BMP:SEM4:PAPER 1/4:SPECIALIZATION ECONOMICS:INFRASTRUCTURE ECONOMICS

 Module 1 :

Infrastructure and economic development – Infrastructure as a public good; Social and

physical infrastructure; Special characteristics of public utilities. The peak load, Off load

problem; Dual principle controversy; Economies of scale of joint supply; Marginal cost

pricing vs. other methods of pricing in public utilities; Cross subsidization – free prices,

equity and efficiency.

Module 2 :

The structure of transport costs and location of economic activities; Demand for

transport – Models of freight and passenger demand; Model choice; Cost functions in the

transport sector; Principle of pricing; Special problems of individuals modes of transport;

Inter-model condition in the Indian situation.

Module 3 :

Rate making in telephone utilities; Principles of decreasing costs in telephone industry –

Characteristics of postal services; Criteria for fixation of postal rates; Measurement of

standards of service in telephone and postal utilities.

Module 4 :

Primacy of energy in the process of economic development; Factors determining demand

for energy; Effects of energy shortages; Energy conservation, renewable and nonconventional sources of energy; Energy modeling; The search for an optimal energy

policy in the Indian context.

Module 5 :

Bulk supply and pricing of electricity – The relative economics of thermal, hydel and

nuclear power plants – The case for a National Power Grid, financing water utilities -

Urban and rural water supply; The exploitation of National Gas; Pricing problem.

Module 6 :

Organisation and financing of supply of social services; Private vs public sector

financing; Recent debate about the fixation of prices of social services; Development of

social services in the successive Indian plans.

Module 7 :

Education and economic growth; Approaches to educational planning, social demand,

rate of return and manpower balance approaches; The case for universal, free, primary

education; Structure of higher education and problems of its financing in India; Human

resources and human capital development – The issues in education policy; Health

dimensions of development - Determinants of health – Poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy

and lack of information, Economic dimensions of health care – Demand and supply of

health care, Financing of health care and resource constraints - Inequalities in health –

Class and gender perspectives; Institutional issues in health care delivery.