INDIA’S $4.51 TN INFRA PUSH AT RISK WITHOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

INDIA ambitious plan to invest $4.51 trillion in infrastructure by 2030 and scale into a $30 trillion economy by 2047 could face mounting fiscal and developmental risks unless disaster resilience is built into roads, railways and power systems from the design stage itself, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in partnership with the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance.

- S V KRISHNA CHAITANYA @Chennai

Titled ‘Mainstreaming Disaster Resilience into Infrastructure Projects in India,’ the study makes an economic case for proactive resilience spending, noting that global infrastructure losses linked to disasters are estimated at $845 billion annually, while actual losses may be far higher once indirect economic disruptions are counted. The report says India’s infrastructure-heavy growth strategy is especially exposed because the three largest investment sectors under the National Infrastructure Pipeline — power (24%), roads (18%) and railways (12%) — are also among the most vulnerable to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and extreme weather.

According to the study, roads and bridges account for 39% of exposure among key transport assets, followed by railway tracks at 33%, and transmission lines and substations at 28%. Flooding alone causes an estimated average annual loss of $172.31 million in road assets and $86.21 million in power assets. Railways too face heavy recurring losses from floods and earthquakes.