Development of Infrastructure in Orissa

Abstract

Development of infrastructure in a region is primary requirement for the economic development. It not only influences the level and nature of economic activity but also determines the quality of life in the socio-cultural aspects of the society. The World Development Report (1994) even goes beyond the conventional socio-economic aspects of infrastructure, and felt that it helps in reducing poverty and maintaining environmental sustainability which are main problems of an economy now. Infrastructural services are monopolistic in nature provided by the public sector in all the economies, both developed and developing. The main characteristics of infrastructure service involves:

1. High cost of production to provide the service,
2.  The payback period is considerably very long.
3.  Requires huge initial investment and high maintenance costs,
4.  There is existence of externalities and difficult to recoup investment cost and operational costs through the levy of users charges.