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The transport system plays a very important role in the economic development of a country. Through an efficient transport system, access is available to the different remote markets, thus increasing the supply to the areas with effective demand making it possible for large scale production providing the better economies of scale. The eighth plan outlays on transport as following:
The Railways The railways constitute the largest transport agency in the economic development of the country with its main objectives being to avoid bottlenecks in the production process and to effect an efficient transport of the produce. The railways aided in the setting up of industries by broadening the market for the agricultural goods, uniform prices through out the country and for the efficient transport of food stuffs from the areas of surplus to the areas of scarcity. The railways have helped in the expansion of trade of all types of commodities particularly the bulky commodities and the perishable goods. Railways have also facilitated the import and the export of goods. The railways also do not have facilities like cold storages etc. for the efficient transport of the perishables, thus adversely affecting a large proportion of the horticultural and floricultural commodities. The Roadways Road transport plays a very important role in the development of any economy through the efficient mobilization of all available resources. Road transport is particularly suitable for short and medium distances on account of its flexibility in reaching the remotest of areas, reliability as compared to the other systems and a door to door service facility being available. The Waterways Due to the strategic situation of India surrounded by the ocean on all three sides and its natural resources like a large number of rivers, waterways play a very important role in the transport of the India goods and services. Indian shipping Indian shipping plays a very important role in the international trade for the mobilization of the foreign resources and also to earn the much needed foreign exchange. This mode of transport is superior due to the cost, capacity and the flexibility, capacity to transport goods over long distances etc. Inland Waterways India has about 14500 km of navigable waterways. The inland waterways comprise of the rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks forming a cheap mode of traffic and is also efficient on account of energy conservation, low level of investment and being a labour intensive mode benefits the weaker sections of the society. The Airways The airways play an extremely important role in the transport of the agricultural commodities as it facilitates the immediate transport of produce, a majority of which constitute the perishables and as such prevent wastage to a very large extent. The
investment in the transport sector during eighth plan is given in the following table:
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