Transport in the Republic of India
is an important part of the nation's
economy. With a land area of
, and an estimated population of 1,028,737,436, transport in India
is both a necessity as well as a convenience. Since the
economic liberalisation of
the 1990s, development of infrastructure within the country has
progressed at a rapid pace, and today there is a wide variety of
modes of transport by land, water and air. However, the relatively
low GDP of India has meant that access to these modes of transport
has not been uniform. Only around 10% of households own a
motorcycle (about 102,873,744 people).
Cars are owned by the wealthier few — around 0.7%
of households owned one in 2007 (about 7,201,163 people). Public
transport still remains the primary mode of transport for most of
the population, and India's public transport systems are among the
most heavily utilised in the world.
Despite improvements, several aspects of transport are still
riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure and a
burgeoning population, and demand for transport infrastructure and
services has been rising by around 10% a year. Taxes and bribes are
common between state borders, and
Transparency International
estimates that truckers pay annually $5 billion in bribes. Although
India has only 1% of the world's vehicles, it accounts for 8% of
the world's vehicle fatalities. India's cities are extremely
congested — the average bus speed is 6–10 km/h in many
large cities.Because of the congestion in Indian roads the fuel
efficiency of the vehicles is also very low. This increases the
overall fuel consumption of the country besides creating huge
pollution since the engines run very inefficiently at such low
speeds.
India's rail network
is the longest and fourth most heavily used system in the world.
India's growing international trade is putting strain on the
ports in India. The country's
overburdened airports have just begun to get a makeover, with
modernisation work and greater investment in the aviation sector.
In general, public transport suffers from outdated technology,
incompetent management, corruption, over staffing, and low worker
productivity.
According to recent estimates by Goldman
Sachs, India will need to
spend $1.7 Trillion USD on infrastructure projects over the next
decade to boost economic growth of which $500 Billion USD is
budgeted to be spent during the eleventh Five-year
plan.
Traditional means
Walking
In ancient times, people often covered long distances on foot. For
instance,
Adi Sankaracharya traveled
all over India. Walking still constitutes an important mode of
transport in urban areas.
In the city of Mumbai
, to further
improve the transit conditions for pedestrians, the Mumbai
Metropolitan Region Development Authority, has commenced the
construction of more than 50 skywalks, as
part of the Mumbai Skywalk
project.
Palanquin
Palanquins also known as
palkis,
were one of the luxurious methods used by the rich and noblemen for
travelling. This was primarily used in the olden days to carry a
deity or idol of a god, and many temples have sculptures of god
being carried in a
palki. Later on, it was primarily used
by European noblemen and ladies from the upper classes of society
prior to the advent of the railways in India. Modern use of the
palanquin is limited to being an ostentatious method for the bride
to make her entrance at some Indian weddings.
Bullock carts and horse carriages
Bullock carts have been traditionally used for transport,
especially in rural India. The
advent of the
British saw drastic improvements in the horse carriages which
were used for transport since early days. Today, they are used in
smaller towns and are referred as
tongas or
buggies.
Victorias of
Mumbai are still used for tourist purposes, but horse carriages
are now rarely found in India. In recent years some cities have
banned the movement of bullock carts and other slow moving vehicles
on the main roads.
Bicycles
Bicycles are a common mode of travel in much
of India. More people can now afford to own a
cycle than ever before. In 2005, more than 40% of
Indian households owned a bicycle, with ownership rates ranging
from around 30% to 70% at the state level. Along with walking,
cycling accounts for 50 to 75 % of the commuter trips for those in
the informal sector in urban areas.
Even though India is the second largest producer of bicycles in the
world, a significant prejudice against bicycle riding for transport
exists in some segments of the population, generally stemming from
the status symbol aspect of the motor vehicle. In India, the word
"bike" generally refers to
motorcycle,
and "cycle" refers to
bicycle.
Hand-pulled rickshaw
A cycle rickshaw on the streets of
Delhi
This type
of transport is still available in Kolkata
wherein a
person pulls the rickshaw by hand. The
Government of West Bengal proposed
a ban on these rickshaws in 2005 describing them as "inhuman".
Though a bill aiming to address this issue, termed as 'Calcutta
Hackney Carriage Bill', was passed by the West Bengal Assembly in
2006, it has not been implemented yet. The Government of West
Bengal is working on an amendment of this bill to avoid the
loopholes that got exposed when the Hand-pulled Rickshaw Owner's
Association filed a petition against the bill.
Cycle rickshaw
Cycle rickshaws were introduced into
India in the 1940s. They are bigger than a tricycle where two
people sit on an elevated seat at the back and a person pedals from
the front. In the late 2000s, they were banned in several cities
for causing traffic congestion. However, environmentalists have
supported the retention of cycle rickshaws as a non-polluting and
inexpensive mode of transport.
Trams
The advent of the British saw
trams being
introduced in many cities including Mumbai and Kolkata. They are
still in use in Kolkata and provide an emission-free means of
transport. The nationalised
Calcutta Tramways Company is in
the process of upgrading the existing tramway network at a cost of
Rs. 240 million.
Local transport
Public transport is the predominant mode of motorised local travel
in cities.
This is predominantly by road, since commuter
rail services are available only in the four metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Delhi
, Chennai
, and
Kolkata, while dedicated city bus services are known to
operate in at least 17 cities with a population of over one
million. Intermediate public transport modes like tempos and
cycle rickshaws assume importance in medium size cities. However,
the share of buses is negligible in most Indian cities as compared
to personalized vehicles, and two-wheelers and cars account for
more than 80 percent of the vehicle population in most large
cities.
Traffic in Indian cities generally moves slowly, where traffic jams
and accidents are very common. India has very poor records on road
safely—around 90,000 people die from road accidents every year. A
Reader's Digest study of traffic
congestion in Asian cities ranked several Indian cities within the
Top Ten for worst traffic.
Public transport
Buses
Buses on the Delhi BRT
Buses take up over 90% of public transport in Indian cities, and
serve as a cheap and convenient
mode
of transport for all classes of society. Services are mostly
run by government owned state transport corporations. Most
passenger buses use the standard truck engine and chassis and are
not economical for city use — there are virtually no buses in
India specifically designed for urban conditions. As a result,
available urban mass transport services are overcrowded,
unreliable, and involve long waiting periods. However, after the
economic
liberalisation, many state transport corporations have
introduced various facilities like
low-floor buses for the disabled and
air-conditioned buses to attract private car owners to help
decongest roads. Bengaluru was the first city in India to introduce
Volvo B7RLE intra-city buses in India in
January 2006.
New initiatives like
Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) systems and air conditioned buses have been taken
by the various state government to improve the bus public transport
systems in cities. Bus Rapid Transit systems already exist in
Pune,
Delhi and
Ahmedabad with new ones coming up in
Visakhapatnam and
Hyderabad.
High Capacity buses can be found in cities
like Mumbai, Bengaluru
, Nagpur
and Chennai.
Bengaluru is the first Indian city to have an air-conditioned bus
stop, located near Cubbon
Park. It was built by
Airtel.
The city of Chennai houses
Asia's largest bus
terminus, the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus
. On the first of June , 2009, to celebrate
their
first
anniversary, the
Government
of Karnataka and the
Bangalore
Metropolitan Transport Corporation flagged off a pro-poor bus
service called the Atal Sarige. The service aims to provide
low-cost connectivity to the economically backward sections of the
society to the nearest major bus station.
Auto Rickshaws
An auto rickshaw is a three wheeler
vehicle for hire that has no doors and is
generally characterised by a small cabin for the driver in the
front and a seat for passengers in the rear. Generally it is
painted in yellow, green or black colour and has a black, yellow or
green canopy on the top, but designs vary considerably from place
to place.
In
Mumbai and other metropolitan cities, 'autos' or 'ricks'
as they are popularly known have regulated metered fares. A
recent law prohibits auto rickshaw drivers from charging more than
the specified fare, or charging night-fare before midnight, and
also prohibits the driver from refusing to go to a particular
location.
Mumbai is also the
only city which prohibits these vehicles from entering a certain
part of the city, in this case being South Mumbai
..In Chennai, it is
common to see autorickshaw drivers demand more than the specified
fare and refuse to use fare meter
Airports
and railway stations at many cities such as Bengaluru, and Hubballi
-Dharwad
provide a facility of prepaid auto booths, where the passenger pays a
fixed fare as set by the authorities for various
locations.
Taxi
Most of the traditional taxicabs in India are either
Premier Padmini or
Hindustan Ambassador cars. In recent
years, cars such as
Maruti Esteem,
Maruti Omni,
Mahindra Logan,
Tata
Indica and
Tata Indigo have become
fairly popular among taxi operators. The livery of the taxis in
India varies from state-to-state. In Delhi and Maharashtra, most
taxicabs have yellow-black livery while in West Bengal, taxis have
yellow livery. Private taxi operators are not required to have a
specific livery. However, they are required by law to be registered
as commercial vehicles.
Depending on the city/state, taxis can either be hailed or hired
from taxi-stands.
In cities such as Bengaluru, taxis need to be hired over phone, whereas in
cities like Kolkata and Mumbai, taxis can
be hailed on the street. According to government of India
regulations, all taxis are required to have a fare-meter installed.
There are additional surcharges for luggage, late-night rides and
toll taxes are to be paid by the passenger. Since 2006, radio taxis
have become increasingly popular with the public due to reasons of
safety and convenience.
In cities and localities where taxis are expensive or do not ply as
per the government or municipal regulated fares, people use
share taxis. These are normal taxis which
carry one or more passengers travelling to destinations either en
route to the final destination, or near the final destination. The
passengers are charged according to the number of people with
different destinations. A similar system exists for autorickshaws,
known as share autos.
The city
of Mumbai will soon be the first city in India, to have an
"in-taxi" magazine, titled MumBaee, which
will be issued to taxis which are part of the Mumbai Taximen's
Union. The magazine is set to debut on the 13 July ,
2009.
Rail
The
present suburban railway services
in India are extremely limited and are operational only in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai
and Delhi. The first rapid transit
system in India, the
Kolkata
Suburban Railway, was established in Kolkata in 1854. First
service ran between Howrah and Hooghly covering a distance of
38.6 km (24 miles). This is followed by
Mumbai Suburban Railway which began
services in Mumbai in 1867. It transports 63 lakh (6.3 million)
passengers everyday and has the highest passenger density in the
world.
Apart from these, Kolkata has a circular rail line and Chennai has
an elevated rail transit called MRTS
. Kolkata was the first city in India to
possess a subterreanean rapid transport system, the
Kolkata Metro, whose operations commenced
in 1984. At present, three metro lines are operational in Delhi and
more are under construction there. Rapid transit systems are also
under construction in
Hyderabad,
Bengaluru,
Chennai,
Ahmedabad and
Mumbai.
Rapid
transit systems have been proposed in Thane
, Pune, Kanpur,
Lucknow, Amritsar
and Kochi.
Mumbai will soon be one of the two cities in India to have a
monorail network, the
Mumbai Monorail, which is presently under
construction. There is also a
monorail system being planned in Kolkata.
The
Konkan Railway
Corporation had patented a suspended monorail system called the
Skybus Metro in Margao
, but this is
yet to be implemented anywhere on a commercial scale following an
accident in 2004. A two-track elevated corridor has been
proposed above the existing Western Railway line between the
stations of Churchgate and Virar
in Mumbai
for air-conditioned EMUs.
Two-wheelers
About 3.1% of Indian households own a
motorcycle; annual sales of motorcycles are expected to reach 1
crore by 2010.
Motorised two-wheelers like
scooter, small capacity
motorcycles and
mopeds are
very popular as a mode of transport due to their fuel efficiency
and ease of use in congested traffic. The number of two-wheelers
sold is several times that of cars. There were 4.75 crore (47.5
million) powered two wheelers in India in 2003 compared with just
86 lakh (8.6 million) cars.
Hero Honda,
Honda,
TVS Motors
and
Bajaj Auto are the largest
two-wheeler companies in terms of market-share.
Royal Enfield, an iconic brand name in the
country, manufactures different variants of the
Bullet motorcycle which is regarded as a classic
motorcycle that is still in production.
Manufacture of scooters in India started
when Automobile Products of India (API), set up at
Mumbai and incorporated in 1949, began assembling Innocenti-built Lambretta
scooters in India post independence. They eventually
acquired licence for the Li150 series model, of which they began
full-fledged production from the early sixties onwards.
In 1972,
Scooters India Ltd (SIL), a state-run enterprise based in
Lucknow
, Uttar
Pradesh
, bought the entire manufacturing rights of the last
Innocenti Lambretta model. API has infrastructural facilities at
Mumbai, Aurangabad
, and Chennai but has been
non-operational since 2002. SIL stopped producing scooters
in 1998.
Motorcycles and scooters can be rented in many cities. Wearing
protective headgear is mandatory for both the
rider and the pillion-rider in most cities.
Automobiles
Private vehicles account for 30% of the total transport demand in
urban areas of India. An average of 963 new private vehicles are
registered every day in Delhi alone. The number of automobiles
produced in India rose from 63 lakh (6.3 million) in 2002-03 to 1.1
crore (11.2 million) in 2008-09. However, India still has a very
low rate of car ownership.
When comparing car ownership between
BRIC developing countries, it is on a par with
China
, and exceeded by Brazil
and Russia
.
Compact cars, especially
hatchbacks predominate due to affordability, fuel
efficiency, congestion, and lack of parking space in most cities.
Maruti,
Hyundai and
Tata Motors are the most popular brands in the
order of their market share. The
Ambassador once had a monopoly but is
now an icon of pre-
liberalisation India, and is still
used by taxi companies.
Maruti 800
launched in 1984 created the first revolution in the Indian auto
sector because of its low pricing. It had the highest market share
until 2004, when it was overtaken by other low cost models from
Maruti such as the Alto and the Wagon R, the Indica from Tata
Motors and the Santro from Hyundai. Over the 20 year period since
its introduction, about 24 lakh (2.4 million) units of the Maruti
800 have been sold. However, with the launch of the
Tata Nano, the least expensive
production car in the world, this is under
threat.
India is also known for a variety of
indigenous vehicles made in villages
out of simple motors and vehicle spare-parts. A few of these
innovations are the
Jugaad,
Maruta,
Chhakda, and the
Fame.
In the
city of Bengaluru, Radio One and the
Bangalore Traffic Police, launched a carpooling drive which is has involved
celebrities such as Robin Uthappa, and
Rahul Dravid encouraging the public to
carpool. The initiative got a good response, and by the end
of May 2009, 10,000 people are said to have carpooled in the
city.
Utility vehicles
The first
utility vehicle in India
was manufactured by
Mahindra and
Mahindra. It was a copy of the original
Jeep and was manufactured under licence. The vehicle
was an instant hit and made Mahindra one of the top companies in
India. The
Indian Army and police
extensively use Mahindra vehicles along with
Maruti Gypsys for transporting personnel and
equipment.
Tata Motors, the automobile
manufacturing arm of the
Tata Group,
launched its first utility vehicle, the
Tata
Sumo, in 1994. The Sumo, owing to its then-modern design,
captured a 31% share of the market within two years. The Tempo trax
from
Force Motors till recently was
ruling the rural areas.
Sports
utility vehicles now form a sizeable part of the passenger
vehicle market. Models from Tata, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet
and other brands are available.
Long distance transport
Railway
Rail services in India, first introduced in 1853, are provided by
the state-run
Indian Railways, under
the supervision of the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways
provides an important mode of transport in India, transporting over
18 million passengers and more than 2 million tonnes of
freight daily across one of the largest and busiest
rail networks in the world. By 1947, the year of
India's independence, there were
forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as
one unit, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. Indian
Railways is divided into sixteen zones, which are further
sub-divided into sixty seven divisions, each having a divisional
headquarters. The rail network traverses through the length and
breadth of the country, covering 6,909 stations over a total route
length of around . It is the world's largest commercial or utility
employer, with more than 1.4 million employees. As to
rolling stock, IR owns over 200,000 (freight)
wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives. It also owns
locomotive and
coach
production facilities. It operates both long distance and suburban
rail systems on a
multi-gauge network of
broad,
metre
and
narrow gauges, and is in the
process of converting all the metre gauge ( ) into broad gauge in a
project called
Project
Unigauge.
Kashmir Railway is the second
highest in the world and the first phase was completed in 2009.
Proposals have been made to introduce high-speed rail in India.
A
proposal has been made to build a Maglev track within the city of Mumbai, connecting
it to the National Capital of New Delhi
, as well as other parts of Maharashtra
in the form of the Mumbai
Maglev. Another proposal has been made to introduce a
High-speed rail in India
similar to that of the
Shinkansen of
Japan.
In 1999,
the Konkan Railway
Corporation introduced the Roll
On Roll Off (RORO) service, a unique road-rail synergy system, on the section
between Kolad
in
Maharashtra and Verna in Goa, which was
extended up to Surathkal
in Karnataka in 2004. The RORO service, the
first of its kind in India, allowed trucks to be transported on
flatbed trailers. It was highly
popular, carrying about 1,10,000 trucks and bringing in about Rs.74
crore worth of earnings to the corporation till 2007.
International
Rail links between India and neighbouring countries are not
well-developed. Two trains operate to
Pakistan - the
Samjhauta Express between Delhi and
Lahore, and the
Thar Express
between Jodhpur and Karachi.
Bangladesh is connected by a
bi-weekly train, the
Maitree
Express. Nominal rail links to
Nepal exist — passenger services
between Jaynagar and Bijalpura, and freight services between Raxaul
and Birganj.
No rail link exists at present with Myanmar, but a railway line is to be
built through from Jiribam
(in Manipur) to Tamu
through Imphal
and Moreh
. The construction of this missing link, as
per the feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of External
Affairs through
RITES Ltd, is estimated to
cost Rs 2,941
crore. Rail links with
Bhutan have been proposed. No rail link
exists with either
China or
Sri Lanka.
Road
The Network of National Highways in
India
India has a network of
National
Highways connecting all the major cities and state capitals,
forming the economic backbone of the country. As of 2005, India has
a total of 66,590 km of National Highways, of which
200 km are classified as
expressways. Under
National Highways
Development Project (NHDP), work is under progress to equip
some of the important national highways with four lanes; also there
is a plan to convert some stretches of these roads to six lanes.
However
congestion and bureaucratic delays enroute ensure that trucking
goods from Gurgaon
to the port in Mumbai can take up
to 10 days.
As per the
National
Highways Authority of India, about 65% of freight and 80%
passenger traffic is carried by the roads. The National Highways
carry about 40% of total road traffic, though only about 2% of the
road network is covered by these roads. Average growth of the
number of vehicles has been around 10.16% per annum over recent
years. Highways have facilitated development along the route and
many towns have sprung up along major highways.
All national highways are
metalled, but very few are
constructed of concrete, the most notable being the
Mumbai-Pune Expressway. In recent
years construction has commenced on a nationwide system of
multi-lane highways, including the
Golden Quadrilateral and
North-South and East-West
Corridors which link the largest cities in India. In 2000,
around 40% of villages in India lacked access to all-weather roads
and remained isolated during the monsoon season. To improve rural
connectivity,
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana (Prime Minister's Rural Road Program), a project
funded by the
Central Government
with the help of
World Bank, was launched
in 2000 to build all-weather roads to connect all habitations with
a population of 500 or above (250 or above for hilly areas).
As per 1999 estimates, the total road length in India is ; out of
which paved roads cover and unpaved roads cover . The Indian road
network of is second largest in the world and consists of:
Buses are an important means of public transport in India,
particularly in the countryside and remote areas where the rail
network cannot be accessed and airline operations are few or
non-existent. Due to this social significance, public bus transport
is predominantly owned and operated by public agencies, and most
state governments operate bus services through a State Road
Transport Corporation. These corporations, introduced in the 1960s
and 1970s, have proven extremely useful in connecting villages and
towns across the country.
Water and sea transport
Maritime transportation in India is managed by the
Shipping Corporation of India,
a government-owned company that also manages offshore and other
marine transport infrastructure in the country. It owns and
operates about 35% of Indian tonnage and operates in practically
all areas of shipping business servicing both national and
international trades. It has a fleet of 79 ships of 27 lakh GT (48
lakh DWT) and also manages 53 research, survey and support vessels
of 1.2 Lakh GT (0.6 Lakh DWT) on behalf of various government
departments and other organisations.
Personnel are trained
at the Maritime Training Institute in Mumbai, a branch of the
World
Maritime University
, which was set up in 1987. The Corporation also
operates in Malta
and Iran
through
joint ventures.
Ports
The ports are the main centres of trade. In India about 95% of the
foreign trade by quantity and 70% by value takes place through the
ports.
There are twelve major ports: Kolkata (including
Haldia
), Paradip
, Vishakapatnam
, Ennore
, Chennai
, Tuticorin
, Kochi
, New Mangalore, Mormugao
, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Kandla
.
Other than these, there are 187 minor and intermediate ports, 43 of
which handle cargo.
The distinction between major and minor ports is not based on the
amount of cargo handled. The major ports are managed by port trusts
which are regulated by the central government. They come under the
purview of the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. The minor ports are
regulated by the respective state governments and many of these
ports are private ports or captive ports. The total amount of
traffic handled at the major ports in 2005-2006 was 382.33
Mt.
Waterways
India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of
rivers,
canals,
backwaters and
creeks. The total navigable length is , out of which
about 5200 km of river and 485 km of canals can be used
by mechanised crafts. Freight transport by waterways is highly
underutilised in India compared to other large countries.
The total
cargo moved by inland waterways is just 0.15% of the total inland
traffic in India, compared to the corresponding figures of 20% for
Germany
and 32% for Bangladesh
. Cargo transport in an organised manner is
confined to a few waterways in Goa
, West Bengal
, Assam
and
Kerala
.The
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory
authority in charge of the waterways in India. It does the function
of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways,
surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also
administration and regulation.The following waterways have been
declared as National Waterways:
- National Waterway 2 - Saidiya -
Dhubri
stretch of
the Brahmaputra
river system with a total length of in
1988.
- National Waterway 3 - Kollam
- Kottapuram stretch of the West Coast Canal along
with Champakara and Udyogmandal canals, with a total length of in
1993.
Aviation
Airports and seaports of India
The market share of different airlines
in India
But rapid economic growth in India has made air travel more
affordable.
Air India, India's flag
carrier, presently operates a fleet of 147 aircraft and plays a
major role in connecting India with the rest of the world. Several
other foreign
airlines connect Indian cities
with other major cities across the globe.
Kingfisher Airlines,
Air India and
Jet
Airways are the most popular brands in domestic air travel in
order of their market share. These airlines connect more than 80
cities across India and also operate overseas routes after the
liberalisation of Indian aviation.
However, a large section of country's air
transport system remains untapped, even though the Mumbai-Delhi air corridor
was ranked 6th by the Official
Airline Guide in 2007 among the world's busiest
routes.
India's vast unutilised air transport network has attracted several
investments in the Indian air industry in the past few years. More
than half a dozen
low-cost carriers
entered the Indian market in 2004-05. Major new entrants include
Air Deccan,
Kingfisher Airlines,
SpiceJet,
GoAir,
Paramount Airways and
IndiGo Airlines. To meet India's rapidly
increasing demand for air travel, Air India recently placed orders
for more than 68 jets from
Boeing for 7.5
billion
USD while
Indian placed orders for 43 jets from
Airbus for 2.5 billion
USD. Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, has
invested millions of dollars to increase its fleet, but this has
been put on hold due to the recent economic slowdown. This trend is
not restricted to traditional air carriers in India.
IndiGo Airlines
entered the limelight when it announced orders for 100 Airbus A320 worth 6 billion USD during the Paris Air Show
; the highest by any Asian domestic carrier.
Kingfisher Airlines became the first Indian air carrier in June 15,
2005 to order
Airbus A380 aircraft. The
total deal with Airbus was worth 3 billion
USD.
Airports
There are more than 335 (2008 est.) civilian airports in India -
250 with paved runways and 96 with unpaved runways and more than 20
international airports in the Republic of India.
The Indira
Gandhi International Airport
and the Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport
handle more than half of the air traffic in
South Asia.
|
|
| Length of runways |
Airports – with paved runways (2008 est.) |
Airports – with unpaved runways (2008 est.) |
| or more |
19 |
0 |
| — |
55 |
1 |
| — |
77 |
7 |
| — |
84 |
39 |
| Under |
16 |
47 |
| Total |
251 |
94 |
|
|
Heliports
As of 2007, there are 30 heliports in India.
India also has the
world's highest helipad at the Siachen
Glacier
a height of 6400 metre
(21,000 ft) above mean sea
level.
Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited is a
public sector company that provides
helicopter services to
ONGC to its off-shore
locations, and also to various State Governments in India,
particularly in
North-east
India.
Pipelines
The above information was calculated in 2008.
Environmental issues and impact
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation was the first State
Transport Undertaking in India to utilise bio-fuels and
ethanol-blended fuels. KSRTC took an initiative to do research in
alternative fuel forms by experimenting with various alternatives—
blending diesel with biofuels such as honge, palm, sunflower,
groundnut, coconut and sesame. In 2009, the corporation decided to
promote the use of biofuel buses.
In 1998,
the Supreme
Court of India
published a Directive that specified the date of
April 2001 as deadline to replace or convert all buses,
three-wheelers and taxis to Compressed Natural Gas
(CNG).
See also
References
External links
_(front),_Kuala_Lumpur.jpg/180px-Mahindra_Scorpio_(first_generation)_(front),_Kuala_Lumpur.jpg)
- Haldia
- Bhagirathi - Hooghly
river system with a total length of in October
1986.
- Rajahmundry
and Wazirabad
- Vijaywada
stretch of the Krishna
- Godavari river system along with the
Kakinada
- Puducherry
canal network, with a total length of in
2007.
and Talcher
- Dhamara stretch of the Mahanadi - Brahmani
river system along with the East Coast Canal, with a total
length of in 2007.
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