Lifelines of National Economy

Roads, railways, pipelines, waterways, ports and airways, means of communication, and international trade and the balance of trade.

Key ideas

• Transport and communication link producers, markets and consumers, so they are the lifelines of the economy.
• Roads cost less to build than railways, reach hilly areas and give door-to-door service.
• Railways carry most freight and passengers over long distances and are densest on the level, crowded northern plains.
• Pipelines have low running costs and no transshipment losses.
• Waterways are the cheapest way to carry heavy, bulky goods; air transport is the fastest but costly.
• Deendayal (Kandla) was the first port developed after Independence; Mumbai, with a natural sheltered harbour, is the biggest; Mormugao leads in iron-ore exports.
• The balance of trade is exports minus imports: favourable when exports are more, unfavourable when imports are more.

Remember

Watch out

• Calling it favourable when imports are more than exports: that is unfavourable.
• Swapping the corridors’ ends: Silchar–Porbandar is East–West.
• Thinking air is the cheapest transport: waterways are.

Worked example