately, the Railways have launched a
massive gauge-conversion drive as about a third of the track is metre
or narrow gauge. With improvement in tracks, plans are afoot to
introduce faster trains. Very soon, certain prestigious long-distance
trains will be running at 160 km per hour. The Railways have also
started a scheme to privatise several services that will include
maintenance of railway stations, meals, drinking water and cleaning of
trains.
Road Transport
The roadways have grown rapidly in independent India. Ranging from
the cross-country link of the national highways to the roads in the
deepest interiors, the country has a road network of 2.1 million km.
India also manufactures most of its motorised vehicles: cars, jeeps,
trucks, vans, buses and a wide range of two-wheelers of various
capacities. While Indian scooters have established a good foreign
market, the car industry is also looking up with several foreign
companies setting up plants in India.
Shipping
The natural advantage of a vast coastline requires India to use
sea transport for the bulk of cargo transport. Following the policy of
liberalisation, the Indian shipping industry, major ports, as also
national highways and water transport have been thrown open to the
private sector.
Shipping activity is buoyant and the number of ships registered under
the Indian flag has reached 471. The average age of the shipping fleet
in India is 13 years, compared to 17 years of the international
shipping fleet. India is also among the few countries that offer fair
and free competition to all shipping companies for obtaining cargo.
There is no cargo reservation policy in India.
Aviation
India has an aviation infrastructure which caters to every aspect
of this industry. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is India's
gigantic aeronautical organisation and one of the major aerospace
complexes in the world.
India's international carrier, Air-India, is well known for its
quality service spanning the world. Within the country, five
international airports and more than 88 other airports are linked by
Indian Airlines. Vayudoot, an intermediate feeder airline, already
links more than 80 stations with its fleet of turbo prop aircraft and
it plans to build and expand its network to over 140 airports in the
far-flung and remote areas of the country. Pawan Hans, a helicopter
service, provides services in difficult terrains.
The Government has adopted a liberal civil aviation policy with a view
to improving domestic services. Many private airlines are already
operating in the country.
Pipelines
Oil and natural gas pipelines form an important transportation
network in the country. The country completed recently, on schedule,
one of its most ambitious projects, the 1,700 km
Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline. Costing nearly Rs. 17 billion,
the pipeline transports liquid gas from the South Bassein offshore
field off Mumbai to Jagdishpur and Aonla, deep in the mainland in
Uttar Pradesh. Besides, India has nearly 7,000 km of pipeline mainly
for the transportation of crude oil and its products.
Telecommunications
With rapid advances in technology, India now uses digital
technology in telecommunications, which derives advantage from its
ability to interface with computers. The present strategy focuses on a
balanced growth of the network, rapid modernisation, a quantum jump in
key technologies, increased productivity, and innovations in
organisation and management. Moving towards self-reliance, besides
establishing indigenous R&D in digital technology, India has
established manufacturing capabilities in both the Government and
private sectors.
The private sector is expected to play a major role in the future
growth of telephone services in India after the opening of the
economy. The recent growth in telecommunications has also been
impressive. Till September 1996, the number of telephone connections
had reached 126.1 lakh (12.6 million). Soon every village panchayat
will have a telephone. By 1997, cellular services in most major urban
areas were functional, and telephone connections were available on
demand. India is linked to most parts of the world by e-mail and the
Internet.
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