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All Sectors, except new telephone connections, recorded higher growth during April-December 2004 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Also, except Finished Steel, Fertilizers and Roads, all others have exceeded their target. This is revealed in the latest Review Report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, on the performance of the infrastructure sector during the period.
Production-wise, the Power Sector generated nearly 438 billion units recording a growth of 6.5 per cent; Coal went up to 266.80 million tonnes with 6.8 per cent growth; Steel - 29.40 million tonnes with 4 per cent increase; Revenue earning Railway Freight Traffic at 438.36 million tonnes registers 7.7 per cent rise; Cargo handling at major Ports increases to 276 million tonnes registering a growth of over 11 per cent; Telecommunications-switching capacity goes up to 4575000 lines with a progress of over 31 per cent, cell phone connections rises to 11248000 recording nearly 21 per cent growth and new telephone connections recorded a negative growth of over 22 per cent at 5104000.
Production of Fertilizers totalled 11.64 million tonnes, 8 per cent increase; Cement 96.29 million tonnes, around 7 per cent growth; Petroleum - crude oil 25.56 million tonnes, nearly 3 per cent growth, refinery nearly 95 million tonnes, 6.7 per cent growth; Civil Aviation - export cargo handling 321610 tonnes, nearly 12 per cent growth, import cargo handling 208814 tonnes, over 30 per cent growth, passengers handled at international terminals 109 lakhs with a rise of nearly 16 per cent, passengers at domestic terminals 176.19 lakhs with an increase of nearly 26 per cent and in Roads - upgradation of highways 4542 kms., a rise of 16 per cent, while construction of bridges etc down to 38, i.e. 58 per cent lower.
The report while recording the noteworthy performance of 9 Infrastructure Sectors during the period, however observed that the areas of concern are, Finished Steel, Provision of Telephone connections in Telecom sector and Fertilizer production. In case of Finished Steel, the total production was 9.2 per cent below target while Fertilizer production was 6.4 per cent lesser than the target.
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