Mathur Ritika Passi

was that it did not take into account the
critical role infrastructure plays in the
overall development of an economy. Apart
from focusing on social indicators, such
as access to water and sanitation services,
the MDGs were largely silent on critical
and 21st infrastructure needs, which are
equally necessary as they add value to
social amenities (henceforth termed basic
infrastructure). Targets 9.1 and 9.c look
to take corrective steps by building upon
the MDG indicators by incorporating
critical infrastructure that supports access
to basic facilities (such as access to roads
and electricity) and 21st century cyber
infrastructure. This is particularly relevant
in India’s context, as estimates suggest
inadequate infrastructure costs the Indian
GDP growth rate anywhere between 1 to
2%. 1
Building infrastructure to support supply
of basic services is a continuing priority.
For example, as revealed in Chapter 6,
India is well on course to meet its target
regarding access to water, but lags behind
on sanitation—by 2012, only 36% of
the population had access to improved
sanitation facilities. The Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign), started
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
2014, seeks to correct this gap. While
progress has been made in terms of
building physical infrastructure (between
April 2014 and January 2015, over
three million toilets were built), 2 social
behavioural transformation, as emphasised
in the chapter on SDG 8, must accompany
physical construction. 3
India faces an equally large gap when
it comes to critical, 20th century
infrastructure. For instance, the Eleventh
Five Year Plan targeted an additional power
generation capacity of 78,700 megawatts
(MW), later revised to 62,736 MW.
However, even this revised target was
not met and only 52,603 MW is likely to
have been achieved. Road and highway
development, too, is lagging—the National
Highways account for 1.7% of the total
road network and 40% of total road
traffic, whereas four-lane highways (about
16,200 km) account for 1% of the total
road network. The average trucking speed
in India (30-40 km/h) is half of the global
average (60-70 km/h), clearly highlighting
both inadequate quantity and poor quality
of India’s road connectivity. 4 Similar
inadequacies are seen in a range of critical
infrastructure sub-sectors such as railways,
ports, inland waterways and urban
infrastructure.
The financial deficit to undertake
infrastructure investment stands at $1
trillion for the period 2012-2018, a large
part of which is expected to, and should,
come from the public sector. The current
government has made infrastructure
investment a priority, allocating INR 700
billion towards the sector and establishing
a National Investment and Infrastructure
Fund, which is to ensure an annual flow of
INR 200 billion. 5
As highlighted in target 9.c, in addition to
basic and critical infrastructure needs, the
country also needs to build and expand its
network of cyber infrastructure. Through
its Digital India initiative, the government
aims to provide every citizen with access
to digital infrastructure, including a
unique digital identity. 6 As mentioned
in Chapter 8, the internet sector already
employs 400,000-500,000 people, and the
e-commerce sector is expected to create up
to two million jobs by 2018. However, it is
not just this sector which will benefit from
BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE
TO SUPPORT SUPPLY OF BASIC
SERVICES IS A CONTINUTING
PRIORITY. INDIA EQUALLY
FACES A GAP IN 20TH CENTURY
INFRASTRUCTURE. IT ALSO
NEEDS TO BUILD AND EXPAND
21ST CENTURY DIGITAL
INFRASTRUCTURE.
state-of-the-art cyber infrastructure—the
knock-off effects on other sectors can
potentially add 20-30% or about $550-
$1,000 billion to India’s GDP. 7 The benefits
of advancements such as mobile internet,
cloud computing, internet of things, and
advanced geographic information systems
can potentially provide healthcare services
to 400 million people, facilitate financial
inclusion of 300 million and improve
agriculture yield by 15-60%. 8
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