India - Infrastructure overview
Country profile
- The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index of 2019’s Infrastructure Pillar ranks India at 70 out of 141 countries.
- The Economic Survey of 2021-2022 states that to achieve the GDP of USD 5 trillion by 2024-25, India needs to spend about USD 1.4 trillion on infrastructure.
Policies and initiatives
- The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), involving 7,400 projects, outlines India's infrastructure vision and goals to create new and upgrade existing infrastructure.
- The National Industrial Corridor which would connect major cities of India through industrial corridors was envisioned in 2006. It aims to triple industrial output in 9 years, and quadruple exports from the region in 8-9 years when it’s completed by 2040.
- The Smart Cities Mission, launched in 2015, is a USD 14 billion urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable.
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, launched in 2015, with both rural and urban programmes, is an ambitious affordable housing programme which is aiming to provide housing to all by 2022.
- The Bharatmala and Sagarmala initiatives, both launched in 2015, are national highways and ports development umbrella projects, respectively. The projects represent a major investments in the country’s logistics sector.
- The Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, launched in 2015, aims to provide all of rural India with a continuous supply of electricity.
- The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was revived in 2019 with the launch of its third phase. It aims to provide last-mile and essential connectivity to Rural India through the building of roadways.
- The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for FY 2019-25 is a first of its kind, whole of government exercise to provide world-class infrastructure to citizens and improving their quality of life. It aims to improve project preparation and attract investments into infrastructure worth around USD 1.4 Trillion.
- The NITI Aayog and the Quality Council of India launched a National Program & Project Management Policy Framework in 2020 to institutionalise Program/ Project Management practices and profession in the country to reduce overruns and bring efficiency in large-scale PPP/ public sector infrastructure projects.
- India has a number of schemes pushing for Internet connectivity - Bharatnet, also known as National Optical Fibre Network, launched in 2011, aims to provide optical fibre connections to all Gram Panchayats (local bodies); an Optical Fibre link to India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands completed in 2020; and a public WiFi system known as PM-WANI, launched in 2020.The Indian Railways have three important projects ongoing in various stages of completion in 2020:
- The Dedicated Freight Corridor Project comprises an Eastern and a Western corridor aimed at decongesting the quadrilateral lines and lowering logistics costs and times.
- The Railways intends to add a number of High Speed Railways between important population centres, with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor already sanctioned.
- The Station Redevelopment Plan intends to upgrade India’s extensive network of railway stations and integrate them with other modes of transport and logistics.
Governance structure
Constitutionally, much of the basic infrastructure falls within the domain of the States while the Union retains control over infrastructure such as railways, communications, national highways etc. However, the Union uses Centrally Sponsored Schemes and project funding to complement State efforts. In the Union Budget 2022–23, the Government has given a massive push to the infrastructure sector by allocating Rs 199107 crore to transport and highways, Rs 140367 crore to railways, and Rs 76549 crore to housing and urban development.