Resource information
India's transport
system--especially surface transport--is seriously
deficient, and its services are highly inefficient by
international standards. The economic losses from congestion
and poor roads are estimated at 120 to 300 billion rupees a
year. This report takes a critical assessment of the key
policy and institutional issues that continue to contribute
to the poor performance of the transport sector in India.
After an introduction, Chapter 2 provides an overview of
rapid demand change and poor supply response, and the
resulting adverse impacts on the Indian economy and society.
Chapter 3 examines the causes of poor supply response by
focusing on four major problems: unclear responsibilities,
inadequate resource mobilization, poor asset management, and
inadequate imposition of accountability. Chapter 4 reviews
recent reforms and lessons learned. Chapter 5 proposes short
to medium term actions for each of the main transport
subsectors. Three factors make it particularly opportune
time for India to expedite transport reform: 1) Initial
reform momentum has been built up. 2) There is a growing
consensus within India that transport should be managed as
an economic sector. 3) There are many successful models for
transport reform from around the world. The resistance to
reform should be overcome considering the high cost of slow
or inadequate action to the Indian economy and society.
