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Where
China Scores Over India: The
Infrastructure Story
-- Dhandapani
Alagiri
China
and India, are moving along the path of economic growth.
While China is growing at a hurried pace, India is lagging
way behind. The difference is most glaring in the infrastructure
sector, which has had its effect on other areas of the economy
as well. China's focus is basically on the manufacturing
sector and it realized early the importance of good infrastructure
early. Its investment in basic infrastructure is huge and
continues to this day. In India, the cost of most of the
infrastructure facilities and services is 50-100% higher
when compared to that of China. The study concludes that
for India, without developing proper infrastructure facilities,
it will be difficult to continue in the growth trajectory
that India has set for itself.
©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Infrastructure
Sector in India: A
Comparative Study
-- Chandan and Ranjan Kumar Dash This
paper focuses on the performance of infrastructure provisions in India in four
major sectors—electricity, water and sanitation, information and communication
technology, and road transportation—against the relevant group of comparator
countries using a recent World Bank international database with objective and
perception-based indicators of infrastructure performance over 200 countries.
Overall, the study finds that the infrastructure condition is not up to mark.
China, Brazil and Russia are far ahead of India. However, India is only relatively
better placed in comparison with South Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Nepal. These shortfalls in facilities are likely to have an adverse impact
not only on the wellbeing of people but also on their long-term development prospects.
It is only the information and communication Technology (ICT) sector that seems
to have better prospects, because of low cost to access. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
O
and M Type of Financing: The
Case of Sri Sathya Sai Water Supply Project
-- Deepak
Kumar The
paper discuses the unique method of Operations and Maintenance (O and M) type
of financing with special reference to the Sri Satya Sai Water Supply Project
in the Ananthapuram district of Andhra Pradesh. The successful completion of the
project is an extraordinary example of public-private and people partnership,
which has set an example to the policymakers, the State government and the beneficiaries. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Formulating
Urban Transport Strategy: A
Review of the Experience of Mumbai
-- Ramakrishna Nallathiga Urban
transport is increasingly becoming important in a country like India, where urbanization
is on the rise, and the growth of urban areas is to some extent determined by
the prevalence of good city transport. It is, therefore, necessary for cities
to formulate urban transport strategies so that they can continue to provide support
to the increasing population. The study reviews the experience of such strategic
directions by Mumbai, one of the oldest and largest cities in India. The paper
also reviews the past studies, and examines the strategic options and their use
in terms of both current practices and critical shortcomings, so that other cities
can benefit from such excercise. The study concludes that the best approach to
city transport involves (a) using demand and traffic management; (b) integration
of all major modes of transportation (c) establishing appropriate institutional
mechanisms; (d) formulating policies that give priority to public transport and
ensure its improvement; and (e) strengthening transport infrastructure. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Ultra Mega Power Projects — Will
They be Cost-effective?
-- Lata Chakravarthy India
has witnessed a flurry of activities, starting early 1990s when it went through
the `rituals' of liberalization and privatization (by allowing private sector
to set up new generation projects), unbundling, corporatization and setting up
of regulatory agencies for price regulation. From the year 2002-03, attention
has shifted to distribution with the growing voice of the media blaming the government
for starting the power sector reforms at the generation-end rather than the distribution-end
as no perceptible benefits of reforms accrued to the end user. Today, the focus
is back on generation with the announcement of seven Ultra Mega Power Projects
(UMPPs) to be set up through international competitive bidding, which will add
to 28,000 MW to the installed capacity. Competition in any industry is encouraged
to minimize costs, restrain prices and ensure that the benefits reach the consumers.
The common questions are: To what extent are the costs and the resultant tariffs
likely to come down by encouraging UMPPs through competitive bidding? What are
the cost economies of UMPPs? What are the ecological implications of UMPPs? What
are the major motivating factors for the renewed policy attention on generation?
This study analyzes the questions and draw conclusions on whether UMPPs are the
best solution for problems plaguing the generation industry. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Carbon
Credits
-- P
Nair and Vani Vasakarla The
greenhouse effect and global warming are due to carbon emissions. Much of the
global warming is due to power plants, cars and other auto vehicles, airplanes
and the like. In order to reduce such emissions, various incentives such as the
Carbon Credits are being provided. The basic idea is that the person who pollutes
should pay a certain sum, which goes to the country where there is less pollution.
Therefore, the carbon credit mechanism is very important as a source of funding
for infrastructure which looks to reduce pollution such as Compressed Natural
Gas (CNG) in place of petrol, metro rails in place of auto transport and various
kinds of aero engines which do not pollute. On the power front, hydro, gas and
solar in place of coal, give considerable scope for regulating carbon emissions.
The whole mechanism is governed by the United Nations through United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the most important development of which
is the Kyoto Protocol. The present study spotlights the raise of the concept of
carbon credits in the background of global warming. The paper, among others, discuses
the influence of carbon emissions on the climate; introduces the concept of carbon
credits with due reference to greenhouse effect and global warming; and examines
the key issues in carbon credits in the pretext of Kyoto protocol. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Book
Review E-government
From Vision to Implementation : A Practical Guide with Case Studies
--
Reviewed by Vasakarla Jayavani E-government
applications have emerged rapidly in the developing world. Many countries use
e-government as an enabling tool to increase efficiency, enhance transparency,
and collect more revenue and facilitate public sector reforms. While e-government
is not a panacea that can improve the performance of the public sector, it is
a powerful enabling tool that has aided government achieve some of their development
and administrative reform goals. ©
2004 Subhash Bhatnagar. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds
the copyright for the review. | 
