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Better Infrastructure = Bigger
Investments
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Keeping this major factor in mind, the state Government has laid great emphasis on strengthening existing and building
new infrastructure to encourage more investments. The State offers a relatively
developed physical and social infrastructure that has become instrumental in
attracting the attention of investors both domestic as well as international. In
order to develop, upgrade and maintain infrastructure facilities, the Government
of West Bengal recognises and encourages Public-Private partnerships.
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ROADS
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Connecting
Bengal to the World…
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The state of West Bengal is served by 92,023 km of roads within which, the National Highways cover a span of 2578 kms and State
Highways 2,393 Km. The road density is 1.04 km per sq km, which is considerably
higher than the national average of 0.75 km. Keeping in mind the need for speed
and quality in connectivity and a vehicle population that is growing at over 11%
per annum, the GoWB has taken up an ambitious infrastructure renewal and
expansion program
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Some of the key initiatives in the roads
sector are:
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(i)
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The North South Economic Order developed with the support of ADB at a cost of US$ 210 million with a view to link the southern
ports of Haldia and Kolkata with the northern hinterland of the State.
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(ii)
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The North South Corridor
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(iii)
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Dankuni - Kolaghat, Dankuni – Kharagpur National Highway project.
Vivekananda
Bridge which is an approach to NH2 has been completed.
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(iv)
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Four laning of NH41 from Kolkaghat to Haldia, NH31 passing through North Bengal, NH117 from Kona
to Netaji Subhas Docks, NH35 from Barasat to Petrapole and NH31 from Kolkata to
Dalkhola.
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(v)
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The State Government has also taken up Eastern link Highway project (100km) connecting Barasat to Raichak.
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(vi)
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31 km long State Highway linking NH31 from Siliguri to Jalpaiguri via Falakata to be upgraded to National Highway
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Some major stretches of the Golden Quadrilateral project undertaken by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
will pass through major North Bengal Districts.
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Entire stretch of roads connecting Bengal with the North Eastern
States and Bihar
has been strengthened and improved.
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Entire stretch of NH2 connecting Kolkata to New Delhi is being widened to 4 lanes. The
Durgapur
and Kona Expressways are fully operational and provide easier access to Kolkata
from NH2
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Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the State Government has taken the initiative to come up with
a Rs. 27 billion action plan which includes extension and widening of arterial
roads, widening and strengthening of secondary roads, construction of pedestrian
underpasses, bridges, flyovers, elevated roads, traffic and transportation
systems including modern passenger dispersal systems. Several foreign companies
are already in the fray to partner the GoWB in its efforts for improvement of
roads. Indonesia based Salim Group would be constructing the Eastern Link
Highway from Barasat to Raichak, and two Four Lane Road Bridges across the
Hooghly and Haldi rivers facilitating connectivity between Kolkata and the port
city of Haldia.
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RAILWAYS
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West Bengal is well connected by 4154.98 km
of railway tracks of which some 2227.73 km run on electricity.
The East West Metro Corridor Project connecting Salt
Lake to Howrah is already under implementation. The state Government is also considering the extension of
East-West Metro from Salt Lake
to NSC
Bose Airport
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Rail Coverage –
West Bengal
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Particulars
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Total
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2006-07
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2007-08
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2008-09
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Broad Gauge – Route Kilometer
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4042.92
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4161.30
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4154.98
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Meter Gauge – Route Kilometer
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238.93
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180.62
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106.14
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Narrow Gauge – Route Kilometer
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220.01
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220.01
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220.01
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Number of Railway Stations
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801
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797
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800
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Passengers Originating (‘000)
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1168477
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1225005
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1286173
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Source: Economic Review 2008-09 & 2009-10, GoWB
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AIRWAYS
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Passengers handled in major
Airport in West Bengal
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Airport
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Category
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2007-08
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2006-07
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% Change
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2005-06
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% Change
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NSCBI Airport
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Domestic
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6451430
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5187867
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24.36
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3664548
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41.57
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International
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1007502
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805191
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25.13
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742247
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8.48
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Total
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7458932
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5993058
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24.46
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4406795
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36.00
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Bagdogra Airport
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Domestic
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338065
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259134
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30.96
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186837
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38.70
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International
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- -
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- -
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- -
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- -
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- -
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Total
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338065
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259134
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30.46
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186837
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38.70
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 Source: Airports Authority of India
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INLAND WATERWAYS
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The Government of India has
declared the entire stretch of Ganges between Haldia and
Allahabad
as National Waterway (NW1). The 560 km Haldia – Farakka stretch of NW1 in West
Bengal will be developed as a part of the multi modal system for cargo tariff
from Nepal, Bhutan, North Bengal & North
Eastern States.
The Transport Department, GoWB has initiated plans to reclaim the
North Canal
system, a 43 kms stretch of canal that stretches from the river Hooghly right
across to the river Raimangal on the Bangladesh border. This was once the artery of trade which can restore trade links and
lead to substantial economic development of the region.
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PORTS
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The state of West Bengal has two modern ports – Kolkata and Haldia which together
handled 54.22 million tonnes of cargo in 2008-09. During 2008-09,
Kolkata Port
ranked ‘fifth’ amongst all Indian major ports in terms of cargo handling.
Currently both ports are being modernized and upgraded to cope with the growth
in cargo. An outlay of US$ 222.26 million has been projected in the 11th Plan
for Kolkata Port Trust. The outlay for Kolkata Dock System is in tune of US$
45.17 million and that of Haldia Dock Complex is US$ 83.15 million.
In addition, a new 3000 acre port-cum-Special Economic Zone is coming up in
Kulpi in collaboration with Dubai
based DP World. The process of setting up a
Deep Sea Port near Kolkata has been initiated by the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India. Recently
a deep-sea fishing harbour has been approved which will increase the export of
marine fish and fish products to over 25,000 tonnes per year.
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(i)
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Kolkata Dock System (KDS) handled traffic of 12.428 million tonnes in 2008-2009 as against 13.741 million tonnes in
2007-2008. At Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), 41.792 million tonnes of traffic was
handled in 2008-2009 as against 43.588 million tonnes in 2007-2008.
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(ii)
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During the last nine-year period, from 2000-2001 to 2008-2009, Kolkata
Port increased its cargo volume by 24.22 million tonnes (80.73%).
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(iii)
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The Inland Water Traffic at KDS increased to 10.69 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 from 8.63 lakh tonnes in 2006-07, i.e. a growth
of 23.87% was registered.
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Sea board traffic handled by the two ports in the year 2007 - 2008 was 57.482 million tonnes.
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POWER
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West Bengal has been a pioneer in power development over the years. NASSCOM-Gartner ranks West Bengal’s
power infrastructure as the best in the country. There has been an installed
capacity of 9629.9 MW in the State in 2008-09.
Power Generation in the State is handled by various units – The West Bengal
State Electricity Board, the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd. and
Durgapur Projects Ltd. (State Sector); Damodar Valley Corporation and the
National Thermal Power Corporation (Central Sector); and the Calcutta Electric
Supply Company and Dishergarh Power Supply Company (Private Sector). Electricity
Generation in the State is in tune of 47471.9 million units. During the 12th
five year plan 3350 MW is likely to be added in the state power sector through
new projects to be undertaken by WBPDCL, DPL and CESC. Besides these, the
proposed green field steel/aluminium plants are likely to add substantial
capacity in the power sector as captive source of their plants. Steps have been
taken by most of the power generating agencies for addition of significant
capacity of 4570 MW by 2010-11/2011-12.The state government is encouraging
setting up of renewable energy based power plants and around 60 MW capacity is
likely to be added in the renewable energy sector by 2009-10.
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COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE
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Kolkata, the state’s capital offers more than 580 Mbps of international satellite connectivity through VSNL & 5 STPI
Earth Stations at Kolkata, Durgapur,
Kharagpur, Haldia and Siliguri. Cable connectivity is provided through leased
BSNL lines to Mumbai & onward connectivity through submarine cables. Besides
BSNL, private players like Reliance Infocomm, Vodafone & Bharti Airtel also
connect Kolkata to the rest of the world. A submarine cable landing station is
likely to be set up at Digha. The State considers IT a basic mission that can
help the people uplift their standard of living. The Government of West Bengal
has adopted measures to spread IT infrastructure right across the state.
Reliance Group has set up a well spread out Optical Fibre Cable network in the
State, which is a part of their National Broadband Access Project. The BSNL
optical fibre network extends over 15,000 route kilometers and has ensured
connectivity on demand even at the block level. This has facilitated
e-governance, telemedicine, and wide connectivity throughout the state.
Connectivity upto block level has been established in all nineteen districts.
The BSNL optical fibre network has ensured connectivity at the block level.The
cellular network has made spectacular inroads into the state. The state as a
whole had 27.22 million mobile subscribers during 2008-09 as against 17.22
million in 2007-08 registering an increase by 58%.The share of West Bengal
mobile subscribers on an all India basis stood at 6.9% during 2008-09 as against 6.6% during
2007-08.
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