Class 10 Social Science Chapter 7 Lifelines of National Economy Notes in English

1Why Transport, Communication and Trade Matter

Goods and services are not always available where they are needed. They must be carried from where they are made or grown (supply locations) to where they are wanted (demand locations), and this movement needs transport. The people who carry products to consumers this way are called traders. A country’s pace of development depends not only on how much it produces, but on how well those goods and services move over space.

2Roadways

In India, roads were built before railways, and still hold an edge over rail transport: lower construction cost than railway lines; can cross more dissected, undulating land and steeper gradients (even the Himalayas); economical for few people or small goods over short distances; give door-to-door service, so loading/unloading costs stay low; and act as a feeder to other modes, linking railway stations, airports and seaports.

2.1 Six classes of roads, by capacity

Roads are also classified by the material used to build them: metalled roads (cement, concrete or bitumen) can be used in all weather; unmetalled roads go out of use in the rainy season.

3Railways

Railways are India’s principal mode of transport for both freight and passengers, and for more than 150 years they have been a great integrating force, allowing trade, business, sightseeing and pilgrimage over long distances. The Indian Railways is the largest public-sector undertaking in the country. The first train ran in 1853, from Mumbai to Thane, a distance of 34 km, and the network is now reorganised into 17 zones.

Gauge	Track width	Route length (km)
Broad Gauge	1.676 m	63,950
Metre Gauge	1.000 m	2,402
Narrow Gauge	0.762 m and 0.610 m	1,604
Total		67,956

Source (book): Railway Yearbook 2019-20, Ministry of Railways, Government of India.

The way railways are spread across the country depends on physical, economic and administrative factors. The northern plains were most favourable: flat land, high population, rich agriculture, although the many rivers there needed bridges. Hilly parts of the peninsula needed tracks through low hills, gaps or tunnels, and the Himalayan region is unfavourable for railways, high relief, thin population, few economic opportunities. Lines were also hard to lay through the sandy plains of western Rajasthan, the swamps of Gujarat, and the forests of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand; the Sahyadri range can only be crossed through gaps or passes (Ghats). The recent Konkan Railway along the west coast has eased movement in this key economic region, though it faces track-sinking and landslides.

4Pipelines

Pipelines are a newer addition to India’s transport network. In the past they were used to carry water to cities and industries; now they carry crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas from oil and gas fields to refineries, fertilizer factories and thermal power plants; even solids can travel through a pipeline once turned into slurry. Laying a pipeline costs a lot up front, but running costs afterwards are minimal, and pipelines rule out trans-shipment losses or delays. Far-inland refineries such as Barauni, Mathura and Panipat, and gas-based fertilizer plants, were only possible because pipelines could reach them.

Pipeline network	Route
1	Upper Assam oil fields → Kanpur (UP), via Guwahati, Barauni and Prayagraj; branches from Barauni to Haldia (via Rajbandh), Rajbandh to Maurigram, and Guwahati to Siliguri
2	Salaya (Gujarat) → Jalandhar (Punjab), via Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi and Sonipat; branches to Koyali (near Vadodara) and Chakshu
3	The Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) cross-country gas pipeline, first laid at 1,700 km, linking Mumbai High and Bassein gas fields to fertilizer, power and industrial complexes in western and northern India

5Waterways

Since ancient times India has been one of the seafaring countries; its seamen carried Indian commerce and culture far and near. Waterways are the cheapest mode of transport, best suited to heavy and bulky goods, fuel-efficient and environment-friendly. India has 14,500 km of inland navigation waterways.

National Waterway	Route	Length
NW No. 1	The Ganga, between Prayagraj and Haldia	1,620 km
NW No. 2	The Brahmaputra, between Sadiya and Dhubri	891 km
NW No. 3	The West-Coast Canal in Kerala (Kottapurma-Kollam, Udyogamandal and Champakkara canals)	205 km
NW No. 4	Stretches of the Godavari and Krishna, with the Kakinada-Puducherry canal stretch	1,078 km
NW No. 5	Stretches of the Brahmani, with the Matai river, Mahanadi delta channels and the East Coast Canal	588 km

Other inland waterways carrying substantial traffic, without a measured length in the book: the Mandavi, Zuari and Cumberjua rivers, the Sunderbans, the Barak, and the backwaters of Kerala.

6Major Sea Ports

India’s trade with foreign countries moves mainly through ports on its coastline of 11,098.81 km, which is dotted with 12 major ports and 200 notified non-major (minor/intermediate) ports. The major ports alone handle 95% of India’s foreign trade, and overall 95% of the country’s trade volume (68% by value) is moved by sea.

Port	What makes it important
Deendayal Port (Kandla)	The first port developed soon after Independence, to ease the volume of trade on Mumbai port in the wake of the loss of Karachi port to Pakistan after the Partition. A tidal port serving J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Mumbai	India’s biggest port, with a spacious, natural, well-sheltered harbour.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port	Built to decongest Mumbai port and act as a hub port for the region.
Mormugao (Goa)	Premier iron-ore exporting port, handling about 50% of India’s iron-ore exports.
New Mangalore (Karnataka)	Exports iron-ore concentrate from the Kudremukh mines.
Cochin	Extreme south-western port, a natural harbour at the entrance of a lagoon.
V.O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu	Extreme south-eastern port, natural harbour, rich hinterland; trades with Sri Lanka, Maldives and India’s coastal regions.
Chennai	One of the oldest artificial ports; ranks next to Mumbai in trade and cargo volume.
Vishakhapatnam	The deepest landlocked and well-protected port (its harbour is enclosed by land, though the port is on the coast), originally conceived as an outlet for iron-ore exports.
Paradwip (Odisha)	Specialises in iron-ore export.
Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata	An inland riverine port serving the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin; a tidal port needing constant dredging of the Hooghly.
Haldia	Developed as a subsidiary port to relieve pressure on the Kolkata port.

7Airways

Air travel today is the fastest, most comfortable and most prestigious mode of transport. It can cover very difficult terrains, high mountains, dreary deserts, dense forests and long oceanic stretches, with great ease. This makes it especially valuable in the north-eastern states, where big rivers, dissected relief, dense forests and frequent floods make other transport difficult; air travel has made access easier.

8Communication

Long-distance communication today is far easier without any physical movement of the sender or receiver. Personal and mass communication (television, radio, the press, films) are the country’s major means of communication. India’s postal network is the largest in the world, and handles both parcels and personal written communication.

To speed up delivery in large towns and cities, six mail channels were recently introduced: Rajdhani Channel, Metro Channel, Green Channel, Business Channel, Bulk Mail Channel and Periodical Channel.

India has one of the largest telecom networks in Asia; more than two-thirds of villages (outside urban places) already have STD telephone facility, at a uniform rate across the whole country, made possible by combining space technology with communication technology. To strengthen the flow of information from the grassroots to the higher level, the government has made special provision to extend twenty-four-hour STD facility to every village in the country.

Mass communication provides entertainment and creates awareness among people about various national programmes and policies. It includes radio, television, newspapers, magazines, books and films.

Mass medium	What the book says about it
All India Radio (Akashwani)	Broadcasts a variety of programmes in national, regional and local languages, for different groups across the country.
Doordarshan	India’s national television channel, one of the largest terrestrial networks in the world; broadcasts entertainment, education and sport for every age group.
Newspapers	Published in about 100 languages and dialects; the largest number are in Hindi, followed by English, then Urdu.
Film	India is the largest producer of feature films in the world (short films, video feature films and video short films). The Central Board of Film Certification certifies both Indian and foreign films.

9International Trade

The advancement of a country’s international trade is an index of its economic prosperity, its “economic barometer.” As the resources are “space bound”, no country can survive without international trade.

India trades with all the major trading blocks and geographical regions of the world.

Direction	Commodities the book names
Exports from India	Gems and jewellery; chemicals and related products; agriculture and allied products.
Imports to India	Petroleum crude and products; gems and jewellery; chemicals and related products; base metals; electronic items; machinery; agriculture and allied products.

10Tourism as a Trade

Tourism in India has grown remarkably over the past two decades, helped by government initiatives, infrastructure development and global branding. Named schemes: Swadesh Darshan 2.0, the Vibrant Village Programme, PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) and Paryatan Mitra. Tourism promotes national integration, supports local handicrafts and cultural pursuits, and helps in the development of international understanding about our culture and heritage.