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Units 1980-81 1993-94
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Railways
Net Revenue Rs.Bln 1.2 31.0
Route-length '000 kms 61.2 62.5
electrified '000 kms 5.3 11.3
Passenger- kms bln 209.0 296.2
Freight Net tonne-kms bln. 158.5 257.1
Roads
Road length mln. kms 1.5 2.0*
Motor vehicle registered mln. nos 5.4 26.5
Shipping
Major Ports nos. 10 11
Cargo handled mln tonnes 81.3 179.3
Ships nos 383 443
Air Traffic@
Passenger carried
Air India '000 nos 1,418 1,947
Indian Airlines '000 nos 5,408 7,214
Vayudoot '000 nos - #
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* Pertains to 1991-92.
@ Data for private sector airlines is excluded.
# Merged with Indian Airlines.
The rate of increase in the railway network was 0.5-0.6% per annum in the 1950s and 1960s. This rate dropped to 0.2% per annum in the seventies and in the eighties. Progress on electrification has been more substantial. Electrified routes increased from 388 kms to 11,260 kms between 1950-51 to 1993-94. Revenue earning goods traffic grew at a rate of 5% per annum in the eighties. This growth declined in the following four years at 3.5% per annum.
In 1950-51 roads carried only 12% of freight and 26% of passenger traffic. By 1991-92, it carried 53% of freight and about 80% of the passenger traffic. Road network increased at 5.8% per annum during the sixties. This growth slowed down to 5% per annum during the seventies and 2.9% per annum during the eighties.
The sixties and seventies witnessed a slow growth of 5% per annum in port traffic due to the low growth in India's foreign trade. The eighties saw a higher growth of 6.6% per year. After the liberalisation on the trade front, cargo traffic increased by 7.6% in 1993-94 and further by 10% in 1994-95.
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Bombay
Contact Addresses for More Information
Last updated: August 1995.