<p>The pace at which infrastructure projects, specifically in the three core transportation verticals – air, road and rail – are being implemented is, from any benchmark, incredible. No more than a decade ago, this would have seemed in the realm of fiction. India’s recent tempo, however, has matched that of China and surpasses anything seen elsewhere in the world.</p><p>Historically governments in India have successively exceeded their own shoddy benchmarks in inefficiency. Ministerial budgets were returned back to the treasury each year, as departments were incapable of utilising them due to their inherent ineptitude. All that changed in 2014 and only bettered with the passing years. Competent ministries now spend allocations and often in ways that might even exceed the efficiencies of the private sector.</p><p>The <em>Vande Bharat</em> Express, locally designed and manufactured, for instance, hurtles along the Indo-Gangetic plains at speeds of 130 kms an hour. There are another 10 such train services across the country. This figure will touch 500 in the coming three years. Business travellers will save hours in travel time, boosting their productivity. The super-fast Japanese-designed rail service from Ahmedabad to Bombay, promises to reduce the journey to 2 hours. The dedicated freight corridors, between Delhi and Bombay and Punjab and Bengal, that remained an illusion for two decades, is now a reality. The shipment of goods will move at speeds of 80 kms an hour – from the previous 25 kms an hour – with double stacked 1 km long trains. Then there are trains, 3.5 kms long, with six synchronised engines that move mountains of goods, commonly operating within the country. Analysts forecast a shift to rail freight, with its market share rising from 27% to 45%, and the consequent implications on reduced carbon emissions.</p><p>A road journey from Gurgaon to Jaipur now takes under 3 hours with an eight-lane motorway which, in the coming year, will extend all the way to Bombay reducing travel time to about 12 hours. India is building 10,000 kms of expressways each year. A frequent road traveller can be allowed a bit of confusion, as new highways criss-cross in a sort of spaghetti, reducing long distance travel time by about 50%. Most importantly, the government has focused on rural roads, which improve productivity of local businesses and enrich the lives of people. In the last five years these have doubled in length from 300,000 kms to over 750,000 kms. The cost of logistics is consequently expected to fall from 14% of GDP to 7% in the coming years.</p><p>For decades, provincial India was doomed with atrocious airports most of which had limited connectivity. That seems to have changed with privatisation and new investment. Now most airports are of an acceptable standard and their numbers, over the past five years, have jumped from 70 to 150. Forecasts suggest that passenger traffic will increase to 400 million a year, by the end of this decade, creating possibly one of the world’s largest aviation markets.</p><p>The challenge of building infrastructure in India is several times harder than in authoritarian states like China. Land acquisition is a serious impediment, where the state cannot issue a decree and the courts are eager to step in to delay matters when trouble makers file flimsy petitions. But despite all of this, India has done a fine job. More is yet to come.</p>
<p>The pace at which infrastructure projects, specifically in the three core transportation verticals – air, road and rail – are being implemented is, from any benchmark, incredible. No more than a decade ago, this would have seemed in the realm of fiction. India’s recent tempo, however, has matched that of China and surpasses anything seen elsewhere in the world.</p><p>Historically governments in India have successively exceeded their own shoddy benchmarks in inefficiency. Ministerial budgets were returned back to the treasury each year, as departments were incapable of utilising them due to their inherent ineptitude. All that changed in 2014 and only bettered with the passing years. Competent ministries now spend allocations and often in ways that might even exceed the efficiencies of the private sector.</p><p>The <em>Vande Bharat</em> Express, locally designed and manufactured, for instance, hurtles along the Indo-Gangetic plains at speeds of 130 kms an hour. There are another 10 such train services across the country. This figure will touch 500 in the coming three years. Business travellers will save hours in travel time, boosting their productivity. The super-fast Japanese-designed rail service from Ahmedabad to Bombay, promises to reduce the journey to 2 hours. The dedicated freight corridors, between Delhi and Bombay and Punjab and Bengal, that remained an illusion for two decades, is now a reality. The shipment of goods will move at speeds of 80 kms an hour – from the previous 25 kms an hour – with double stacked 1 km long trains. Then there are trains, 3.5 kms long, with six synchronised engines that move mountains of goods, commonly operating within the country. Analysts forecast a shift to rail freight, with its market share rising from 27% to 45%, and the consequent implications on reduced carbon emissions.</p><p>A road journey from Gurgaon to Jaipur now takes under 3 hours with an eight-lane motorway which, in the coming year, will extend all the way to Bombay reducing travel time to about 12 hours. India is building 10,000 kms of expressways each year. A frequent road traveller can be allowed a bit of confusion, as new highways criss-cross in a sort of spaghetti, reducing long distance travel time by about 50%. Most importantly, the government has focused on rural roads, which improve productivity of local businesses and enrich the lives of people. In the last five years these have doubled in length from 300,000 kms to over 750,000 kms. The cost of logistics is consequently expected to fall from 14% of GDP to 7% in the coming years.</p><p>For decades, provincial India was doomed with atrocious airports most of which had limited connectivity. That seems to have changed with privatisation and new investment. Now most airports are of an acceptable standard and their numbers, over the past five years, have jumped from 70 to 150. Forecasts suggest that passenger traffic will increase to 400 million a year, by the end of this decade, creating possibly one of the world’s largest aviation markets.</p><p>The challenge of building infrastructure in India is several times harder than in authoritarian states like China. Land acquisition is a serious impediment, where the state cannot issue a decree and the courts are eager to step in to delay matters when trouble makers file flimsy petitions. But despite all of this, India has done a fine job. More is yet to come.</p>
