March 1: The Ninth Plan document has underlined the need for a comprehensive policy package for the transport sector which is facing capacity saturation. It has put the total fund requirement at over Rs 200,000 crore.The document warns that the inadequacies and imbalances in transport threaten to constrain economic growth and quality of life.
Immediate policy initiatives are required for this sector, each backed by adequate investment and complemented by suitable policy changes in other sectors, the document has noted.
Quoting from the `India Infrastructure report', which points out that no more than 15 per cent of the funds required for infrastructure can be expected to come from external resources, the document has called for stepping up internal resource mobilisation. It has also stressed for adequate public sector outlays for transport.
The share of transport has been declining over several Plan periods, says the document. From 23 per cent in the Third Plan, it dropped to 13 per cent in theEighth Plan and this has been partly responsible for the acute deficiencies in this sector, it adds.
The document says that pricing for many of the transport services have hitherto been influenced by public utility consideration, giving rise to subsidies and concessions, many of which are unmeritorious. The pricing policy in future will therefore be based on full recovery of costs, it adds.
It says that non-tariff measures like commercial exploitation of land and air space on properties belonging to the railways and other government agencies will be exploited for resource mobilisation. Besides this, stress would be laid on productivity of human and material assets and cost cutting will be pursued vigorously.
Conceding that the share of the railways in the movement of passengers and goods has declined excessively over the years, the document suggests capacity expansion through increase in rolling stock on one hand and reduction in the burden of cross-rationalisation between freight and passenger trafficby rationalisation of tariffs on the other.
The document has also suggested an increase in the ratio between freight and passenger trains and adoption of non-tariff revenue measures like utilisation of land space and communication network for commercial purposes.
On private participation, the document says that projects like gauge conversion, supply of rolling stock, electrification, doubling of existing single lines and telecom projects will be given to private sector under the `Build-Own-Lease-Transfer' (BOLT) scheme.
It suggests improving the viability of private investment through dedicated levies and user charges and use of land development and tax concessions for the roads sector. It calls for abolition of fiscal barriers to smooth operation of the transport system and substituting them by alternative means of revenue collection and sharing.
In the domestic air transport operation, the objective would be to provide adequate capacity, ensure healthy competition as also safe operations.
Toachieve this, the private sector would be encouraged to provide air service while ensuring that only technical and financially sound players enter the field.
About AI's turnaround strategy, the document mentions that route rationalisation and redeployment of capacity will be a dynamic function and the carrier will also standardise its fleet to three aircraft types.
A proper environment would be created to enable the national carriers to operate to full capacity and bear the social burden. The port capacity also needs to be adequately augmented in view of the projected requirements with larger private sector participation and development of some minor ports.
Besides, attention would be given to night navigation facilities at all the major ports to improve the turnaround of vessels and setting up of an independent tariff regulatory authority for fixing port charges.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
