Service Sector & Infrastructure: Energy, Transportation, Communication

Key Points at a Glance

1. 1

   India's service sector contributes 53.6% of GDP (H1 FY26) and employs approximately 30% of the workforce. It includes IT/ITES, banking, insurance, trade, transport, communication, and real estate. India is the world's largest services exporter in IT/ITES — IT services exports: $227 billion (2023–24).

2. 2

   Eight Core Infrastructure Industries (Index of Eight Core Industries — ICI): Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement, electricity — together have 40.27% weight in IIP (Index of Industrial Production). These are monitored monthly by Ministry of Commerce.

3. 3

   India's installed electricity generation capacity reached 476 GW (June 2025, all sources); renewable energy was 226.9 GW; per capita electricity consumption: 1,395 kWh (2023–24). PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (2024): free electricity to 1 crore households via rooftop solar.

4. 4

   Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I (approved 2017): develops 34,800 km of National Highways including economic corridors, inter-corridors, ring roads, and border/coastal roads. Total outlay: ₹5.35 lakh crore. By March 2023, 26,316 km had been awarded and 13,499 km constructed across Bharatmala Phase-I and residual NHDP works.

5. 5

   Indian Railways: World's 4th largest railway network — 68,702 km of route (2024); carries 24 million passengers/day. Key projects: Vande Bharat Express (40 trainsets operational by 2024); dedicated freight corridors (Eastern + Western DFC: 2,843 route km; 2,741 route km, or 96.4%, commissioned and operational by March 2025); PM Gati Shakti for 3 new rail corridors approved (2023–24 Budget).

6. 6

   National Logistics Policy (NLP), 2022: aims to reduce India's logistics cost from ~13% of GDP to 8% by 2030 (global average ~8%). Creates unified digital logistics platform; DPIIT as nodal ministry; targets top 25 in World Bank Logistics Performance Index (India: 38th in 2023).

7. 7

   UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, launched October 2016, aims to make air travel affordable for common citizens by subsidising regional routes. By 2024, 479 routes operational under UDAN; 89 airports developed/operationalised. India is the world's 3rd largest civil aviation market.

8. 8

   Digital connectivity: India had 1.20384 billion telephone subscribers at the end of April 2025 — 2nd globally after China; 943.09 million broadband subscribers; BharatNet (Phase II) aims to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats via optical fibre. 5G launched October 2022; coverage expanded to 700+ districts (2024).

9. 9

   Sagarmala Programme (2015): India's port-led development initiative targeting modernisation of 12 major ports, development of coastal shipping, and port connectivity projects — 802 projects worth ₹5.48 lakh crore. India's major ports handled 819 MT of cargo in 2022–23, targeting 1,695 MT by 2025.

10. 10

    Energy security: India's primary energy consumption: 1,025 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent, 2022–23) — world's 3rd largest energy consumer after China and USA. Oil imports: ~$232 billion (2022–23). National Green Hydrogen Mission (2023) targets 5 MMTPA green hydrogen by 2030 to reduce fossil fuel import dependency.

11. 11

    PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (October 2021): Integrates 16 central ministries on a single digital platform for coordinated infrastructure planning and delivery. Aims to reduce project approval time, eliminate duplication, and reduce logistics cost. Covers roads, railways, aviation, ports, waterways, pipelines, digital infrastructure.

12. 12

    Telecom sector: India's telecom market is the world's 2nd largest by subscriber base. Three major private operators (Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea) + BSNL (public). Jio's 2016 entry transformed the market — data prices fell 95%; India has world's cheapest mobile data (~$0.17/GB, 2023). Telecom Act 2023 replaced obsolete Indian Telegraph Act 1885.