Indian Economy  Infrastructure

Introduction

·        Infrastructure is an indispensable tool for the development of an economy, as it facilitates supporting services, such as −

·        Infrastructure facilitates not only economic development of a nation, but also improves the overall quality of life (of the people).

·        Initially, the development of infrastructure in India was seen as the responsibility of the Indian Government; however, later private players also came into the picture and started developing infrastructure as government alone was not in a position to take care of the entire development.

·        Still, a large portion of India has no basic infrastructure in place. People are using wood, cow dung patties, and other primitive means for cooking.

·        About 76% of the Indian population drinks water from open sources such as tanks, wells, ponds, etc.

Energy

Energy is an essential element for the development of any nation.

·        India has two sources of energy. They are −

·        Coal, petroleum, and electricity come under commercial sources of energy. They are exhaustible and non-renewable sources of energy (except hydroelectricity); that get depleted with use.

Description: Energy

·        Firewood, dried dung, and agricultural waste come under non-commercial sources of energy. These are directly available from nature. They are renewable in nature.

·        The sources of energy, which are exhaustible and can be used only once, are known as conventional sources of energy. They could be both commercial and non-commercial sources of energy.

·        The major sources of non-conventional sources of energy are −

·        By virtue of being a tropical country, India has a great potential of non-conventional sources of energy.

·        74% of the total energy production is consumed for the commercial purposes.

·        Coal energy contributes about 54%, oil energy contributes about 32%, natural gas contributes about 10% and hydro energy contributes about 2% of the total energy consumption.

·        Non-commercial sources of energy — cow dung, firewood, and agricultural wastes collectively contribute about 26% of the total energy consumption.

·        Power/Electricity is an essential element for the development of any economy. Research says that in order to have 8% growth rate in GDP, power supply needs to go up by 12% annually.

·        Thermal power produces about 70% of total electricity.

·        Wind and hydel power collectively contribute about 16% to the total power production.

·        Nuclear power contributes only about 2%; while the global average is 13%

Challenges of Energy Generation

·        There are many challenges related to power generation and consumption.

·        India does not produce as much power as it actually requires.

·        There is a disparity in power distribution system.

·        Poor power sector management has given way to electricity thefts and distribution losses.

·        The Private sector has very little to contribute in the power sector.

·        High tariff rates and power cuts are the other challenges.

·        A major portion of India’s electricity is coming from thermal power, but the source (raw material i.e. coal) is getting exhausted.

Health Sector

·        Health status of a country reflects the level of development, i.e., overall development of the nation.

·        The development of health infrastructure leads to healthy manpower. And, healthy manpower ensures higher efficiency in production of goods and services.

Health Issues

·        Meeting the challenges of health infrastructure challenges is a tough one for India.

·        Major health-related issues that India has been facing since independence are −

o   Medical education,

o   Research and development for the medicines,

o   Adulteration of drugs or duplicate poisonous drugs,

o   Scarcity of medical professionals, etc.

o   Poor infrastructure (such as scarcity of hospitals, medicines, doctors, medical equipment, etc.)

·        In India, about 70% of the hospitals and 60% of the dispensaries are being run by the private sector.

·        They provide treatment to 80% out-patients and 46% in-patients.

·        The Government has implemented various healthcare policies and programs to overcome the health-related issues but, there is still a long way to go.