The Indian economy has to
bear a burden of
60,000
crore annually on account
of additional fuel consumption
due to delays and
slow speed of vehicles on roads,
reveals the second edition of the
study report on 'Operational
Efficiency of National Highways
for Freight Transportation
in India', released recently by
the Transport Corporation of
India Ltd in association with
Indian Institute of Management
-Calcutta.
TCIL had first commissioned a
joint study with IIM-Calcutta to
assess the operational efficiency
of freight transportation by
road in 2008-09. The focus of
that survey was on detailed
analysis of the trucking industry
and the comparison of roads
with railways in terms of freight
transportation.
The 2011-12 survey focused
on comprehensive analysis of
public-private partnerships in
road projects, electronic toll collection,
access-controlled
expressways, and logistics
parks and hubs. The main
objectives of the study were to
carry out comparisons with the
route statistics of 2008-09, identify
any major changes, make an
overall assessment of efficiency
of freight transportation by
road, and suggest recommendations.
As part of the study,
data from 17 major routes of the
country were analysed and
compared to key freight transportation
statistics of other
countries.
The key findings of the second
edition of the research report on
operational efficiency of national
highways for freight transportation
are based on surveys
conducted across several high
volume routes of the country
with special focus on the two
routes of Delhi-Bengaluru and
Delhi-Mumbai. The project was
commissioned a year back.
Comparing the route statistics
of 2008-2009 with that of 2011-
12, the survey on Delhi-Bengaluru
highway shows that
there has been a marginal
improvement in journey time,
average speed and mileage.
However, on an average the toll
stoppage delay is 67 per cent
with an increase of 18 per cent
from the last survey report.
The survey found that there
are on an average 30 stops (15 of
toll collection) and the average
stoppage delay is six hours,
about 8 per cent of the journey
time. Toll stoppages account for
almost 67 per cent of the stoppage
delay on an average. The
report estimates that the annual
cost of such delays to the economy
is in the tune of
4,000 crore.
As per the survey on Delhi-
Mumbai highway, there are on
an average 18 stops (21 of toll
collection) and the average
stoppage delay is 3 hours, about
3 percent of the journey time.
Toll stoppages account for
almost 79 percent of the stoppage
delay on an average. It
took approximately three days
to cover a distance of 1,380 km
at an average speed of 17 km
per hour on the highway. The
estimated annual cost of such
delays to the economy is in the
tune of
3,000 crore.
The research report also
reveals that though India's road
freight volumes and the population
of vehicles (all types) are
growing at a compounded
annual growth rate of 9.08 per
cent and 10.76 per cent respectively,
the road length is increasing
at a CAGR of only 4.01 per
cent, indicating paucity of
roads.
"We need to adopt the same
techniques for road development
and maintenance projects
in India as in China and other
developed Asian countries.
According to the survey, vehicles
wasted most of their time on
electronic toll collection which
is one of the biggest challenges
and can adversely affect our
economy. We should set up an
independent regulatory authority
to assess costs/benefits, service
levels, safety measures and
tariff structures at the earliest,"
said Subrata Mitra, Professor,
IIM-Calcutta.
Highlighting some of the key
points of the report, D.P. Agarwal,
Vice Chairman and Managing
Director, TCIL, said that
India needed to build largescale
logistics parks and scale
up the existing parks to compete
with Hong Kong, Shanghai,
Singapore and Dubai for
international cargo. Logistics
parks could save India $13-16
billion in logistics costs alone.
"Due to inadequate infrastructure
only 3-4 per cent of the
warehouses qualify as multimodal
logistics parks. This
highlights the need to take initiatives
and make investments
towards extending, widening
and upgrading of highway network
and building large-scale
logistics parks. Construction of
large access-controlled
expressway network with Intelligent
Transportation Systems
capabilities could improve road
safety and security," Agarwal
said.
Releasing the second edition
of the joint study report last
month, Minister for Road Transport
and Highways Dr. C.P.
Joshi said that his ministry was
actively working towards
improving toll plazas on national
highways.
The joint study report by TCIL
and IIM-Calcutta highlights
the problems faced by the transport
sector and suggests recommendations
on how to mitigate
the problems and increase the
contribution of the sector for
economic growth of the country.
The report also focuses on
issues like land acquisition and
waiver of taxes and duties to
attract private investments in
road development and maintenance
projects.