The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu has said that good quality infrastructure like all weather roads, power, Telecommunications, Railways, Ports, Airports & Air Services to all parts of the country, Irrigation, Water Supply and Sanitation are the most critical requirements for attaining faster growth in a competitive world as also for ensuring investment for backward regions of the country.
Thiru Baalu was speaking on the occasion of laying of the foundation stone for the development and modernisation of Chennai Airport by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. Karunanidhi, today. The project includes construction of New Domestic Terminal Building, Modification/Extension of the existing International Terminal Building, face-lifting of existing Terminal Building, city-side development, and extension of secondary runway at an estimated cost of Rs.1,808 crores.
Speaking on the occasion, Thiru Baalu said that the liberalisation of our economy has brought home the urgency of recognising that an efficient transportation system is necessary for increasing productivity and enabling our country to compete effectively in the world market. He said that keeping this in view, the Union Government has made infrastructure a national priority. Out of the total investment planned for Eleventh Five Year Plan, viz., Rs.36,44,781 crore, over 56% is planned for infrastructure, i.e., Rs.20,56,150 crore. The emphasis being given to the development of transport infrastructure by the Government is evident from the fact that, out of the investment of Rs.20,56,150 crore planned for infrastructure in the Eleventh Plan, 15.28% is the share for Roads and Bridges, 12.73% for Railways, 4.28% for Ports and 1.51% for Airports. This takes the total investment for transport infrastructure to Rs.6,94,920 crore. which is 33.8% of the total investment planned for infrastructure, he pointed out.
The Minister informed that the growth and diversification of the Indian economy has fuelled growth in various modes of transport in the post independence period. The cargo handled at Indian ports increased over 27 times from about 19 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 522 million tonnes in 2004-05; the freight carried by railways expanded 11 fold from 38 Billion Tonnes Kilometres (BTKM) in 1950-51 to 407 BTKM in 2004-05. However, the growth in road freight transport has been more than 100 times from 6 BTKM in 1950-51 to 613 BTKM in 2004-05. The passengers carried by Railways have increased 10-fold from 66.5 Billion Passengers Kilometers (BPKM) in 1950-51 to 515.7 BPKM in 2004-05, whereas the passengers carried by road have increased over 146 times from 23 BPKM in 1950-51 to 3365.9 in 2004-05, he added.
The share of road transport in passenger movement has witnessed a quantum jump from 15% in 1950-51 to an estimated 87% of the total traffic by the end of the Tenth Plan, Thiru Baalu said. However, the Minister said, air transport has emerged as the preferred mode of transport especially for long distance travel, business travelling, accessing difficult terrains and for transporting high value and perishable commodities. Thiru. Baalu also emphasised on the development of integrated transport system in India. He said that the development of various transport modes in an integrated manner will lead to the realisation of an efficient, sustainable, safe and regionally balanced transportation system where each mode of transport operates in its field of economy and usefulness, with competitive and non-discriminatory prices that are adequate to support the progressive development of transport infrastructure and services.
Thiru Baalu added that it is imperative we create a policy environment that encourages competitive pricing and co-ordination between alternative modes to provide an integrated transport system that assures the mobility of goods and people at maximum efficiency and minimum cost. We also need to provide an environment where private investment can be attracted to mobilise the resources required to meet the infrastructure growth of the country. Out of the total investment Rs.20,56,150 crore planned for the infrastructure sector in the Eleventh Plan, the public investment planned is Rs.14,36,559 crore whereas the private investment anticipated is Rs.6,19,591 crore, he said.
He further said that in order to take full advantage of air transportation by reducing total travel time, it is important that airports are connected to cities by an excellent road network. Realising this, NHAI has built a Flyover on NH-45 at an estimated cost of Rs.98 crore in front of the Chennai Airport which was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi yesterday. This flyover will facilitate decongesting and segregating the airport bound traffic from the heavy traffic on NH-45, thus ensuring quick dispersal of traffic to and from the Chennai Airport.
The function was presided over by Thiru. Praful Patel, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and attended by Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Thiru. G.K. Vasan, Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Tamil Nadu State Ministers Thiru. K.N. Nehru, Thiru. T.M. Anbarasan and Member of Parliament Thiru. A. Krishnaswamy amongst others.
VBA/BS
(Release ID :43924)