The way to go

8226; Air cargo traffic is likely to jump from the current 1.6 million metric tonnes to 9 million metric tonnes by 2020

8226; 70 per cent of air traffic is concentrated in the five metro airports

Path Ahead

8226; The Civil Aviation ministry has planned investments worth Rs 41,000 crore over the next five years

Metro Airports

Delhi: Transferred to joint venture company Delhi International Airport Ltd DIAL in May 2006. Phase I to be completed by 2010

Mumbai: Transferred to joint venture company Mumbai International Airport Ltd MIAL in May 2006. Phase I to be completed by 2010

Hyderabad and Bangalore: To be commissioned in April 2008

Kolkata and Chennai: Plans to complete the modernisation by 2010

Navi Mumbai: In-principle approval granted

35 non-metro airports: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Agatti, Aurangabad, Agartala, Agra, Vadodara, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Dimapur, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jammu, Khajuraho, Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Rajkot, Ranchi, Raipur, Goa, Imphal, Indore, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Trichy, Trivandrum, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam and Varanasi

Merchant airports: Airports with private resources and no government funding. The entrepreneur is expected to set up and operate airports on the basis of commercial viability.

Low-cost airports: The ministry wants state governments to consider constructing 8220;low-cost airports8221; at unused airstrips in their territories. Around 150 of the 400 airstrips in the country are owned by state governments.

Some Turbulence: The high concentration of traffic has exposed the inadequacies in infrastructure which is causing delays and increased costs

RAILWAYS

8226; By 2011-12, the Railways hope to carry 8,400 million originating passengers

8226; Railways will require Rs 3,50,000 crore in investments till 2015-16

TRACK ahead

8226; Public private participation

8226; Convert 21 Railway stations into world-class facilities

8226; SPVs for rolling stock manufacturing facilities

8226; Commercial utilisation of surplus land

8226; Dedicated freight corridor projects

8226; High-speed rail corridors

8226; Hospitality, tourism and catering

8226; Dedicated Freight Corridors DFC: Dedicated tracks for freight trains. The project is expected to ease congestion on existing lines resulting in faster movement for passenger trains. Plans to construct 2,700 km of DFC linking Ludhiana and Sonnagar and further to Deep Sea Port in Kolkata on the Eastern side and between Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai to Tughlakabad/Dadri on the Western side. Cost: Rs 28,281 crore

8226; World-class railway stations: 21 stations identified in Phase I: New Delhi, Patna, Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Anand Vihar, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Bijwasan, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai CST, Howrah, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mathura, Pune, Secunderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Varanasi

8226; Other plans: Rail coach factory at Rae Bareli, a diesel locomotive factory at Maraura in Bihar, a rail wheel factory at Chhapra in Bihar and an electric locomotive factory at Madhepura in Bihar

PORTS

8226; The cargo handled by Indian ports has gone up from 19.3 million tonnes in 1950-51 to a whopping 575 million tonnes in 2006

8226; 95 per cent of the country8217;s trade by volume and 70 per cent of its value is done through the maritime transport sector

COURSE ahead

8226; National Maritime Development Programme: Formulated by the Department of Shipping, this Rs 100,000 crore project to be implemented by 2011-12 aims to make Indian ports attain internationally comparable standards

8226; Electronic Port Community System PCS: Will do away with multiple documentation hassles and provide a single point access to all stakeholders on the Internet. So from custom house agents to banks and transporters, the entire chain of maritime logistics operators will be able to use it

HIGHWAYS

8226; Mega road projects will change the way we travel

ROAD ahead

8226; The J038;K road: A four lane wide road from Jammu right into the valley

8226; 1,000 km expressways: SIX expressways are being planned across several busy city circuits

8226; Pilgrim/tourist circuits: Roads to pilgrim centers and tourist hubs are set to get a makeover

8226; Port connectivity roads: For faster movement of cargo

8226; Northeast roads: Major road projects will change the topography of the ill-connected region