Introduction:

You may know, for everyday consumption we need different materials and services. They are either available in our surroundings or we bring them from other places. When we move goods from one place to another, we make use of transport.( Transportation can be done through air, water, land) And the people engaged in facilitating these movements are known as traders. This trade makes products available to the consumers by transportation. In this, communication has also helped in bringing efficiency. Therefore, transport, communication and trade are complementary to each other and serve as lifelines of our nation and economy.

Lifelines of National Economy:

Means of Transportation

Land Transport:

Roads are categorized into six classes according to their capacity:

1. Golden Quadrilateral super Highways
2. National Highways
3. State Highways
4. District Roads
5. Other Roads
6. Border Roads.

Roads can also be classified on the basis of the type of material used for their construction.

1. Metalled Roads : made of cement, concrete or even bitumen of coal. Thus, also known as Pucca roads.
2. Unmetalled Roads : These are kutcha roads, made of mud; mostly in rural areas. Therefore classified as unmetalled.

Road Density:

• The length of road per 100 sq. km of area is known as density of roads.
• Due to variation in landforms, all roads vary from place to place.
• In Jammu & Kashmir, it is 12.14. Whereas, it is 517.77 km in Kerala with the national average of 142.68 km.
• Road transportation in India faces a number of problems.
  1. The road network is inadequate. Since Volume of traffic and Passengers is high.
  2. As you have observed, about half of the roads are unmetalled. Therefore cannot be used in all weather conditions.
  3. The National Highways are inadequate too.
  4. Moreover, the roadways are highly congested in cities.
  5. You might know, most of the bridges and culverts are old and narrow.
• However, in recent years fast development of road networks has taken place.

2. Railways:

Problems in Rail Transport:

1. Many passengers travel without tickets.
2. There are many cases of thefts and damage to railway property.
3. Unnecessary pulling of chain which causes heavy damage.

3. Pipelines:

• Pipeline transport network is a new arrival on the transportation map of India.
• Earlier, only water was transported to cities and industries through pipelines.
• Now, these are transporting crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas as well.

Advantages:

1. It has made it possible to transport natural gas from oil and natural gas fields to refineries, fertilizer factories and big thermal power plants.
2. Its initial cost is high, however subsequent running costs are minimal.
3. It rules out trans-shipment losses or delays.

There are three important networks of pipeline transportation in the country.

• Pipelines from oil fields in upper Assam to Kanpur (U.P.) via Guwahati, Barauni and Allahabad.
  • It has branches from Barauni (Bihar) to Haldia (Kolkata), via Rajbandh to Maurigram and Guwahati (Assam) to Siliguri( W. Bengal)
• From Salaya in Gujarat to Jalandhar in Punjab, via Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi and Sonipat.
  • It has branches connecting Koyali (near Vadodara, Gujarat), Chakshu and other places.
• Gas pipeline from Hazira in Gujarat connects Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh, via Vijaypur in Madhya Pradesh.
  • It has branches in Kota (Rajasthan), Shahjahanpur (U.P), Babrala (U.P.) and other places in Uttar Pradesh.

Waterways:

• Waterways are the cheapest means of transport.
• They are most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.
• It is a fuel efficient and environment friendly mode of transport.
• India has Inland water transport and Ocean water transport.
• Length of inland navigation waterways is 14,500 km. However, Out of these only 5685 km are navigable by mechanized vessels.
• Government declared below given waterways as (N.W.)National waterways:
  • N.W. No. 1- The Ganga river between Allahabad and Haldia. (1620).
  • N.W. No. 2- The Brahmaputra river between Sadiya and Dhubri. (891 km).
  • N.W. No. 3- West-Coast Canal (Kottapuram – Kollam, Champakara and Udyogamandal Canals.)(205 km).
  • N.W. No. 4- Godavari and Krishna rivers along with Kakinada Puducherry.(1078 Km).
  • N.W. No. 5- Brahmani river with Matai river. Delta channels of Mahanadi and Brahamani rivers and East Coast Canal (588 Km).
  • N.W. No. 6,7,8,9…111 are also there. Although these N.W. are not in your syllabus.
• Some other Inland waterways are : Mandavi, Zuari and Cumberjua, Sunderbans, Barak and Backwaters of Kerala.
• Apart from N.W. National Waterways, India has International waterways as well.
• India’s 95% of trade volume (68% in terms of value) is moved by sea.

Major Sea ports:

• India has 12 major and 200 notified non-major ports.
• These major ports handle 95% of India’s foreign trade.
• Ports are located in Western and Eastern Coasts.
  • Western Coast:
    1. Kandla Port: It is a tidal port. And the first port developed soon after Independence.
       • This Port was constructed to ease the volume of trade on the Mumbai Port.
       • It handles exports and imports highly productive granaries.
    2. Mumbai Port: It is the biggest port with a spacious natural and well-sheltered harbor.
    3. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port: It was planned to relieve congestion on Mumbai Port.
       • Also to serve as a Hub Port.
    4. Mormugao Port (Goa): This Port is the premier iron ore( Exports: 50%) exporting port of the country.
    5. New Mangalore Port: Exporter of Iron ore (Iron ore from Kudermukh mines).
    6. Kochchi Port: It is the extreme south-western port.
       • Kochichi Port is located at the entrance of Lagoon with a natural harbor.
  • Eastern Coast:
    1. Tuticorin: It is the extreme south-eastern port.
       • Tuticorin has a natural harbor and rich hinterland.
       • This Port handles a large variety of cargoes to even our neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, etc. And the coastal regions of India.
    2. Chennai Port: Chennai is one of the oldest artificial ports of the country.
       • Chennai ranked next to Mumbai in terms of the volume of trade and cargo.
    3. Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam Port is the deepest landlocked and well protected port.
    4. Paradip Port: It is located in Odisha. It specializes in the export of iron ore.
    5. Kolkata Port: It is also a tidal port. This port serves a very large and rich hinterland of Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.
    6. Haldia Port: (Subsidiary Port) This port was to relieve growing pressure on the Kolkata port.

Airways:

• Airways is the fastest, most comfortable and prestigious mode of transport.
• It can cover very difficult terrains like high mountains, dreary deserts, dense forests and also long oceanic stretches with great ease.
• Therefore, Air travel has made access easier.
• Air transport was nationalized in 1953.
• Airports: domestic and International.
  • Indian Airlines, Alliance Air, private scheduled airlines and non-scheduled operators provide domestic air services.
  • Whereas Air India provides international air services.
  • Pawanhans Helicopters Ltd. provides helicopter services to oil and Natural Gas Corporation in its off-shore operations, to inaccessible areas and difficult terrains.
• Countries connected by Indian Airlines are: US, the UK, Germany, France, the UAE, Maldives, Canada, Japan, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Bhutan, Kenya, Bangladesh and Ukraine.(18 countries)

Problem in Airways:

1. Since Air travel is a expensive, common people cannot use it.
   • Only the common people from north-east India are able to get air services due to special provisions.

Communication:

• Communication: Long distance communication has become far easier without physical movement of the receiver.
• It is mainly categorized into two types:
  1. Personal Communication: Post Cards, letters, telegrams, telephones and e-mails.
     • Personal Written communications: First class mail (land and air) and second class mails.(Land and water)
     • To facilitate quick delivery of mails in large town and cities, there are 6 main channels: Rajdhani Channel, Metro Channel, Green Channel, Business Channel, Bulk Mail Channel and Periodical Channel.
     • India has one of the largest telecom networks in Asia.
     • Two-third of the Villages have STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialing) facility.
  2. Mass Communication: Magazines, newspapers, radio, tv, press and films.
     • All India Radio (Akashwani), National Television channel (Doordarshan).
     • The largest number of newspaper published in India is Hindi, Although there are several other languages.
     • India is the largest producer of feature films in the world.
       • The Central Board of Film Certification is the authority to certify both Indian and foreign films.
     • Digital India: It is an Umbrella programme to prepare India for a knowledge based transformation. It has focus on Indian Talent+ Information Technology= India Tomorrow.
       • For Example: Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AEPS),BPO Scheme, Digidhan Abhiyaan, MyGov, National Mission on Education using ICT, North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS), NREGA – Soft, OpenForge.

International Trade:

• Trade: The exchange of goods among people, states and countries.
• International Trade: Trade (exchange of goods) between two countries.
• International Trade is crucial in order to prosper country’s economy.
• Exports and Imports are components of trade.
• Balance of trade(BOP): (Favorable and Unfavorable) Difference between exports and imports.
  • Favorable Balance of trade: When the value of exports exceeds the value of imports.
  • Unfavorable Balance of trade: When the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.
  • Equilibrium Balance of trade: when the value of exports is equal to the value of imports.
• India has trade relations with all the major trading blocks and all geographical regions of the world.
• Exports of India: Steel, Cotton, Petroleum products*, Wheat, Gold, engineering goods* and electronic goods* etc. (Merchandise Export: USD 34.06 Billion)
• Imports of India: Pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, Jewellery*, electrical machinery and equipment, nuclear reactors, mechanical appliances, mineral fuels*, oils*, bituminous substances* etc. Imports: USD 55.01 Billion)
• Exchange of Information and knowledge has become much more than the exchange of Commodities and goods.
• India has emerged as a software giant at the international level. Therfore, it is earning large foreign exchange through the export of Information Technology.

Tourism as a Trade:

• Tourism Industry has been developing in the country.
• It is also contributing in increasing foreign exchange. (over 12 Billion US $ in year 2020)
• More than 15 million people are directly engaged in the tourism industry.
• Advantages of Tourism:
  1. It promotes national integration.
  2. It provides support to local handicrafts and cultural pursuits.
  3. Tourism also helps in the development of international understanding about our culture and heritage.
  4. Since foreign tourists visit India for heritage tourism, eco-tourism, education tourism and business tourism, it helps in earning foreign exchange.
• Thus, Our country needs to maintain growth and work on further promotion of different types of tourism for the industry.