Survey on sectors

8226; Price rise stronger in case of flat products, where most key items saw marked rise in October 2006

8226; Impressive growth with year-on-year increase of 9.7 in production. Total carbon steel production touched 35.65 million tonnes, domestic consumption: 31.45 , up 9.8 .

8226; Exports grew nearly 11 at 3.50 million tonnes

8226; Improved operational parameters and modernisation of steel plants has increased competitiveness of sector globally

Roads

8226; Problems in land acquisition, removal of structures, shifting of utilities and law and order in some states problems affecting growth of sector

8226; Progress in road infrastructure will depend on removing law and order problems in some states and monitoring the performance of errant contractors.

8226; Constraints faced in timely completion of National Highway Development Project NHDP include delays in land acquisition, removal of structures and shifting of utilities

8226; Nearly 93 of work on Golden Quadrilateral completed by November 2006; North-South and East-West corridors to be completed by December 2009.

8226; Outlook in entire infrastructure sector will depend on how much investment is facilitated in it.

Telecom

8226; Forecasts 65 cr phone connections by 2012, including 66 million wired and 584 million wireless connections, more than tripling in size from current level.

8226; Current connections 196 million, expected to be 200 million by February-end

8226; Survey seeks provision of 200 million rural telephony connections to significantly boost rural teledensity to 25 from the current level of 1.7.

8226; Calls for broadband connectivity to be available on demand without speed limit, connections to be provided to health centres, schools, panchayats.

8226; Number of broadband and internet subscribers will reach 20 million and 40 million respectively by 2010.

8226; Number of Internet subscribers grew 25, broadband users grew only to 1.32 million in 2005-06 from 0.18 million.

Ports

8226; Slow cargo evacuation, poor hinterland connectivity undermines efficacy of ports 8212; imperative to develop multi-modal system to enhance competitiveness

8226; Recommends coordinating rail and road networks to ensure good connectivity between ports and hinterland.

8226; Till October 2006, cargo handled by major ports saw 6.6 growth, down from 10.4 in corresponding seven months previous fiscal.

8226; Areas to be opened up to private sector: cargo-handling berths, dry docks, container terminals, warehousing, ship repair facilities.

8226; All port trusts have set up groups with representatives from NHAI, railways, state governments to prepare plans for improving rail-road connectivity

8226; Annual aggregate cargo handling capacity of major ports increased from 397.5 MTPA in 2004-05 to 456.20 MTPA in 2005-06, average turnaround time rose from 3.4 days to 3.5 days in 2005-06.

8226; Average output per ship berth-day improved from 9,240 tonnes in 2004-05 to 9,267 tonnes in 2005-06.

8226; Impressive growth of 13.6 per annum in container traffic during five years ending 2005-06.

SEZs

8226; SEZ policy need safeguards to allay apprehensions

8226; Acquisition of prime agriculture land could have 8220;serious implications on food security8221;; there could be 8220;misuse8221; by developers for real estate.

8226; Apprehensions about revenue loss and generation of little new activity as there may be relocation of industries to SEZs to take advantage of tax sops.

8226; Fears of large-scale land acquisition by developers, leading to displacement of farmers with meagre compensation

8226; SEZs could lead to uneven growth, adding to regional inequalities but apprehensions could be addressed through appropriate policies