Ministry of Transport – Time for a paradigm shift

India has five different ministries looking after the transportation sector. The ministries of civil aviation, planning (advisory role), railways, shipping and transport & highway together are responsible of various transport infrastructures in the country. Having defined work areas these ministries should have been owners of efficient pieces of infrastructure. On the contrary transport infrastructure in India is painfully slow. Despite having one of the largest rail networks in the world, fastest trains in India clock only 100 kilometres an hour. Major national highways narrow down to two lanes on most stretches. Total expressway length is 200 km only. Inland waterways are hardly used and major ports are chocking. Average dwell time at major ports in India is 4.3 days as compared to twelve hours in Singapore and ten in Hong Kong. For a country which is still growing fast and spans thousands of kilometres, crippling infrastructure is the last thing it needs.

The future lies in this

In October 2001, a task force on integrated transport policy submitted its report to the planning commission. The report concluded that there is an urgent need to shift to an integrated transport policy. It also said that emphasis has to shift from being just a transport service provider to include modern technology and upgrade the existing systems. However, almost a decade after the report was submitted India is nowhere close to any such thing called integrated transport. Integration of transport is an extremely lengthy process and involves many stake holders. In case of India there are not just stake holders but diverse political interests as well.

Today most of the infrastructure projects run independent of other modes of transport or in competition with each other. India is currently undertaking two ambitious highway projects, the golden quadrilateral (connecting all four major metros of the country, i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata with each other) and the North South – East West corridor. Among these two projects, north western and north eastern arms of the golden quadrilateral will run parallel to the dedicated freight corridor (another project in progress). Warehousing, distribution centres, logistics centres, inland container depots, etc if integrated with each other can give much needed boost to the economy. With multiple agencies and lack of coordination this opportunity has been missed so far in India.

The need of the hour is a strong political will in shape of an integrated transport policy and a ministry of transport to implement it. Five different ministries with their own budgets, targets and resources are incapable of suggesting or implementing a uniform policy. The umbrella ministry should have all four ministries as departments with policy flowing in from the top. With a common budget, policy and vision, conceptualising and implementing an integrated transport policy will be easier than in present circumstances.

The role of a common transport ministry will not end with the integrated transport policy. With growing economy and better trade relations with neighbouring countries the scope of work will expand from national integration to that of the greater SAARC area. India is already in discussions with Bangladesh to establish first of its kind transfer corridor from Eastern India to North Eastern India. Such projects can easily be integrated with inland and maritime routes. Upgrading the railway infrastructure in North Eastern India and Bangladesh can further integrate the region and boost the economy.

Immediate gains can be reaped with help of an integrated transport policy and a well planned network of logistic centres. Wastage of perishable goods can be minimised and eventually brought to near zero. Artificial inflation of fruits and vegetables due to poor supply can be averted with a fast and efficient transport network. Cost of transportation of non urgent items can be significantly reduced by shifting them to cheaper modes like inland water ways. Inter port connectivity can greatly reduce shipping time. The benefits can be reaped, but to do so we need to engage in destructive construction. Merging four major ministries into one is a Himalayan task but the rewards are equally fantastic.