CII for better transport system

Wednesday, 26 January 2005, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI:The Confederation of Indian Industry has asked the government to bring an integrated transport system for competitive pricing and coordination. "The regulatory practices need an orientation to ensure that the transport modes are truly competitive and responsive to user demand as well as address consumer grievances," said a CII release, quoting a recent study that it conducted. The need for an integrated transport policy becomes imperative since the adequacy and reliability of transport infrastructure and services are important factors in making the country more attractive for FDI while encouraging internal competitiveness. "Indian transport network is characterized by many deficiencies and ... Technological up gradation in many critical areas are the need of the hour," it said. Suggesting raising annual investment levels to three or four times the present level, including through budgetary support, the CII paper said the bulk of the effort, however, would require additional investment that should come through generation of internal resources from within the sector and pricing of transport and user charges would therefore have to play a much larger role than in the past. The CII paper has suggested that subsidies in transport be limited to those areas where their retention on societal consideration is overwhelmingly justified. The CII also called for involvement of private sector in providing basic infrastructure and emphasized that Energy Planning had a key role to play in the transport sector.
Source: IANS