India pulling it together on infrastructure is entering a China scale buildout
On a purchasing power parity basis India is about 10 to 15 years behind China's Economy.
In 2017 China is at $23.1 trillion in PPP GDP
India is at $9.49 trillion PPP GDP
China was $9 trillion PPP GDP in 2007.
India is projected to reach $15.4 trillion in PPP GDP in 2022
China was at $15.2 trillion PPP GDP in 2012
A long term projection to 2030 has
China at $47 trillion PPP GDP
India at $21 trillion PPP GDP.
India's 2017 budget had a 25 percent increase in overall capital expenditure - including US$60 billion committed to infrastructure spending. Of all the sectors within infrastructure, transport has received the highest sum in the 2017-18 budget - US$35 billion - much of it aimed at improving safety, cleanliness and comfort for rail passengers. Among the top priorities are a passenger safety fund, an end to unmanned level crossings on broad gauge lines, solar power for more than 7000 railway stations, bio-toilets in all coaches, and an extensive station development and refurbishment plan, including access for differently-abled people through elevators and escalators.
Metro rail has had a major impact on travel times and quality of life in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and Jaipur. A new proposed Metro Rail Act hopes to replicate these successes in additional cities, by rationalizing laws to facilitate greater private participation and investment in construction and operations.
Other planned transportation initiatives include the development of 2000 kilometers (km) of coastal roads to connect ports and remote villages, as part of an 11 percent increase in the highways budget to almost US$10 billion.
Local Indian governments are paving and widening rural roads at a rate of 117km a day.
On the railways, better signalling and tracks have pushed up the speed of faster trains to a respectable 140kph. Work is about to start on India's first dedicated high-speed rail link, a 500-km track between the western city of Ahmedabad and the commercial capital, Mumbai. When the first line of the Delhi Metro opened 15 years ago, many passengers were surprised by its fast, clean and efficient service. India's capital now has six such lines, some running below ground. Seven cities have such rapid-transit systems. Eight more are building them.
More striking still is the growth in air traffic. Domestic passenger numbers have doubled since 2010, to nearly 100m a year. Last year alone the number surged by 23%. Indian airlines are snapping up new aircraft, with some 450 in operation and more than 1,000 on order
Boeing expects India airlines to order 2100 planes over the next 20 years.
India should have an impressive and resource intensive buildout over the next 20-30 years.
