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Sunday, December 23, 2018

India has ended up prioritizing roads and private motorized vehicles for transport

At 0.66 km of highway per square kilometre of land the density of India's highway network is higher than that of the United States (0.65) and far higher than that of China's (0.16) or Brazil's (0.20). About 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by roads in India. Average growth of the number of vehicles has been around 10 % per annum over recent years.

Increase in greenhouse gas emissions from transport sector is highest among all other sectors in India.

Indian cities are experiencing an explosive motorisation phase. It had taken 60 years – from 1952 to 2008 – for the number of registered vehicles in the country to reach 105 million.

But thereafter, the same number was added in a mere six years – between 2009 and 2015. At the same time, the share of public transport in overall transportation modes is expected to decrease from over three-fourths in 2000-01, to less than half in 2030-31.


Bhopal, Kolkatta and Mumbai topped the ranking of 14 Indian cities recently on how public transport contributes to air pollution and energy use. The first modern rapid transit in India is the Kolkata Metro which started its operations in 1984.

Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad score poor in the ranking of 14 cities.

Roads are jammed with traffic 60-70 % of the time in Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkatta.

Cities need policies to stop urban sprawl; reduce distances between residence, jobs and recreation through compact urban forms; scale up integrated public transport, walking and cycling; and put restraints on use of personal vehicles to avert pollution and climate crisis.


At least 13 people die every hour i
n road accidents in the country. In the year 2007, road accidents claimed more than 130,000 lives in India, overtaking China. Sadly, 54 % of people killed in road accidents are in the 15-34 years age group. It is estimated that the economy lost around 3% of GDP (1999-2000) due to road mishaps.

Oil and gas industry in India imports 82% of its oil needs and aims to bring that down to 67% by 2022 by replacing it with local exploration, renewable energy and indigenous ethanol fuel.


Cost of logistics in India is 14% of GDP, which is higher than the developed nations, and government reforms aim to bring it down to 10% of GDP by 2022. Although India's rank in the annual logistics performance index isnt bad at no. 44 in 2018 (out of 160 countries).

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