Urban infrastructure and railways may get more than 70% share of the mobility-related investment that government envisages in next 25 years. During the past two-and-a-half decades, the government put more thrust on the road and highways sector, which resulted in roads becoming the most preferred mode for freight transport.
According to an estimate prepared by different ministries for the document “Infrastructure Vision @India 2047”, out of total Rs 835-870 lakh crore to be invested for infra augmentation, nearly Rs 480-490 lakh crore would be for urban infraand the second maximum investment of Rs 135-145 lakh crore for railways. While one major thrust of the blueprint is to reduce the logistics cost and increase speed and handling of cargo, the plan has set “aspirational” targets of reducing waiting time for commuters, ensuring60% intercity rail passengers use highand semi-high speed trains, and railways to meet its finance from own revenue.
The plan also envisages developing seven Hyperloop lines, including two for cargo transport, and increasing the average speed of intercity transport by 2-3 times. The current average speed is close to 24 kmph. To meet this target, the plan draws the road map for increasing the length of expressways and accesscontrolled highways to 32,000km from the current 320 km and augmenting the port capacity to handle cargo by fourfold, from 2,500 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 10,000 MTPA by 2047. The document, which was presented at a recent meeting chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, has set a target to expand the Metro rail and other mass rapid transit system network to 5,000 km across 75 cities compared to the current cumulative length of 754 km in 27 cities.
