Artha Vijnana: Journal of The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics

S. Sriraman

Abstract

In an analysis of the Soviet transport experience, Hunter (1968), while drawing implications of this experience for the developing countries, maintained that countries in the early stages of economic development can learn one lesson of fundamental importance: Transport investment is a concomitant of, not a precondition for, economic development. Such countries need not accept the orthodox view, based on a misreading of the nineteenth century experience in the United States, that large scale expensive transport facilities must be laid down before agriculture and industry can begin to grow. Transport capacity can be expanded as the demand for it grows rather than being provided in advance'. But it is equally true (William 1962) that plant location has been forced to conform to railway location. The widely accepted view of the Soviet experience demonstrates that the transport sector can be made to serve an industrial development programme without itself becoming the largest single claimant for capital plant and equipment. While it is emphasised that the reasons of the Soviet experience mainly relates to the problems of less developed countries, it has also a number of interesting implications for highly developed economies. It is necessary that they too are conscious of the close connection between national objectives and an appropriate set of transport policies.

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T. V. S. Ramamohan Rao , S. Sriraman

Abstract

The infrastructure provided by the railway system has all along been one of the most important factors responsible for sustaining a growing and diversified economy. Movements of individuals, raw materials, as well as finished goods, made possible by the availability of the railway network, facilitated efficient utilization of resources over both space and time.

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S. Sriraman

Abstract

The problem of providing adequate wagon capacity on the Indian Railways has been severe for quite some time. In a more general context, the National Transport Policy Committee (Report of the National Transport Policy Committee, 1980, p. 21) observed that "During the last decade in particular, the growth of transport capacity lagged behind requirements of the economy, so much so that difficulties and problems arose in almost every part of the country in regard to movement of essential commodities needed for industrial and agricultural development and for meeting the consumer needs of the community."

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S. Sriraman , T. V. S. Ramamohan Rao , S. P. Palaniswamy

Abstract

In almost all dynamic economies there is a persistent increase in demand over time for goods and services at the existinig market locations and new consumption centres come into existence almost continuously. Typically, in the shortrun in particular, such increases in demand do not bring about an equivalent growth of new firms and/or location of branches of existing units. The process of adaptation involves considerable time lags. The comparison between incremental production costs with the marginal cost of shipments from existing locations primarily account for this observed behavioural pattern. However, over a conceptual medium run of time horizon the producers will prefer to increase the length of haul and quantum of shipments from plants already in operation (Conroy, 1974, pp. 234-42).

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