• Transportation, the movement of goods and persons from place to place and the various means by which such movement is accomplished.
• The growth of the ability—and the need—to transport large quantities of goods or numbers of people over long distances at high speeds in comfort and safety has been an index of civilization and in particular of technological progress.
• Modes of transportation or Types of transport refer to a combination of networks, infrastructures, vehicles, and operations.
• These include walking, the road transport system, rail, ship transport, and modern aviation. Different modes of transportation have emerged over time, basically, there are five modes of transportation which are as below.

Five Major Modes of Transportation

Road transport

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is a ministry of the Government of India, that is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research, and in also to increase the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system in India.
• Roads are an important mode of transport in India.
• India has a network of 63,31,757 kilometres of roads as of 31 March 2019.
• This is the second-largest road network in the world, after the United States.
• Road transport is the dominant segment in India's transport sector and has contributed 3.06% of GVA against the total transport sector contribution of 4.58% for the year 2019-20. In this, railways have contributed 0.74%, air transport 0.12%, and water transport 0.08%.

India's top three states in terms of National Highways
1	Mahasrashtra
2	Uttar Pradesh
3	Rajasthan

India's top five states in terms of State Highways
1	Maharashtra
2	Karnataka
3	Gujarat
4	Rajasthan
5	Andhra Pradesh

India's top five states in terms of Rural Roads
1	Maharashtra
2	Assam
3	Bihar
4	Uttar Pradesh
5	Madhya Pradesh

• At 1.94 kilometres (1.21 mi) of roads per square kilometre of land, the quantitative density of India's road network is equal to that of Germany, and substantially higher than the United States (0.69km), China (0.54 km), Brazil (0.23 km), and Russia (0.09 km).
• The Ministry is carrying out development and maintenance work of National Highways through three agencies viz., National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), State Public Works Dept. (PWDs) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

National Highways Development Project (NHDP)

• The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard.
• The project was started in 1998 under the leadership of Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• National Highways account for only about 2% of the total length of roads, but carry about 40% of the total traffic across the length and breadth of the country.
• This project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.
• The NHDP represents 49,260 km of roads and highways work and construction in order to boost economic development of the country.
• The government has planned to end the NHDP program in early 2018 and consume the ongoing projects under a larger Bharatmala project.

The programme is being implemented in the following seven phases;

• Phase I

  • It consists of Golden Quadrilateral network comprising a total length of 5,846 km which connects the four major cities of Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai & Kolkata and 981 km of North-South and East-West corridor .
  • NS-EW corridor connects Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west.
  • Phase I also includes improving connectivity to ports.

• Phase II

  • It covers 6,161 km of the NS-EW corridor (The total NS-EW corridor consists of 7,142 km) and 486 km of other NHs.

• Phase III

  • Four-laning of 12,109 km of high density national highways connecting state capitals and places of economic, commercial and tourist importance.

• Phase IV

  • Upgradation of 20,000 km of single-lane roads to two-lane standards with paved shoulders.

• Phase V

  • Six-laning of 6,500 km of four-laned highways.

• Phase VI

  • Construction of 1,000 km of expressways connecting major commercial and industrial townships.

• Phase VII

  • Construction of ring roads, by-passes, underpasses, flyovers, etc. comprising 700 km of road network.

SARDP-NE

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has enhanced the allocation of funds for expenditure under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North Eastern Areas (SARDP-NE) related works during the current financial year.
• About:
  • Government of India has undertaken massive road development programme under SARDP-NE Scheme in NE Region.
  • The scope of the programme has been enlarged from time to time, since September. 2005.
  • Under SARDP-NE (Phase –A and Arunachal Pradesh), 6418 km (5998 km actual design length) has already been identified for development at an estimated investment of about Rs. 30,450 crore, out of which 3356 km has been completed and 1961 km is under construction.

• Objectives of SARDP-NE:
  • Upgrade National Highways connecting State Capitals to 2/ 4 lan.
  • Upgrade National Highways connecting State Capitals to 2/ 4 lan.
  • Improve roads of strategic importance in border area.
  • Improve connectivity to neighboring countries

Central Road Infrastructure Fund

• The Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) is earmarked for various infrastructure sectors such as Transport (Road and Bridges, Ports, Shipyards, Inland Waterways, Airports, Railways, Urban Public Transport), Energy, Water and Sanitation, Communication, Social and Commercial Infrastructure, etc., as per the provisions of CRIF Act, 2000 amended by the Finance Act, 2019.
• The funds for various infrastructure sectors are to be earmarked as per the provisions of the ababove-mentionedct. As per amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 in July, 2018, the subject matter pertains to the Ministry of Finance.
• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs). Apart from this, it also allocates funds for development of State Roads under Central Road Fund (CRF)/ CRIF and Economic Importance & Inter State Connectivity (EI&ISC) schemes.
• With the amendment of CRF Act, 2000 through Finance Act, 2018 and replacing earlier Act with the CRIF Act, 2000, sanction of schemes for the State Roads is no longer a function of the Central Government.
• However, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has initiated consultation with this Ministry for finalization of criteria for development of State Roads as per the CRIF Act, 2000, amended vide the Finance Act, 2019.
• The Fund comprises of a cess imposed along with excise duty on petrol and diesel.
• The administrative control of the Fund fall under the Ministry of Finance. Earlier, it was under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• The amendment in the Act allowed using the proceeds of the road cess under the Fund to finance other infrastructure projects including waterways, some portion of the railway infrastructure and even social infrastructure including education institutions, medical colleges etc.

Border Roads Organizations (BRO)

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) - Indian army corps of engineers - develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries.
• BRO maintains operations in 19 states & three UTs (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, J&K and Laddakh), and neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometers of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country.
• The BRO was formed on 7 May 1960 to secure India's borders and develop infrastructure in remote areas of the north and north-east states of the country.
• In order to ensure coordination and expeditious execution of projects, the Government of India set up the Border Roads Development Board (BRDB) with the Prime Minister as Chairman of the Board and Defence Minister as Deputy Chairman.
• Today, the board exercises the financial and other powers of a Department of Government of India and is chaired by the Raksha Rajya Mantri (RRM).
• In a bid to boost border connectivity, the Border Roads Organisation has been entirely brought under the Ministry of Defence. Earlier it received funds from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Significance of Border Roads Organisation

• The biggest assistance provided by Border Roads Organisation is to the defence sector of the country. BRO performs two separate functions during the time of peace and during war.

?Significance of BRO during Peace

• Contribute in the social-economic development of border states.
• Developing the infrastructure of operational roads for the staff.

Significance of BRO during War

• Maintaining and developing the roads through the Line of Control and perform any other specific task assigned by the Government.
• Apart from the above-mentioned situation, BRO’s contribution to the safety and growth of developing border regions of the north and northeast also plays a very important role.
• Not just in India, but in our friendly neighbouring countries as well, BRO has had a part to play in the infrastructural development. One of these includes the Delaram-Zaranj Highway in Afghanistan, which was constructed in 2008.
• Apart from this, in case of a calamity or natural disaster, the work to undertake reconstruction can also be handed over to Border Roads Organisation.

Types of Roads

Distribution of Road Types by length

National Highways

• Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs).
• The Ministry keeps on receiving proposals from various State Governments/Union Territories (UTs) for declaration of State roads as new National Highways (NHs).
• The Ministry considers declaration of some State roads as new NHs from time to time based on requirement of connectivity, inter-se priority and availability of funds.
• The declaration of State roads as new NHs are considered based on well established principles; the criteria for State roads for declaration as new NHs include roads running through length / breadth of the country, connecting adjacent countries, National Capitals with State Capitals / mutually the State Capitals, major ports, non-major ports, large industrial centers or tourist centers, roads meeting very important strategic requirement in hilly and isolated area, arterial roads which enable sizeable reduction in travel distance and achieve substantial economic growth thereby, roads which help opening up large tracts of backward area and hilly regions (other than strategically important ones), achieving a National Highways grid of 100 km, etc.
• 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 Kerala.
• The Leh–Manali Highway connecting Leh in Ladakh to Manali in Himachal Pradesh is the world's second highest-altitude motorable highway.

Bharatmala project

• Bharatmala Pariyojana is a new umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions like development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.
• The announcement of the mammoth scheme was done by Shri Nitin Gadkari, in the presence of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
• The implementation of a pan-nation scheme to improve the road network was the idea of the PM.
• All key aspects of the scheme will be managed by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry of the country.

Key Features of the Scheme

• Improving the quality of roads - The launch of the scheme has been done for bring a new wave of development in the nation in the form of well-maintained and developed roads.
• Under this project, the construction of roads, in all parts of the nation will be undertaken.
• Total road construction - As per the draft of the scheme, government and the ministry will strive to complete new roads, which will add up to a whopping 34,800 kms.
• Integrated scheme - The Bharatmala is the name that is given to the road development and it will include many other related schemes as well.
• With the completion of all the schemes, the overall success of the scheme will be guaranteed.
• Total tenure of the program -The central government has the plans of finishing the scheme within a span of five years. Thus, all is set for finishing the first phase before the end of 2022.
• Segmentation in phases - Due to the sheer magnitude and spread of the scheme, it will be divided into seven distinct phases. As of now, the first phase in under construction.
• Constriction on a daily basis - To finish the first phase in time, the respective department has made efforts of constructing at least 18 km of path on a daily basis.
• To beat the clock, continued efforts are being made to raise it to 30 km/day.
• Different categories of road construction - It has been highlighted in the official draft of the scheme that to provide better connectivity, the construction of various categories of roads will be undertaken.
• Multi-source of funding - One source will not be enough for funding a mammoth project.
• Thus, the government will have to depend on other sources for generating adequate money to meet the expenses.

Bharatmala Porject Categories

• Economic Corridor - As per the guidelines of the road construction project, the construction of 9000kms of Economic Corridors will be undertaken by the central government.
• Feeder Route or Inter Corridor - The total length of the roads, which fall under the Feeder Route or Inter Corridor category, is a whopping 6000 kms.
• National Corridor Efficiency Improvement - 5000 km of roads, constructed under the scheme will fall in the category of National Corridor for the better connection between roads.
• Border Road and International Connectivity - Connecting the cities and remote areas, which are situated in the border regions, the project has kept provision for constructing 2000 km roads that fall in the Border Road or International Connectivity category.
• Port Connectivity and Coastal Road - To connect the areas that are dotted along the shorelines and important ports, the central government has ordered the construction of 2000km of roads.
• Green Field Expressway - The main stress will be given on the construction and development of Green Field Expressway for better management of traffic and freight.
• Balance NHDP Works - Under the last segment, the project will see a construction and maintenance of about 10,000 km of new roads.

Indian Expressways

• The expressways are the highest class of roads in the Indian Road Network.
• These four to six lanes expressways makes faster transport networks between many major cities and ports of India.
• There are many highway and Elevated Expressway are under construction in major cities of India, few of them are The Bangalore-Chennai Expressway, National Expressway,Ganga Expressway and the longest expressway in India, Yamuna Expressway.
• The National Highway system also consists some of the best road for driving in India.
• There are several cloverleaf interchange, road bridges, long tunnels and big flyovers are under construction on the long Indian highways
• Few include

S.No.	Expressway	Explanation
1	Mumabi-Pune Expressway	India’s first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access-controlled tolled expressway with a distance of 93 km; This amazing highway cut down the time from Mumbai and green city Pune to less than 2 hours at an average speed of 80 kmph; It cleaves through the scenic Sahyadri mountain ranges via passes and tunnels. The longest expressway, Mumbai-Pune Expressway is one of the best expressway in India; It has replaced the older Mumbai-Pune an stretch of the Mumbai-Chennai National Highway (NH 4).
2	Jaipur-Kishangrarh Expressway	Indian expressway connecting clean city Jaipur to Kishangarh, the 90KM long, 6 Lane highway situated in Rajasthan is one of the best highway of India. The Best National Highway of India runs on National Highway 8. A wide road right up to Beawar is going to make Rajasthan a exotic tourist spots.
3	Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway	Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway also known as National Expressway 1, connecting one of the green city Ahmedabad and Vadodara. The 95 km long expressway replace the National Highway 8,one of the busiest national highways in India. The best Expressway in India is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral project.
4	Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway	The beautiful expressway connecting Green Delhi, the national capital of India to Gurgaon. Delhi Gurgaon Expressway is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral, connecting Delhi with Mumbai. Its a 28Km long access-controlled toll expressway and one of the most important expressway in India.
5	Western Expressway	The Mumbai Western Express Highway is 8-10 lane arterial road. The 25.33 km expressway begins near the Mahim Creek and extends to the Mira-Dahisar toll booth in the northern limit of the city. Beyond the city limits, it continues as the Mumbai-Delhi National Highway 8. There is Andheri flyover built over the Western Express Highway to avoid the traffic in Mumbai.
6	Yamuna Expressway	The much awaited Yamuna Expressway also known as Taj Expressway is 165 km long, a 6-lane controlled-access expressway. It connects Greater Noida with Agra located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The beautiful expressway includes long flyovers, 7 interchanges and many major bridges along with elevated highway of few kilo meters. It is India’s longest six-laned controlled-access expressway facilitated with CCTV,SOS booths for safety and accident assistance, mobile radars to monitor compliance with minimum and maximum speed limits as well and one highway patrol at every 25 km.
7	Eastern Expressway	The Eastern Express 6 lanes wide Highway begins at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and stretches up to Thane. The 23 KM long expressway cuts off from the Sion Panvel expressway at Chembur. It is one of the busiest and most important roads in the Mumbai.
8	Noida-Greater Noida Expressway	Noida-Greater Noida Expressway is a six-lane highway connecting Uttar Pradesh to Delhi. The beautiful expressway is 24 Km long and relieve the National Highway 2. There is another DND Flyway (Delhi Noida Direct Flyway) an eight-lane 9.2 km, access controlled tolled elevated expressway which connects Delhi to Noida with some of the best elevated flyovers intersection.

• Railways is one of the extensively used form of transportation in India. It generate very less pollution.
• Accidents percentage is also very low as compared to other modes of transportation.
• Indian railway system is the backbone of the country’s inland transport.
• Large scale movement of traffic, both freight, and passenger contributes to economic growth and also promotes national integration.

History Of Railway

• The first rail in India was started in 1853 between Bombay and Thane over a distance of 34 km.
• Afrer first war of independence in 1857, railway picked up growth for easy movement of troops and goods.
• In 1900, the total length of railway network was nearly 40,000 km.
• At the time of partition, Indian railways were run by 37 companies. The total length of railway network at that time was 65,900 m out of which 54,700 km remained in India, rest was in Pakistan.
• In the beginning private companies owned by the British, operated the railway but after the independence in 1950, the whole railway management came under the control of Central government.
• Now,the total route-length of India railway is 63,273 km on which 47,375 trains ran covering 7,025 stations making Indian railway network is the biggest in Asia and the fourth largest of the world after United States of America, China and Russia.
• First metro started was kolkata metro in1984-85.
• Fast goods trains are used to carry priority goods quickly to their destinations by Railway.
• Container service has been introduced to provide door to door service very economically and in reduced time. 

Gauges of Indian Railways

• Indian railways comprise three gauges:

• Broad Gauge-This gauge has 1.675 metres distance between the two lines. About 55% (34,880 km) length of Indian railways is broad gauge.

• Metre Gauge-The distance between two rails is one metre. About 38% (23, 419 km) of Indian railways is metre gauge.

• Narrow Gauge-This is of two types. One is 0.762 metre and the other is 0.610 metre broad. It is confined to hilly areas only. Nearly 7% (4,068 km) of the Indian railways is narrow gauge.

Distribution of Indian Railways

• North Indian Plain
  • This region has a very dense network of railways from Amritsar to Howrah. This is a plain area which is very much suitable for the construction of railways.
  • This densely populated region has highly developed agriculture and industry.
  • Large scale urbanization has also helped in the development of the railways.
  • The density  of railway network is closely related to the agricultural and industrial development.
  • There are a few focal points such as Delhi, Kanpur, Mughal Sarai, Lucknow, Agra and Patna. However,  Delhi is the main point from where railway lines radiate in all directions.
  • For political administrative and economic reasons, Delhi is connected with major ports like Mumbai, Kolkatta (Howrah) and Chennai through superfast trains.
• Peninsular Plateau
  • The whole of Peninsular Plateau has hilly and plateau terrain which hinders the development of railways.
  • The population density is also moderate. For such reasons, excepting, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu, a relatively open and more loose network has developed here.
  • Trunk routes are aligned in such a way that there are efficient connections between Mumbai - Chennai, Chennai-Cochin, Chennai-Delhi and Chennai-Hyderabad.
• Himalayan Region
  • Railways are practically absent in the Himalayan region.
  • The rugged terrain, hill and valley topography, backward economy and sparse population are the factors in this region.
  • The only railway lines are narrow-gauge.
  • Some of the important rail links are Kalka-Shimla, Pathankot-Kangra and Siliguri-Darjeeling.
  • There is practically no railway line in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland.
  • These areas have rough terrain covered with thick forests.
  • The population is sparse and the economy is in a backward state.
  • Construction of railways under these conditions is a difficult and a costly affair.
• Coastal Plains
  • There is a distinct contrast in the rail network between eastern coastal plains and western coastal plains.
  • There exists a long trunk route all along the east coast but such a rail track is missing along the western coast from Mumbai to Cochin.
  • The outcrops of the Western Ghats being very close to the coast, restrict the wider and the Ghats life away from the coast.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Project

• It consist a length of 3300 kms and will prove a milestone in Indian Transport activity.
• The Western corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai will be 1499 kilometers. 
• Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni will be 1839 kilometer long.
• The nodal authority Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation India Limited (DFCCIL) is overseeing progress of work with the target project completion rate of March 2017. 
• Presently, 67 per cent of the land acquisition has been completed and as of now the project by and large is on target. 
• Funding has been done with the assistance of World Bank or 1183 km section of Eastern DFC from Khurja to Mughalsarai for US$ 2.72 billion  in May 2011 and Loan Agreement for US$ 975 million for the first sector viz Kanpur-Khurja, (343 km) has been signed in October 2011.
• Construction work of about 54 major and important bridges in Vaiterna-Bharuch section of Western DFC is in progress and some major bridges have been completed.

Green Biotoilets

• In a significant move towards clean environment in platforms and railway tracks, Indian Railways has mounted biotoilets (green toilets) on certain trains.
• This type of toilets has been designed and developed jointly by Indian Railways and DRDO.
• These biotoilets are well suited to unique requirement of Indian Railways passenger coaches. Many trains are mounted with these biotoilets.
• In the field of Green Initiatives, a total of 69,000 coaches have been fitted with more than 2,44,000 bio-toilets in Indian Railways.

UNESCO World heritage: Indian Railways

• Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)

• Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

• Nilgiri Mountain Railway

• Kalka Shimla Railway

Bullet Trains

• With the Japanese assistance,Railways is doing pre-feasibility studies for running high-speed trains (popularly referred to as bullet trains) at speeds above 350 kmph.
• Initially, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor has been taken up for which the pre-feasibility study has been completed.
• A study is also being done on the Delhi-Mumbai route for raising the speed of passenger trains from 160 kmph to 200 kmph, i.e. for running semi-high speed trains
• These corridors will be set up through PPP route.

Self Propelled Accident Relief Trains (SPART)

• Indian Railways is gradually replacing locomotive-hauled Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) with Self Propelled Accident Relief Medical Vans (SPARMVs) to improve response during a disaster.

• Specification of high-speed Self Propelled Accident Relief Trains (HS-SPARTs) with a speed of 160 kmph has been finalized and it is planned to be procured in addition to existing 110 kmph SPART.
• Further, to improve the capacity during restoration, 175 Tonnes cranes are under procurement which is an up-gradation over existing 140 T cranes available with Indian Railways.
• The concept of the golden hour has also been recognised to expedite response time during a disaster.

Green Railway 2030

• Ministry of Railways with a goal of transforming Indian Railways into Green Railways by 2030 has taken a number of major initiatives towards mitigation of global warming and combating climate change.
• Railway Electrification, improving energy efficiency of locomotives & trains and fixed installations, green certification for installations/stations, fitting bio toilets in coaches and switching to renewable sources of energy are parts of its strategy of achieving net zero carbon emission.
• Indian Railways electrified 52247 route kilometre till March 31, 2022. This is total 80% of the total broad-gauge network of Indian Railways.
• All routes on BG (Broad Gauge) network have been planned to be electrified by December 2023.
• Indian Railways is focusing on electrification of last mile connectivity & missing links.
• With this in mind 365 km major connectivity work has been commissioned during COVID period.
• Major connectivity commissioned during COVID-19 period like Katni-Satna section (99 RKM) of Mumbai-Howrah via Allahabad route has been commissioned providing an alternate route to Howrah.
• Likewise, Pachore-Maksi (88 RKM) section on Indore - Guna-Bina route has also been commissioned providing an alternate route to Maksi-Bhopal-Bina. On Howrah/Sealdah-SVD Katra via Patna route, Bhagalpur-Shivnarayanpur (45 RKM) section has been commissioned. 
• On the route connecting Kariakal port to coal, fertilizer & steel plants of Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh, Thiruvarur - Karaikal port (46 RKM) section has been commissioned providing port connectivity to Erode, Coimbatore & Palghat.
• Indian Railways has also taken a number of initiatives to promote solar energy. Indian Railways is working to harness the potential of 500 Mega Watt (MW) energy through roof top Solar panels (Developer model).
• Till date, 100 Mega Watt (MW) of solar plants have been commissioned on roof-tops of various buildings including 900 stations.
• Solar plants with a combined capacity of 400 MW are under different stages of execution.
• Tenders are already awarded for 245 MW and target for completion of these plants is December 2022.
• Besides this, Indian Railways is trying to produce power from land Based Solar installations for running trains.
• Indian Railway has 51,000 hectare of land potential of installing 20 GW land based solar plants. The Solar power so generated will be fed to Central / State Grid or directly to 25 kV AC traction system.
• Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL), a Joint Venture Company of Indian Railways (49 % Equity) and RITES Limited (51 % Equity), has been mandated for proliferation of taking up land based project.
• One project of 1.7 MW at Bina (Madhya Pradesh) in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has already been installed and is presently under extensive testing. This is First of its kind of solar project in the world.
• Initially for the Land Based Solar Projects, Indian Railways has taken up 3 GW Solar Project in three phases.
• In phase I tender has been floated under developer model on 29th April 2020 for 1.6 GW capacities in railway plots for open access states.
• In Phase II, 400 MW capacities in railway plots will be developed for non open access States under ownership model of REMCL (captive use).
• For this tender has floated on 16th June 2020. In Phase III 1 GW capacity in railway plots along the tracks under developer model will be installed for open access States for which tender has been floated on 1st July 2020.
• In the wind energy sector, 103 MW wind-based power plants have already been commissioned. Among them, 26 MW is in Rajasthan (Jaisalmer), 21 MW is in Tamil Nadu and 56.4 MW is in  Maharashtra (Sangli).
• Indian Railways has also planned to set up 200 MW wind energy plants in next 2 years in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
• Realizing its role in climate change Indian Railways has started other Green Initiatives like 100 per cent LED illumination of buildings and stations.
• Indian Railways has also acquired Green Certification from CIII to 7 Production Units (PUs), 39 Workshops, 6 Diesel sheds and 1 Stores depot. 14 Railway Stations and 21 other buildings/ campuses have also been Green certified. Other than this 215 Stations have been certified with Environment Management System (EMS)/ISO 14001.

Railway Zones and Headquarters

Railway Zones	Headquarters
Northern Railway	New delhi
North Eastern Railway	Gorakhpur
North Frontier Railway	Guwahati
Eastern Railway	Kolkata
South Eastern Railway	Kolkata
South central railway	Secunderabad
Southern Railway	Chennai
Central Railway	Mumbai
Western Railway	Mumbai(Church Gate)
South Western Railway	Hubli
North Western Railway	Jaipur
North Central Railway	Prayagraj
West central railway	Jabalpur
South Eastern Central Railway	Bilaspur
East coast Railway	Bhuvaneshwar
East Central Railway	Hazipur
Southern coastal Railway	Vishakhapatnam
Kolkata Metro	Kolkata

Rail Avtaran

• The Ministry of railways has proposed to transform Indian Railways through 7 Mission Mode activities – Avataran.

S.No.	Mission	Detail
1	Mission-25 Tonne	It aims to increase revenue by augmenting carrying capacity.
2	Mission-Zero Accident	It comprises two sub-mission: Elimination of unmanned level crossings Train Collission Avoidance System (TCAS) - an indigenously technology developed to equip 100% of the High Density Network. This was to prevent head-on collissions and improve throughout by increasing average sectional speeds.
3	Mission-PACE (Procurement & Consumption Efficiency)	The mission aims at procurement and consumtion practices to improve the quality of goods and services. It is to promote a culture of optimum usage by adopting practices such as Vendor Managed Inventory, direct procurement of HSD, new procedures for identification and disposal of scrap.
4	Mission Raftaar	It targets doubling of average speeds of freight tains and increasing the average speed of superfast mail/express trains by 25 kmph. It will complement Mission 25 tonne to increase throughout the railway system.
5	Mission Hundred	The mission was launched to commission at least a hundred sidings in the next 2 years. This inlcudes operation of an online portal for accepting and processing all new applications, alongwith decentralization of powers.
6	Mission Beyond Book-Keeping	The mission was to establish an accounting system where outcomes can be tracked to inputs.
7	Mission Capacity Utilization	It proposes to prepare a blueprint for making full use of the huge new capacity that will be created through two dedicated freight corridors between Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata to be commissioned.

Diamond Quadrilateral

• It is a project of the Indian railways to establish a high speed rail network in India connecting across the four mega cities i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, similar to the Golden Quadrilateral expressways.
• Six corridors under it connecting the metropolitan cities include-

1. Delhi-Mumbai;
2. Mumbai-Chennai;
3. Chennai-Kolkata;
4. Kolkata-Delhi;
5. Delhi-Chennai diagonal; and
6. Mumbai-Kolkata diagonal.

Mission 41K

• In order to save 41000 crore rupees in Railway s energy cost Railway Ministry has launched Mission 41K, which aims to move 90% of the traffic to the Electric traction over diesel.
• The Railway ministry targets doubling current pace of electrification by procuring more and more electricity at cheaper rates via open market instead of sourcing it through DISCOMS.

Merits of Railway Transportation

Energy Efficient

Railways are more energy efficient, as with the same quantity of fuel, Railways can carry more than 6 times the traffic that could be carried by road.

Lesser Import Bill

Railways reduce the burden on foreign exchange by reducing the amount of fuel consumed.

Less pollution

Railways create less pollution and they are relatively more eco-friendly mode of transportation, especially Electric Traction.

Better Land Utilisation

Compared to other modes of transportation.

Air Transport

History

1911

The history of aviation in India started when the first airmail service in history was launched in Allahabad in 1911 during the Kumbh Mela - a Humber biplane from Allahabad to Naini carrying 6500 letters.

1912

The collaboration of Indian state air services and British imperial airways resulted in the first international flight to and from India (in 1912) flying from London to Karachi to Delhi. Tata Sons Ltd. started regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras.

1920

On January 24, 1920, the Royal Air Force began routine airmail flights between Karachi and Bombay.

1924

Airport construction in India began in 1924 at Gillbert Hill in Bombay, Dum Dum in Kolkata, and Bamrauli in Allahabad. 

1927

The new Civil Aviation Department was founded in 1927. The Aero Club of India was also established in 1927. J.R.D. Tata received the first private pilot's license in India from Aeronautique International in February 1929 on behalf of the Aero Club of India and Burma. 

1932

Tata Sons Limited split off to form a new subsidiary in 1932. Airmail services between Karach, Ahmedabad, Bombay, Bellary, and Madras. 

1934

In India, the Aviation Bill was passed in 1934 and revised in 1937.

1940

• Walchand Hirachand founded Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore in 1940 in collaboration with the Mysore government.

1941

India's first aeroplane, the Harlow trainer, had its first flight in 1941. The Nizam of Hyderabad and Tata jointly funded Deccan Airways when it was established in 1945.

1946

The maiden flight was made in July 1946. The name Air India was introduced when Tata Airlines rebranded to Air India in 1946.

1953

Air India was nationalized in 1953. 

1972

The International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) was founded. 

1981

Vayudoot Airlines, which was the Indian Government-owned carrier, first flew in 1981. 

1985

Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) and the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy (IGRUA), for pilot training, were established in Fursatganj in Rae Bareilly, UP.

1989

The year marked an important event in the history of civil aviation when Indian Airlines was crowned one of the first carriers in the world to operate the Airbus A320 type of aircraft. As a result of the liberalization of the civil aviation industry, private airlines began to enter the market in 1990-91.

1998

The country's first private airport opened in Cochin, Kerala.

2009

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) was founded in 2009 after the Parliament endorsed legislation to supervise airport economies. 

2022

Air-India was fully privatized. ?

National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016 (NCAP, 2016)

• The policy focuses on creating safe, secure, affordable and sustainable air travel that can be accessed by the masses across India. The key features of the policy are:
  • Regional Connectivity Scheme:
    • Under the RCS, the Ministry of Civil Aviation targets an estimate airfare of INR 2,500 per passenger for flights travelling on RCS specified routes for a distance of approximately 500kms – 600kms.

Viability Gap Funding:

• concessions to be provided to the airlines to encourage them to fly on regional routes.
• The central government will fund 80% of the losses incurred by the airlines and the rest to be covered by states.

5/20 Requirement for International Operations

• NCAP has allowed all domestic airline operators to fly international routes provided that they deploy 20 aircrafts or 20% of their total capacity (determined in terms of average number of seats on all departures), whichever is higher for domestic operations.

Ground handling

• NCAP 2016 provides that all domestic scheduled operators will be permitted to carry out self-handling at all airports by engaging either their own subsidiary or a third party ground handling service provider like Air India, Aviaxpert, Celebi/NAS etc.
• Airports/PPP:
  • It encourages the development of airports by state governments, AAI, private sector through PPP model.
  • For future airports, tariffs will be calculated on a ‘hybrid till’ basis.
  • Under this model, airport charges will be levied based on an airline’s aeronautical revenue and part of its non-aeronautical revenue.
• Aviation Security, Immigration and Customs:
  • ‘Service delivery modules’ will be developed for aviation security, Immigration, Customs in consultation with the concerned ministries.
• Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO):
  • The government to take measures and provide suitable incentives for MRO activities and service providers in order to boost MRO business.

Issues and Challenges with Civil Aviation Sector in India

Infrastructure Issues	The lack of adequate airport infrastructure is one of the most major barriers to the airline industry. A major issue is that aviation infrastructure growth hasn’t kept pace with the growth in air traffic. A major problemrelatively small size of the aircraft fleet available for domestic routes or international destinations Congestion in the terminals, on the runways and in the air, has been leading to a deteriorating passenger experience and an increasingly inefficient and costly operating environment for the airlines.
Rupee depreciation	the recent rupee’s depreciation has had negative impact on the airline industry. About 25-30% of airline costs (excluding fuel) are dollar denominated. Example: aircraft lease rents and maintenance costs to ground handling and parking charges abroad
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)	International prices of ATF, is one of most important factor that affects the cost of air operations. Further, the high state tax levied on the ATF in India makes it one of the most expensive in the world. As compared to the world average of 20-25%, ATF accounts for over 40% of the total cost for the airline companies.
Competition	The arrivals of LCCs (Low cost carriers) lead to wearing down the market share of the premium airlines. To moderate the decline in market share, the premium airlines were forced to reduce their fares and this in the long run lead to a pricing war amongst the airlines with potentially affecting the financial viability of the carriers
Security	A 2016 report by a department related to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture raised deep concerns by suggesting that 27 functional airports in the country are protected by forces other than the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Explanations given to the committee for non-deployment of CISF at remaining airports were lack of fund.
Regulation	The aviation sector is generally believed to be over-regulated. There is excessive concentration of power in the DGCA through which the Central government exercises its authority. According to critics, this negatively affects the competitiveness and viability of the aviation industry

Government Initiative

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme	The scheme seeks to boost air connectivity by linking up un-served and under-served airports in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with the big cities and also with each other. Critics have raised concerns as the viability gap funding (concessions provided to the airlines to encourage them to fly on regional routes) under UDAN scheme will last only for three years and various operational issues, such as the lack of slots for connecting flights at major airports will affect financial health of airlines. Note: A number of smaller airports have come up- Example: Shirdi in Maharashtra, Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and Pakyong in Sikkim In the upcoming 3rd phase of UDAN, the government would invite proposals for air routes that include tourist destinations and seaplanes to connect through places such as Sardar Sarovar Dam, Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand and Nagarjuna Sagar in Telangana.
International Udan	It seeks to connect India’s smaller cities directly to some key foreign destinations in the neighbourhood. Only the State government that will provide the financial support for flights under international UDAN.Financial support and flying exclusivity on the route will be for three years
Project DISHA (Driving Improvements in Service and Hospitality at Airports)	It aims to enhance operational efficiency and the overall travel experience of the travellers. The Airports Authority of India has planned to invest Rs. 17,500 crore in upgrading the existing airport infrastructure as part as part of Project DISHA.
Draft charter of passenger rights	It aims to improve passenger experience in India. Some key provisions include: Passengers will be compensated if an airline is at fault for any delay. Passengers are eligible for a full refund if a domestic airline cancels a flight 1 day before departure or delays it for more than 4 hours. Delay resulting in flight departing next day- Airline to provide free hotel stay Compensation for missing connecting flights: Rs. 5000-Rs.20000. Free Cancellation of air tickets 24hrs of booking and within 4 days before scheduled departure. Further cancellation charges cannot be more than the sum of basic fare and fuel surcharge
Air SEWA mobile app	It enables passengers check flight status and connecting flights in real time, and get information on the facilities available at all airports in the country. It also helps users address their grievances through the application.

Shipping

• India has the largest merchant shipping fleet among the developing countries, and ranks 20th in the world in shipping tonnage.
• From April-October 2022, India's all key ports handled 446.50 million tonne of cargo traffic.
• The only government shipping company viz - shipping Corporation of India is one of the biggest shipping lines in the world.
• There are four major and four medium size shipyards in India. There are another 32 small shipyards in the private sector which caters to domestic requirements for small crafts.
• Of the major ones Hindustan Shipyard Ltd., Visakhapatnam and Cochin Shipyard Ltd., are under the control of the Ministry of Surface Transport. The other ones namely, Mazagon Dock Ltd., Mumbai and Garden Reach Ship-builders & Engineers, Kolkatta are under the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence.
• The Hindustan Shipyard established in mid-forties originally by Scindia Steam Navigation Company and taken over the Central Government in 1961, has built 91 ships since 1947.

National Automatic Identification System (AIS)

• To provide information about the ship to other ships and to navy, coast guard etc. automatically.
• This information includes the ship’s identity, type, position, course, speed, navigational status to prevent collision, helps in search and rescue operations and coastal surveillance.
• Contract given to Swedish defense company “Saab”- they fitted systems on Indian lighthouses for AIS tracking.
• Data will be used by directorate general of lighthouses and lightships (DGLL), the Navy, Coast Guard and DG Shipping.

Ports

• Ports are a crucial part of the transportation infrastructure of the country.
• Transportation by ship is highly energy efficient can be increasingly used for intra-India traffic, and for international trade.
• Inland water transport today accounts for only 0.15 per cent of domestic transportation, and there are opportunities for considerable growth.
• Intra-India shipping on the coastline and along rivers can become important alternatives in the Indian transportation scenario.

• At an administrative level, ports are divided into “major ports” (where the central government plays policy and regulatory functions) and “minor ports” (which are guided by state governments).
• As of today, the 13 major ports handle about 80 per cent of the traffic. They are chennai, Cochin, Ennore, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata, Marmagao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair.
• There are 187 minor and intermediate ports, 43 of which handle cargo. The minor ports are located in Gujarat(40), Maharashtra (53), Goa (5), Daman & Diu (2), Karnataka (9), Kerala (13), Lakshadweep (10), Tamil Nadu (14), Pondicherry (1), Andhra Pradesh (12), Orissa (2), West Bengal (1) and Andaman & Nicobar (23).

13 Major ports of India

Kandla

• In Kuchchh kandla was the first port developed soon after Independence to ease the increased pressure on Mumbai port in the Wake of loss of Karachi to Pakistan.
• In order to cater to the north western part of the country namely Rajasthan, Haryana Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Kandla was developed as a major port.
• Kandla is  a tidal port.
• A free trade zone has also been developed to accelerate its growth.
• It handles crude oil, petroleum products, fertilizers, foodgrains, salt, cotton, cement, sugar and edible oils.

Mumbai

• Mumbai is the biggest port with a very spacious natural well-sheltered harbor. It also handles between a quarter and fifth of the country’s foreign trade in a petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and other dry cargo.

Jawaharlal Nehru Pattan (Nhava Sheva Port)

• This is India’s first hi-tech, completely computerized and automated multi-faceted port.
• Location over 5,000 acre port area, it faces the famous Elephanta islands and is only a few kilometers from the main Mumbai port. Incidental, Nhava Sheva is the most modern and largest container port which has been planned by the Indian engineers although there was some transfer of technology from Canada.
• Nava Sheva port has been planned to handle import of dry cargo and export and import of container cargo. Nhava Sheva will not only give relief to Mumbai city by diverting the growth in sea cargo traffic outside the city limits, but would make it possible to handle efficiently large, modern and specialized vessels.
• Its location is ideal as there is natural water depth of 12 to 15 metres at the port. The site is also sheltered from winds and waves. The water area of the port is about 52 sq. km. The port has also a common channel with Mumbai port up to the point of entry to Nhava Sheva water area.
• The port has the potential of becoming a port of international standards because of its proximity to Mumbai and because of its draft facility of 13.5 metres.
• The port is mainly meant to handle the container cargo. Computerization is a key element in the port operations. With its high level of automation, a 13.5 metres draft and back-up area, the Nhava-Sheva port will be a major catalyst for trade and commerce of the country.

Mamagoa

• In Goa is another important major port ranking fourth in terms of total volume of trade. Iron ore is exported from this port in a very large measure.

New Mangalore

• Located in the shore of Karnataka is yet another addition to the list of major ports. It caters to the export of Kudremukh iron or and iron concentrates. It also handles fertilizers, edible oils, and polished granite stone.

Cochin

Cochin is the sixth major port on the western coast. It is located at the entrance of a vembanad lagoon (Salt Lake) and is a natural harbor. It handles petroleum products, fertilizers, raw materials and other general cargo.

Tuticorin

Tuticorin is a new major port in Tamil Nadu located at the south-eastern extremity of the country. In handles a variety of cargo including coal, salt, edible oils, chemicals etc.

?Chennai

Chennai is one of the oldest but artificial port on the east coast. It handles general cargo and ranks next only to Mumbai. The trade of this port comprises petroleum products, crude oil, fertilizers, iron ore and dry cargo.

Visakhapatnam

Vishakhaptanam in Andhra Pradesh is the deepest landlocated and protected port. An outer harbor has been developed for exporting iron ore and petroleum products. It also handles mineral cargo.

Paradeep

Paradeep in Orissa is a newly developed port and specializes in exporting iron ore. It also handles coal and other dry cargo.

Kolkata

Kolkata is an inland riverine port, some eighty miles away from the sea. It serves a very large and rich hinterland of Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. It is a tidal port and needs constant dredging of Hoogly. For maintaining a minimum level of water in the river to ensure its navigability, water is supplied from Farakka Barrage on the Ganga.

Haldia

In order to relieve the growing pressure on Kolkatta port, a new major port has been developed downstream at Haldia. It supplements the facilities available at Kolkatta. Haldia handles mineral oil, petroleum products, fertilizers and other dry cargo.

Ennore

It has been constructed 25 Km north of Chennai to ease burden on Chennai post. It is India’s first corporatized port with private sector having 35% stake.

Inland Waterways

• Waterways provide only one tenth of total navigable port of India.
• The total length of navigable waterways in India is 14,5000 km out of which only 5,200 km is navigable by mechanized boats. Only 1,700 km is actually used.
• We also have a network of about 4,300 km of canals, of which a stretch of 475 km is navigable by mechanized crafts but only 33.5 km is actually utilized. It shows that the inland waterways are greatly underutilized.
• Inland water transport (IWT) accounts for less than 1% of its freight traffic, compared to 35% in Bangladesh and 20% in Germany.

Important inland waterways

• Throughout history, rivers have been used as effective waterways, carrying people as well as goods over long distances.
• Even today, several countries heavily depend on inland water transport, particularly for large and bulky cargo since it is cheaper, more reliable and less polluting than transporting goods by rail or road.
• Until about a century ago, the Ganga River was also was a busy waterway. However, with the introduction of the railways, this watercourse fell into disuse.
• The Government has now revived the Ganga watercourse known as National Waterway 1 or NW 1 – to ferry cargo from the eastern seaport of Haldia to Varanasi, some 1,620 km inland. This waterway has the potential to become a leading logistics artery for northern India.
• Ganga is the most important inland waterway in India. It is navigable by mechanized boats upto Patna and by ordinary boats upto Hardwar. It has been declared as National Waterway No. 1.
• The entire route has been divided into three parts for development purposes. These parts are Haldia-Farakka (560 km), Farakka-Patna (460- km and Patna-Allahabad (600 km). The national waterways (Allahabad-Haldia stretch of Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River system) Act, 1982 has the provision that the regulation and development of this waterway is the responsibility of the Central Government.
• Bhrahmaputra is also navigable by steamers upto Dibrugarh for a distance of 1,384 km out of which only 736 km lies India and the rest is in Bangladesh.
• Rivers of South India are seasonal and are not much suited for navigation.
• However, the deltaic areas of Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi, lower reaches Narmada and Tapi, back waters of Kera Mandovi and Juari rivers of Goa serve as waterways.
• Godavari is navigable upto a distance of 300 km from its mouth. Krishna is used as waterway upto 60 km from the mouth.
• There are some navigable canals also which serve as inland waterways. Buckingham canal in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is one such canal which provides water transport for a distance of 413 km. The other navigable canals Cumberjua, Kuranool, Cuddapah and Midanpur.

National waterways

National Waterway 1

• Allahabad - Haldia stretch of the Ganga - Bhagirathi - Hooghly river system with a total length of 1,620 kilometres (1,010 mi) in October 1986.

National Waterway 2

Saidiya - Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river system with a total length of 891 kilometres (554 mi) in 1988.

National Waterway 3 

Kollam - Kottapuram stretch of the West CoastCanal along with Champakara and Udyogmandal canals, with a total length of 205 kilometres (127 mi) in 1993.

National Waterway 4

Bhadrachalam - Rajahmundry and Wazirabad - Vijaywada stretch of the Krishna - Godavari river system along with the Kakinada - Puducherry canal network, with a total length of 1,095 km (680 mi) in 2007.

?National Waterway 5

Mangalgadi - Paradeep and Talcher - Dhamara stretch of the Mahanadi - Brahmani river system along with the East CoastCanal, with a total length of 623 km (387 mi) in 2008

National Waterways 6

MW-6 is a waterway between Lakhipur and Bhanga of the Barak River.

Criterion For National Waterway

• It should possess capability of navigation by mechanically propelled vessels of minimum 300 tonnes (DWT) capacity (45m x 8m x1.2m).
• It should have a fairway of minimum 40m wide channel with 1.4m depth in case of rivers and minimum 30m wide channel with 1.8m depth in case of canals.
• Exception may be given in case of irrigation-cum-navigation canals based on request of the concerned State Govt in order to safeguard the interest of irrigation.
• It should be a continuous stretch of minimum 50 kms; the only exception to be made to waterway length is for urban conglomerations and intra-port traffic.
• It should pass through and serve the interest of more than one States or connect a vast and prosperous hinterland and major port, or either pass through or connect a strategic region where development of navigations is considered necessary to provide logistic support for economic development or national security, or connect place not served by any other mode of transport.

Inland Waterways Authority of India

• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) came into existence on 27th October 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
• The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping.
• The head office of the Authority is at Noida.

Indian waterways: challenges

• Large parts of Indian Waterways have inadequate Least Assured Depth (LAD) for commercial movement of cargo. at least 2.5 m, preferably 3.0 m. LAD is necessary for round the year navigation

• Several rivers meander (move in spiral / curved / snake like shape) resulting in increase in distance to be travelled on water-ways as compared to road and rail. Then it becomes uneconomical to transport cargo via river.

• On many rivers, there are bridges with low vertical clearance which impede passage of bigger vessels on the waterways such as NW-3. These bridges need to be raised to atleast 5m.

• ‘water tourism’ theme has potential to generate considerable income for the local economies and additional income from tourism. For example, in Kerala, over 2000 people are employed in houseboats and other motorboats that cruise the inland waterways filled with tourists.

National waterway policy 2016

• Under Entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the central government can make laws on shipping and navigation on inland waterways which are classified as national waterways by Parliament by law.

• The Policy identifies additional 101 waterways as national waterways.  The Schedule of the Policy also specifies the extent of development to be undertaken on each waterway.
• The Policy repeals the five Acts that declare the existing nationalwaterways.  These five national waterways are now covered under the Policy.

• The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Policy states that while inland waterways are recognized as a fuel efficient, cost effective and environment friendly mode of transport, it has received lesser investment as compared to roads and railways. 
• Since inland waterways are lagging behind other modes of transport, the central government has evolved a policy for integrated development of inland waterways.

Sagarmala initiative

• Vision of the Sagarmala Programme (Figure) is to reduce logistics cost for EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment. This includes:
  • Reducing cost of transporting domestic cargo through optimizing modal mix.
  • Lowering logistics cost of bulk commodities by locating future industrial capacities near the coast.
  • Improving export competitiveness by developing port proximate discrete manufacturing cluster.
  • Optimizing time/cost of EXIM container movement .

Components of Sagarmala Programme are

• Port Modernization & New Port Development: De-bottlenecking and capacity expansion of existing ports and development of new greenfield ports.

• Port Connectivity Enhancement: Enhancing the connectivity of the ports to the hinterland, optimizing cost and time of cargo movement through multi-modal logistics solutions including domestic waterways (inland water transport and coastal shipping).

• Port-linked Industrialization: Developing port-proximate industrial clusters and Coastal Economic Zones to reduce logistics cost and time of EXIM and domestic cargo.

• Coastal Community Development: Promoting sustainable development of coastal communities through skill development & livelihood generation activities, fisheries development, coastal tourism etc.

Sagarmala Development Company (SDC)

• SDC will be under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Shipping.
• It will provide equity support to the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and funding support to the residual projects under the Sagarmala Programme.
• Implementation of the identified projects will be taken up mainly through private or PPP mode. It will also provide equity support for the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).
• SDC will mainly identify port-led development projects and assist the project SPVs in project development and structuring activities, bidding out projects for private sector participation.
• It will also put in place suitable risk management measures for strategic projects cutting across multiple States and Regions and obtaining requisite approvals and clearances.
• SDC will also undertake the preparation of the detailed master plans for the Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) identified as part of the NPP (National Perspective Plan).
• SDC will provide a holistic framework for ensuring the integrated development of Indian maritime sector.
• It will also manage the coastal community development scheme and fund coastal community development projects identified under the Sagarmala Programme.

• Pipelines are most convenient, efficient and economical mode of transporting liquids like petroleum, petroleum products, national gas, water milk, etc.
• Even solids can also be transported through pipelines after converting them into slurry.
• Transportation by pipelines is a new development in India. The country had a network of 36284 km long pipelines.
• The first pipeline in India was extended to Barauni in Bihar. It is 1,167 km long. It is now extended to Kanpur in U.P.
• The pipeline between Naharkatia and Nunmati became operative in 1962 and that between Nunmati and Barauni in 1964. Construction work on pipeline from Barauni to Kanpur and Haldia was completed in 1966.
• An important pipeline has been laid from Salaya in Gujarat to Mathura in U.P. This is 1,256 km pipeline which supplies crude oil to Mathura refinery. There are plans to extend it to the proposed oil refinery at Karnal in Haryana. It has also been extended to Koeli refinery in Gujarat. Another pipeline connects Mumbai to Raichur and Gulbarga in Karnataka.

Major pipelines in India

S.No.	Name	Length (in Kms)
1	Naharkatia-Nunmati-Barauni Pipeline	1167
2	Mumbai High-Mumbai-Ankleshwar-Kayoli Pipeline	210
3	Salaya-Koyoli-Mathura Pipeline	1256
4	Hajira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur Gas Pipeline	1750
5	Jamnagar-Loni LPG Pipeline	1269
6	Kandla-Bhatinda Pipeline	1331