The Nature of Rural Infrastructure: Problems and Prospects

Suman Bery, D.B. Gupta, Reeta Krishna and Siddhartha Mitra

No 94, NCAER Working Papers from National Council of Applied Economic Research

Abstract: This paper looks at rural infrastructure facilities in India, the lack of which is demonstrated to be an impediment to sustained economic development. We argue that problems of rural infrastructure provision are different from those of the urban, given the smaller size, density and per capita incomes of rural agglomerations. While privatisation is now being considered as the giver of increasing efficiency in the provision of urban infrastructure, this policy recommendation has to be modified in the case of rural infrastructure. Private investors will tend to shun rural areas, especially the ones remote or those that have low incomes or low population density, because of low expected rates of return. Thus, social equity might be endangered. It is necessary, therefore, to have a public–private partnership where subsidies or incentives provided by the government would help to direct private investment towards these disadvantaged areas.

Keywords: Economic Development; Infrastructure; Public Private Partnership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2004
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Working Paper: The Nature of Rural Infrastructure: Problems and Prospects (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nca:ncaerw:94

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