Infrastructure Developments
Roads
New inter-city roads are overseen by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and at present, India only has two expressways (motorways); 92 km between Mumbai and Pune and 93 km between Vadodara-Ahmedabad. There are plans to construct expressways between Vadodara (Gujarat) and Mumbai, Delhi and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Dhanbad (Jharkhand) - Kolkata and another between Bangalore-Chennai. The ministry is also planning a larger ‘national grid of expressways’.
Power
India has embarked on an Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Programme (2002 – 2012) to add 78,000 MW of capacity which requires over $250bn in foreign and domestic investment. This will help to propel the target economic growth.
Ports
India’s port capacity is expected to increase from 7m TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) (in 2007) to 21m TEUs by 2016, helped by 20-30 new ports being built along the coastline. Currently, Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Port in Navi Mumbai is India’s largest container port and handled 4.06m TEUs. Increased capacity will aid the economy by reducing transportation costs and allowing more goods to be handled. Another major initiative is the construction of the Sethusamudram Channel between India and Sri Lanka. The project will allow ships sailing between the east and west costs of India to have a straight passage through India's territorial waters, instead of having to circumvent Sri Lanka. This will lead to a saving of upto 424 nautical miles and upto to 30 hours in sailing time.
