Development of infrastructure

Development of infrastructure is a prerequisite for industrialisation in any country, and this was a central task of the public sector.

Why the public sector had to build it

• In the pre-Independence period, basic infrastructure was undeveloped, so industrialisation moved very slowly.
• Industrialisation cannot be sustained without adequate transport and communication, fuel and energy, and basic and heavy industries.
• The private sector showed no initiative to invest in or develop heavy industries — it lacked the trained personnel and finances to set them up quickly.
• Only the government could mobilise huge capital, coordinate industrial construction, and train technicians and the workforce.
• Rail, road, sea and air transport were the government's responsibility, and their expansion drove the pace of industrialisation and secured future economic growth.

Where public sector investment was directed

• (a) Infrastructure for the core sector — areas needing huge capital, complex, upgraded technology and large, effective organisation structures, such as steel plants, power generation plants, civil aviation, railways, petroleum, state trading and coal. …