In the first part1 , we discussed about the inefficiency of government in providing any infrastructural development as government and politicians often remain involved in corruption and frauds and their major goal is only to dominate, rule and exploit common man, the tax-payers2.
We also discussed about the viability of privatization of Indian roadways as it will certainly improved the road system of India and will make it possible for every part of India to remain well-connected with other regions. Roads are very important economic factor which must remain free of governmental corrupt authority and exploitation. However, people often remain in doubt whether private roads will be able to fulfill all requirements and will they be free to be used by anybody? Let us burst the doubts about private road system one by one.
Will private roads reach to Village?
At present under the monopoly of government over making of roads, 35% of Indian villages are still to see a stable road. However, if private players are allowed to venture in road infrastrural development, there hardly would be any place in India which will not be well-connected with other parts. The profit drive will encourage investors to establish their road system services to every second village , town and city where they can do business profitably. Even the remote places with enough population will attract road makers just like mobile services and bank services are made available at every part of India by private entrepreneurs. It should be noted that there are Maruti and Tata Motors service stations even in Laddakh where the government failed to provide efficient road system.
What will be the source of Income for Road owners? Will every road be a toll road?
In case of inner roads of a city or urban area, there hardly would be any charge for moving on roads. The shops, showrooms and businesses situated nearside the roads will make sure that everybody may attain easiest access to their shops and business places. They will pay expenses for maintenance for the road owners.
However, in case of highways or roads joining a city to other city, the road owners will earn money from the transportation service providers such as passenger bus and freight truck service providers. These transportation service providers will bear major expenses of maintenance of roads while the occasional people moving from one city to other in their private vehicles, cars or vans may be needed to pay a minimal amount of toll charges. The toll charges will remain controlled by the market competition. If a road owner decides to exploit the situations, soon there will be other business persons allowing a better and cheaper road system between those cities.
In addition, road owners will also gain income from electric service suppliers and water suppliers as they will use the area near roads to establish their water lines and electric poles. Roads provide the shortest and safest way to let pipelines and cables reach from one place to other, and this will be used by road owners to generate revenues from utility providers such as telephone line, oil line, gas line, water line, electric cables providers etc. In return, road owners will confirm safety of these utilities while ensuring that this utility transportation may not damage roads and their beauty so that the value of their roads and nearby area may not depreciate.
Will the road owner allow the street vendors?
The road owner will ensure that no criminal or robber may enter their roads. However, they will also confirm that the residential area nearby their roads may attain all quality services. As for example, if there is an amusement park alongside the road, the road owner will allow balloon, candy and ice-cream hawkers. Fruits and vegetables vendors will be allowed to reach residential areas so that people living there may attain food articles. This will be necessary for the road owner to provide free access to worthy vendors because if they won’t, people living in nearby areas of the road will complain and if not heard, will decide to leave the place and that will decrease the worth of road and the road owner will suffer losses. Thus, even street vendors will be organized by free market force.
Will private roads remain safe for women, children? Will there be vandalism, chain snatching, eve teasing, and rapes on private roads?
Private roads will be highly secured. The shops, showrooms, corporate and business houses nearby the roads will confirm that no criminal hooligan may attain access to their area. They will employ private security for the whole area and the private road owner will also employ proper security for their roads. Overall, it will be very difficult for criminals to attempt chain snatching, eve-teasing, and kidnapping or any other crime on private roads. Better security will increase the worth of the road and profits of the road owner. Women will be free to move on roads anytime even at night without any fear as no road-side sexual harassment will be possible. The shop owners, corporate office owners and road owners will confirm it otherwise they will suffer losses as consumers will avoid using unsafe roads. Encroachment on roadsides won’t be possible.
Who will pay for the security of highways?
While urban roads will be protected by the shopkeepers, showroom owners and corporate offices owners nearby the roads, the highways and village roads will be protected by the owner of the roads. They will attain revenues for this safety from transportation companies, passenger services, utility transportation services such as telephone cables, oil and water pipelines and electricity providers whose pipelines and cables will move alongside the roads. They will pay for this security as it would be mostly needed by them.
Furthermore, the road owner will also gain revenues from advertisers, consumers of highways and mid-way food and petrol stations and other relevant services on expressways.
Private roads will be self-sustained.
The price of property and land nearside a well-maintained road will increase and the area nearby such roads will develop as residential, commercial or industrial areas. The property owners will enjoy richness because of properly managed and secured roads and hence they will ensure establishment of private roads and hence the road business will flourish by itself and more competitors will try to venture in road provision business and this will reduce the prices of using roads to further low just as it is happening in case of mobile phones.
In the third part, we will further discuss about some more arguments against the private road systems and will see how private roads will ensure proper services for everyone even if the private road owner is a mean person.
Well-equipped roads will increase the price of property along the roadsides, with high rates for residential and business land, which will make the property owners richer. And hence the road business will flourish by itself and will gather more competition; the competition will make the usage of roads by anyone as cheap as it can be just like radios or internet, all self-sustained.
In next part of this series, we will discuss about the major objections against Private road systems and will analyze about the probable problems that may appear if private roadways are allowed in India.
Second Part : How to Improve Indian Roadways (Discussing Viability of Privatization of Roads)
Third Part : Private Roads and Workability (Discussing Issues Related with Private Road System)
If a road owner decides to exploit the situations, soon there will be other business persons allowing a better and cheaper road system between those cities. – How would alternate roads be constructed if there are no space remaining? Having many roads means more destruction of environment. And your solution seems more costly.
Roads are bad here because of corruption not due to government. Look at good roads in other less corrupt countries.
I wish you could understand what is corruption. The countries you are naming already have private road systems. They arfe less corrupt because they are more liberalized/privatized.
Hello Prashanth,
There is a basic flaw in your understanding of this subject.
Governmental roads are expensive and of lower quality because there is no competition to government. It can never learn from others to improve its own short comings. Government roads are also expensive because the contractors, the builders and the labor which government uses to make roads have no incentive to produce best roads for minimal expense, rather they try to extort as much as money they can for making roads and they never make good roads because if they do, why will government ask them to make or refurnish roads again? It is necessary for them to make incompetent roads and this happens only in governmental sector. Your own home is private property. What will you try? to make a strong and better home at cheaper cost or to make a low quality home at higher price? This is the difference between government property and your own property.
Your second doubt is more futile. Any person will invest in producing a road if he will see it is viable for him to make a road and he will easily get the required land without forcing anybody and he will also be able to make enough money through that road. So private road systems will use least space but better coordination. It will be helpful for environment. Its simple a private road will be beautiful if the road owner plants trees, flower shrubs and herbs on both sides of his roads. Government roads are wastage on every account.
And by the way, government and taxation is corruption. So obviously, to remove corruption you need to redeuce government and privatize as much things as possible. The only solution to reduce corruption is Liberalization and economic reforms. Every other thing like ANna Hajare’s Janlokpal is foolish attempt.
Absolutely! Anna Hajare and Janlokpal can only make more bureaucracy which will have to see if the other bureaucratic departments are not corrupt. But the thing is, corruption is because of scarcity and hence it cannot be removed until government privatize things. Ultimately, the jnlokpal will also have to get corrupt. Watch the movie Guru and try to answer if India is better with a Dhiru Bhai Ambani or is it better without him.