What is Infrastructure?

An often used term in the Indian Business and economic meets, seminars, discussions, newspapers and magazines, Infrastructure is one of the fastest growing sectors in India today , one which is going to be a key driver of the economy in the years to come. I have set out on a journey to explore the concepts and the opportunities present in this sector. My journey will be a collation of data from various sources. I hope this eclectic excercise will be useful not just for me but also for other like minded readers.

An Introduction:

Infrastructure is a set of interconnected structural elements that provide the framework supporting an entire structure. Nowadays, this term is used in a variety of applications such as infrastructure of a city or region, information technology, informal and formal channels of communication, software development tools etc. What I am going to talk about in my future articles is the civil infrastructure which is the backbone of our economy. A comprehension of infrastructure spans not only these public infrastructure facilities, but also the operating procedures, management practices, and development policies that interact together with societal demand and the physical world to facilitate the transport of people and goods, provision of water for drinking and a variety of other uses, safe disposal of society's waste products, provision of energy where it is needed, and transmission of information within and between communities.

Important terms related to Infrastructure Sector

Public Works:
Public works are the construction or engineering projects carried out by the state on behalf of the community. It often describes the maintenance functions, accounting treatment and agencies, not just the structures.

Public Infrastructure:
Public infrastructure means any infrastructural capital under public ownership - that is, any such capital asset that is not firm-specific infrastructure.

Infrastructure Capital:
It refers to any physical means of production or means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature, i.e. beyond natural capital and that which is not considered "fluid capital". It may include tools, clothing, shelter, irrigation systems, dams, roads, boats, ports, factories or any physical improvements made to nature.

Internal Improvement:
An internal improvement is some constructible object, via which, a nation can improve its economic infrastructure.
Examples of internal improvements are: airports, canals, dams, dikes, pipelines, railroads, roads, tunnels, and artificial harbours.

Private Sector:
The private sector of a nation's economy consists of those entities which are not controlled by the state - i.e., a variety of entities such as private firms and companies, corporations, banks (other than central banks), charities, non-governmental organizations and individuals.

Public Sector:
The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government, whether national, regional or local/municipal.