Infrastructural development plays a key role in the economic development of a country. It forms the foundation of the superstructure of development process. The availability of infrastructure like power, telecommunication, banking and transport is absolutely vital for accelerated development and modernization of a country. The absence of a dependable and adequate infrastructure leaves the country backward, lowers standard of living and forces people to stagnate in poverty. The Indian Government has traditionally been well aware of this and therefore, has accorded high priority to investment in railways, roads, civil aviation, power, telecommunication, ports and airports. As a consequence, infrastructural imbalances and gaps were corrected to some extent and foundations for long-term economic and social development were laid.
Despite all these initiatives, it is not possible to say that all has gone well with the development of infrastructure in the country. Deficiencies do exist and regional disparities could not be removed. The quality of infrastructure has remained poor. Thus, there is a need to change the whole strategy, directing economy towards infrastructural development. In the past, infrastructure services were predominantly provided by the Public Sector and the responsibility for providing infrastructure services was vested with the Government. However, since 1991, Private Sector participation including foreign investment has been encouraged to supplement the Public Sector efforts. Various reforms, policies have been introduced and procedures for investment have been liberalized in order to provide an environment conducive for private participation. This is a radical departure from the pre-1991 period, when the volume of public development spending was the key determinant of a state’s growth performance.
The book Globalization and Infrastructural Development in India makes an attempt to understand and comprehend the unique contribution and development—both positive and negative—towards the development of infrastructural sector in India. This work would create awareness about the effect of globalization experienced in Indian economy, in particular infrastructural sector. In this book a number of suggestions have been made to the policymakers of India. It is believed that if these suggestions are implemented India could improve upon its ability to withstand shocks, overcome difficulties and become stronger than ever before.
Fr. J.G. Valan Arasu, Ph.D. in Economics, is the Vice Principal and Assistant Professor in Economics at St. Aloysius College, Jabalpur, M.P. He has published nearly forty articles and research papers in reputed journals, books and newspapers. He has also edited two books entitled Ecological Spirituality: Cross Cultural Perspective and Quality Education: Prospects and Challenges. He has been the Chief Organizer for a number of national seminars and a resource person for leadership and human resource development programmes. He has conducted several retreats and orientation programmes for various groups. He has also undertaken a minor research project sponsored by UGC, New Delhi.
