Transportation

Indian Transportation

• Overview
• Roads
• Rails

Overview

Transport system in India consists of transport by land, water, and air. Public transport remains the primary mode of transport for most Indian citizens, and India’s public transport systems are among the most heavily used in the world.

Motor vehicle population in India is low as per international standards, with only 24.85 million cars on the nation’s roads as per 2013 records. In total, about 21 percent of households have two wheelers whereas only 4.7 percent of households in India have cars/jeeps/vans as per the 2011 Census. Despite this, the number of deaths caused by traffic is amongst the highest in the world and increasing. The automobile industry in India is currently rapidly growing with an annual production of over 4.6 million vehicles,with an annual growth rate of 10.5% and vehicle volume is expected to rise greatly in the future.

Roads

• ds handle around 60% of freight and 87% passenger traffic in the country.
• Road transport is vital to India’s economy.
• It enables the country’s transportation sector to contribute 4.7 percent towards India’s gross domestic product, in comparison to railways that contributed 1 percent, in 2009–2010.
• Road transport has gained its importance over the years despite significant barriers and inefficiencies in inter-state freight and passenger movement compared to railways and air.
• The government of India considers road network as critical to the country’s development, social integration and security needs of the country.
• India’s road network carries over 65 percent of its freight and about 85 percent of passenger traffic.

Indian road network is administered by various government authorities, given India’s federal form of government. The following table shows the total length of India’s road network by type of road as on 31 March 2016.

Road Types

National Highways 96,260.72 km

Expressways 200 km

State Highway 1, 31,899 km

Major District Roads 4,67,763 km

Rural and Other Roads 26,50,000 km

Total length 33 lakhs Ions (Approx.)

Expressways

Expressways make up approximately 1,208 km (751 mi) of India’s road network, as of 2013. These high-speed roads are four-lane or six-lane, predominantly access controlled.

India’s first Expressway, the Delhi Noida Direct Flyway (also known as DND Flyway), is an expressway connecting the cities of Delhi and Noida in the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The 165 km Yamuna Expressway, a six-laned controlled-access opened on 9 August 2012. On 21 November 2016, India’s longest expressway – the 302 km long six-laned Agra Lucknow Expressway was opened.

While the start of several expressway projects such as the Ganga Expressway have been delayed for 3 or more years, because of litigation and bureaucratic procedures.

The government has drawn up a target to lay 18,637 kilometre network of brand new expressways by 2022. Most of the existing expressways in India are toll roads.

National Highways

The main highways running through the length and breadth of the country connecting major ports, state capitals, large industrial and tourist centres, etc. National Highways in India are designated as NH followed by the highway number. Indian national highways are further classified based on the width of carriageway of the highway. As of March 2016, India had completed and placed in use 1,01,011 km of national highways.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the authority responsible for the development, maintenance and management of National Highways entrusted to it. The NHAI is undertaking the developmental activities under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) in 5 phases. From 2018, the pending projects under NHDP will be subsumed under Bharatmala. The NHAI is also responsible for implementing other projects on National Highways, primarily road connectivity to major ports in India.

How Indian Highways are numbered?

• All North-South highways will carry EVEN number
• All East-West highways will have ODD numbers
• All major Highways will be single digit or double digit in number
• North-South highways will increase their numbers from East to West. For example, a particular North-South highway in Central India or Western India will have a higher number than the one in East India.
• Three digit numbered highways are secondary routes or branches of a main highway. For example, 144, 244, 344 etc will be the branches of the main National highway 44.
• Suffixes A, B, C, D etc are added to the three digit sub highways to indicate very small spin-offs or stretches of sub-highways. For example, 966A, 527B etc

State Highways

State highways in India are numbered highways that are laid and maintained by the state governments. It only links a state capital with different district . It is constructed and maintained by the states’ Public Works Department. The state highways are usually roads that link important cities, towns and district headquarters within the state and connect them with National Highways or highways of neighbouring states. These highways provide connections to industries or places from key areas in the state making them more accessible.

State Governments have the authority and responsibility to build road networks and state highways. Most of the state highways are developed by State PWD. The State Highways provide linkages with the National Highways, district headquarters, important towns, tourist centers and minor ports and carry the traffic along major centers within the state. As of 31 March 2016, the total length of state highways was 176,166 km.[34] As of 31 March 2016 Maharashtra has the largest share in the total length of SH roads (22.14%), followed by Karnataka (11.11%), Gujarat (9.76%), Rajasthan (8.62%) and Tamil Nadu (6.67%)

District Roads

These are important roads within a district connecting areas of production with markets and connecting them with the State Highways & National Highways and are maintained by the Zila Parishad. District roads are sub-classified into – Major District Roads and Other District Roads. As per the classification of roads broadly the MDRs are to have a minimum width of 15 metres with traffic density of less than 10,000 PCUs but more than 5000 PCUs. It also connects Taluka headquarters and rural areas to District headquarters within the state. As on 31 March 2016, the total length of district roads was approximately 561,940 km of which 94.93% of the total length were surfaced.

Village Roads

The rural roads in India forms a substantial portion of the Indian road network, constituting 70.23 percent of the total roads in India (as of March 2016). As of March 2016, the percentage of unsurfaced rural roads to the total rural road length (excluding 9 lakh kilometres of JRY) was 66.15%.

Rails

At present India has the second largest railway network in Asia and the fourth largest in the world after the USA (2, 27,736 km), Russia (2, 22,293 km), and China (87,157 km). But India tops world’s leading countries with regard to passenger/ kilometre earned.

It is the largest public sector undertaking of the country comprising a vast network of 6,906 stations spread over a route length of 63,122 km with a fleet of 7,681 locomotives, 39,852 passenger service vehicles, 4,904 other coaching vehicles and 2,14,760 wagons as on 31 March 2003. The growth of Indian Railways has been phenomenal indeed.

Development and Growth of Indian Railways

The first railway line in India was opened for public traffic on 16 April, 1853 between Mumbai and Thane over a distance of 34 km. This line was extended to Kalyan on 1 May, 1854 and to Khopoli on 12 May, 1856. The Khandala-Pune section was opened to traffic on 14 June, 1858.

Meanwhile, the construction of the railway lines was going on in eastern part of the country and the first section of the East Indian Railway, from Haora to Hugli, a distance of 37 km was inaugurated on 15 August, 1854. The Haora-Hugli section was extended to Pundooah on 1 Sept, 1854 and to Raniganj Coal Mines on 3 Feb, 1855.

The line from Kanpur to Allahabad was opened in 1859 and the Haora-Khana-Rajmahal section was completed in 1860. Mughal Sarai also appeared on the railway’ map of India in 1862. In 1860, the Kanpur-Etawah section was opened to traffic and between 1862 and 1866 all the gaps between Howrah and Delhi were filled.

The southern part of the country did not lag behind and got its first 105 km long railway line from Royapuram to Arcot in 1856. This line was extended to Kadalundi (near Calicut) on the west coast in 1861. The Jolar Pettai-Bangalore Cantonment section was opened in 1864.

In 1870, the all-rail route between Kolkata and Mumbai started functioning and the main line from Mughal Sarai to Lahore (now in Pakistan) was completed. In 1871, the Mumbai-Chennai route was also opened. Thus within a short span of 18 years from 1853 to 1871, most of the important cities of India were connected by rail.

The total route kilometreage in 1870 was 7,680 km which rose to 39,834 km by the turn of 19th century and to 66,234 by 31 March, 1940. As on 15 August 1947, Indian Railways consisted of 65,217 km out of which 10,523 km went to Pakistan, leaving India with 54,694 km.

Factors affecting Railways

1. Geographical factors:

The North Indian plain with its level land, high density of population and rich agriculture presents the most favourable conditions for the development of railways. However, the presence of large number of rivers makes it necessary to construct bridges which involve heavy expenditure.

There are practically no railways in the flood plains of many rivers in Bihar and Assam. The plateau region of south India is not as much suitable for railways as the North Plain area. The Himalayan region in the north is almost entirely devoid of railways due to its rugged topography.

Some railway terminals such as Jammu Tawi, Kotdwar, Dehra Dun, Kathgodam, etc. are found on the foothills. Some narrow gauge railway tracks are found in the Himalayan region. A railway link between Jammu and Kashmir valley is being planned at a very high cost. The sandy areas of Rajasthan are also not much favourable for railways.

There was no railway line between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer till 1966. Similarly, forested areas of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, deltaic swamps of West Bengal, marshy areas of Rann of Kachchh and hilly tract of Sahyadri are also unfavourable for the development of railways.

Sahyadri can only be crossed through gaps like Thalghat, Bhorghat and Palghat to reach coastal trail heads like Mumbai, Vasco-de-Gama, Mangalore and Kochi. Obviously, the railways tend to follow the path of least resistance.

2. Economic factors:

Railways develop more in the economically advanced areas where the need for railway network is felt more. Conversely, railways bring economic prosperity to the areas through which they pass. This is because of the economic linkages that we find the highest density of railways near big urban and industrial centres and in areas which are rich in mineral and agricultural resources.

3. Political and Administrative factors:

The present railway system in India is the legacy of the British rule. The British administration planned the direction and pattern of the railway lines in such a way that they could exploit the valuable raw materials of India for the benefit of their industries and flood the Indian markets with the finished goods from Britain.

Besides, the Britishers wanted to maintain their military supremacy, for which quick movement of troops and arms was necessary and construction of railways became unavoidable. Thus, top priority was given to the big ports of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. These ports were connected with their hinterlands by railway lines to facilitate imports and exports. It is from the ports that the railway network spread to the other parts of the country.

Distribution of Indian Railways:

1. The North Indian Plain:

This region has a dense network of railways from Amritsar to Haora. This is a plain area which is very much suitable for the construction of railways. This densely populated region has highly developed agriculture and industry. Large scale urbanisation has also helped in the development of the railways. The density of railway network is closely related to the agricultural and industrial development.

There are a few focal points such as Delhi, Kanpur, Mughal Sarai, Lucknow, Agra and Patna. However, Delhi is the main point from where railway lines radiate in all directions. For political, administrative and economic reasons, Delhi is connected with major ports like Mumbai, Kolkata, Haora and Chennai through superfast trains.

2. The Peninsular Plateau:

The whole of peninsular plateau has hilly and plateau terrain which hinders the development of railways. The population density is also moderate. For such reasons, excepting, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu, a relatively open and more loose network has developed here.

However, some trunk routes cross the peninsula and provide efficient rail service between Mumbai- Chennai,’ Chennai-Kochi, Chennai-Delhi, Mumbai-Kolkata, Chennai-Hyderabad and Mumbai- Thiruvananthapuram.

3. The Himalayan Region:

Railways are conspicuous by their absence in the Himalayan region. The rugged terrain, hill and valley topography, backward economy and sparse population are the factors responsible for the sparse rail network in this region. There are only three narrow gauge railway lines in the Himalayan region. These are Kalka-Shimla, Pathankot-Kangra and Siliguri-Darjeeling.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway built in 1903 winds itself through picturesque country from Kalka to Shimfa over a distance of 96.6 km. It has 103 tunnels, totalling 8 km in length; the longest tunnel is 1,144 – metre. The railway track from Kalka to Shimla passes over 869 bridges.

The Siliguri-Darjeeling Railway is 82 km long and was constructed in 1878. There is practically no railway line in the north­eastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland.

These areas have rough terrain covered with thick forests. The population is sparse and the economy is in a backward state. Construction of railways under these conditions is a difficult and costly affair. However, plans are afoot to provide rail links to Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, although at a very heavy cost.

The recently constructed 55 km long Jammu Tawi-Udhampur railway line is the first segment of an ambitious and most challenging programme of connecting Baramula with Jammu, thereby providing rail services to areas of rough mountainous terrain of Jammu and Kashmir. Although the work on Jammu Tawi-Udhampur railway line was started in 1984, it took 21 years to construct 55 km long railway line and the first railway service on this line started on 13 April 2005 only.

This rail line runs through a difficult hilly terrain and unstable geological formation. It has 21 tunnels, the largest being 2.4 km across the Shiwalik Range. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula rail line will have 80 tunnels measuring 90 km in length. The highest and the longest tunnel will pass through Pir Panjal range and would be of 14.5 km length. Another tunnel of 1 km will pass through Patnitop.

4. The Coastal Plains:

There is a distinct contrast in the rail network between eastern coastal plains and western coastal plains. The eastern coastal plain is quite wide and permits the construction of railways, as a result of which, there is a long trunk route along the east coast from Kolkata to Chennai.

But such a route has been eluding the western coastal plain since long. This is due to the structure and relief of the area. The outcrops of the Western Ghats are very close to the coast, especially near Goa and make the construction of railway lines a difficult task.

However, the completion of Konkan Railway Line from Roha to Mangalore is a dream comes true. It passes through several tunnels and over numerous bridges. This line has the longest tunnel in the country 6.5 km long, about 23 km south of Ratnagiri.

It has become the life line of the western coastal plain. The total saving in travel distance is Mangalore-Mumbai (1,050 km), Mangalore-Ahmedabad (1,218 km), Mangalore-Delhi (707 km) and Kochi-Mumbai (437 km).

The above description leads us to the conclusion that railway services are unevenly distributed in India. The maximum concentration of railway network is found in the Indo-Gangetic plain followed by the peninsular plateau. The railways are practically absent from the Himalayan region. Such a lop­sided railway development has kept many areas away from the railway routes.

Railway Zones

Luxury-Train Services

• The Palace on Wheels is a luxury-train service, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, to promote tourism in Rajasthan. The train has a seven-night, eight-day itinerary on a round trip from New Delhi via Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur and Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Agra.
• Royal Rajasthan on Wheels covers a number of tourist destinations in Rajasthan. The seven-day, eight-night tour is a round trip from New Delhi’s Safdarjung station via Jodhpur, Udaipur and Chittaurgarh, Ranthambore National Park and Jaipur, Khajuraho, Varanasi and Sarnath, and Agra.
• Maharajas’ Express, a luxury train operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), runs on five routes to about 12 destinations across north-West and central India (centered around Rajasthan) from October to April.
• The Deccan Odyssey covers tourist destinations in Maharashtra and Goa. Its seven-night, eight-day tour begins in Mumbai and stops at Jaigad Fort, Ganapatipule and Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Tarkarli and Sawantwadi, Goa, Kolhapur and Pune (Day 5), Aurangabad and Ellora Caves, and Ajanta Caves and Nashik. The Golden Chariot runs on two tours: Pride of the South[84] and Splendor of the South.
• The Golden Chariot is a luxury train service.
• The Mahaparinirvan Express, an air-conditioned service also known as the Buddhist Circuit Train, is run by the IRCTC for Buddhist pilgrims. Its seven-night, eight-day tour begins in New Delhi and visits Bodh Gaya, Rajgir and Nalanda, Varanasi and Sarnath, Kushinagar and Lumbini, Sravasti and the Taj Mahal.
• The Fairy Queen, a tourist attraction as the world’s oldest operating steam engine, hauls a luxury train from Delhi to Alwar.

AIR TRANSPORT

AIR TRANSPORT

Air transport is under the ministry of Civil Aviation. India has been a member of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and is also on the council of ¡CAO since its inception. The Civil Aviation sector has three main functions—Regulatory in frastructure and opentional. The Air Transport companies are both in the public sector and in the private sectoL In public sector there is the Air India Ltd. and its subsidiaries, viz. Alliance Air, Air India Charters Ltd.

Apart from Air India and its subsidiaries, there are at present 06 private scheduled operators e.g. Jet Airways, (India) Ltd., Jetlite Airlines, Go Airlines (India) Pvt. Ltd. King-fishers Airlines, Spice Jet Limited and Inter Globe aviation Ltd. (India). Air Asia into be start probably in Dec. 20

At present same International Airport in India are given below.

1. Amritsar International Airport.

2. Indra Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi).

3. Lok-Priya Gopinath Airport (Guwahati).

4. Netaji Subhash Chand Bose Airport Kolkata.

5. Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel Airport (Gujarat).

6. Chhatnpati Shivaji Airport (Mumbai).

7. Hyderabad Airport (Hyderabad).

8. Goa Airport Goa.

9. Chennai International Airport Chennai.

10. Bengaluru International Airport (Bengaluru).

11. Cochin International Airport Cochin.

12. Trivananthpuram International Airport (Trivananthpuram).

SHIPPING

• Shipping plays an important role in the transport sector of India’s economy. Approximately 95% of the Country’s trade volume (68% in terms of value) is moved by sea.
• As on March 31, 2014, India had a fleet strength of 1213 ships with gross tonnage (GT) of 10.49 miffion, with the public-sector Shipping Corporation of India having the largest share of 31.30 per cent.
• Of this, 367 ships with 9.31 million GT cater to India’s overseas trade and the rest to coastal trade.
• Despite having one of the largest merchant shipping fleets among developing countries, among the 35 flags of registration with the largest registered dead weight tonnage (DWT), India ranks 18th with a share of only 0.9 per cent in total world DWT as on Januay 1, 2014 according to the ISL Shipping Statistics and Market Review.

During 2013-14, major and non- major ports in India handled a total cargo throughput of 980.49 MT.

The traffic grew by 5.02% over the previous year 2012—13.

The 13 Major Ports handled traffic of 555.50 MT during 2013—14, representing an increase of about 1.78% over the previous year 2012—13. The capacity of the country’s 12 major ports— Kandia, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V.0. Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata stood at about 700 MT as on March 31, 2014.

Twelve major ports under the Centre handle about 61 per cent of the country’s total cargo traffic.

Coastal Shipping

Coastal shipping is an energy efficient environmental friendly, and economical made of transport network and a crucial component for the development of domestic industry and trade.

India with 7517 km coastline with 3,80,000 km hinterland covers 9 maritime states, (five states on the western coast and 4 on the eastern coast) a port of Puducherry, Lakshadweep in Arabian sea and the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal These Islands are dependent on coastal shipping for transportation of Cargo and passengers to the mainland as well as for Island movement.

At present there are 13 big and 200 small ports in India’s

Mumbai, Mahashava (Maharashtra) Kandla (Gujarat) Mudgaon (Goa), Kocchi (Karela) and New Manglore at Western Coast While Haldia-Kolkata, (West Bengal) Paradeep (Odisha), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Chennai, Tuticorin Ennore (Tamil nadu) are on Eastern Coast.

Major Ports

On the West Coast

1. Cochin Port, Kerala: It is major natural port. It deals in fertilizers, petroleum and general cargo.

2. Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Maharashtra: Major port in Mumbai. It is ranked among world’s top 30 ports. Earlier it was called as Nhava Sheva.

3. Kandla Port, Gujarat: It is a tidal port and a free trade zone has been set up here. Important traffic handles are crude oil, petraleum products, edible oil, foodgrains, salt, cotton etc. It is located in Runn of Kachchh.

4. Marmugao Port, Goa: One of the oldest natural harbour on west coast. It was declared a major port. In 1963. It occupies the fifth position in terms of total quantum of traffic handled.

5. New Mangalore Port, Karnataka: It is an all-weather port. Iron ore of Kudremukh is being exported now here. Other items are petroleum products, fertilizers, molasses, etc. It is an Artificial Lagoon port.

6. Port of Mumbai, Maharashtra: Port of Mumbai has long been the principal gateway of India. Mumbai handles the maximum traffic. It is a natural harbour with wet dock. It handles over one fifth of the total traffic of ports, mostly petroleum products and dry cargo.

On the East Coast

7. Kolkata Port, West Bengal: Kolkata is the oldest major port in the country Kolkata Port is India’s only riverine port. It has the most sophisticated port facilities with extensive storage facility for diverse cargo.

8. Paradip Port, Odisha: One of India’s major ports, located in Paradip. Government of India declared Paradip as the Eighth Major Port of India on 18 April 1966 making it the first major port in the east coast commissioned in Independent India. It handles iron ore and some quantities of coal and dry cargo. It is a wet dock.

9. Port of Chennai, Tamil Nadu: It is the second largest port in the volume of traffic handled. Important items are petroleum products, crude oil, fertilizers, iron ore and dry cargo and oldest artificial port of India. It has artificial harbour and a wet dock.

10. Port of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh: It is described as the Brightest Jewel of all Indian major ports for its outstanding performance and productivity. It is the deepest port. An outer harbour has been developed for exporting iron ore and a berth for crude oil is located here. It has both artificial and natural harbour.

11. Tuticorin Port, Tamil Nadu: Tuticorin Port is an artificial deep-sea harbour. It is an all-weather port. It handles mainly coal, salt, edible oil, dry cargo and petroleum products.

12. Kamarajor Port Ltd. Tamil Nadu It is the 12th major port and first corporatised major port in India; a Government of India undertaking. It handles coal, iron ore, LNG, chemical & other liquids, & crude since 2001. Artificial harbour is found here.

Ennore Port, officially renamed Kamarajar Port limited, is located on the coromandel coast.

13. Portblair—Andaman Nicobar: It is the latest addition to the major port on June 2010, the thirteen port in the country.

Minor and Intermediate Ports

There are 140 such ports which include Rediport (Maharashtra), Icakinada (Andhra Pradesh) and Calicut (Kerala).

Other ports proposed to be developed as minor ports are Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry These ports can relieve the overloaded major ports and can be used as bases for deep-sea fishing.

These ports mainly serve coastal trade and support passenger traffic where there is no proper nil or road link.

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Tourism

Overview

• Tourism in India is important for the country’s economy and is growing rapidly.
• The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated ₹16.91 lakh crore (US$240 billion) or 9.2% of India’s GDP in 2018 and supported 42.673 million jobs, 8.1% of its total employment.
• The sector is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% to ₹32.05 lakh crore (US$450 billion) by 2028 (9.9% of GDP).
• In October 2015, India’s medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$3 billion, and it is projected to grow to US$7–8 billion by 2020.
• In 2014, 184,298 foreign patients traveled to India to seek medical treatment.
• Over 10 million foreign tourists arrived in India in 2017 compared to 8.89 million in 2016, representing a growth of 15.6%.
• Domestic tourist visits to all states and union territories numbered 1,036.35 million in 2012, an increase of 16.5% from 2011.
• In 2014, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were the most popular states for tourists.
• Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur were the five most visited cities of India by foreign tourists during the year 2015. Worldwide, Delhi is ranked 28th by the number of foreign tourist arrivals, while Mumbai is ranked 30th, Chennai 43rd, Agra 45th, Jaipur 52nd and Kolkata 90th.
• The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report for the year 2017, ranked India 40th out of 136 countries overall.
• The report ranks the price competitiveness of India’s tourism sector 10th out of 136 countries.
• It mentions that India has quite good air transport (ranked 32nd), particularly given the country’s stage of development, and reasonable ground transport infrastructure (ranked 29th).
• The country also scores high on natural and cultural resources (ranked 9th).
• However, some other aspects of its tourism infrastructure remain somewhat underdeveloped.
• The nation has very few hotel rooms per capita by international comparison and low ATM penetration.
• The World Tourism Organization reported that India’s receipts from tourism during 2012 ranked 16th in the world, and 7th among Asian and Pacific countries.

Foreign tourist

Foreign tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings

Foreign tourist arrivals in India

(1997–2017)

Number of foreign tourist arrivals in India from 2008 to 2018, by month

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India

Foreign tourist arrivals by source country

Source countries for foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2017

Foreign tourist

Domestic tourist

Foreign and domestic tourist visits by State

Share of top 10 states/UTs of India in number of foreign tourist visits in 2015

Share of top 10 states/UTs of India in number of domestic tourist visits in 2015

World Heritage sites

World Heritage sites

There are 37 World Heritage sites in India that are recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of August 2017. These are places of importance of cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.

• Cultural (29)
• Agra Fort (1983)
• Ajanta Caves (1983)
• Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar (2016)
• Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989)
• Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004)
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004)
• Churches and Convents of Goa (1986)
• Elephanta Caves (1987)
• Ellora Caves (1983)
• Fatehpur Sikri (1986)
• Great Living Chola Temples (1987,2004)
• Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)
• Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984)
• Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987)

Cultural (29)

• Hill Forts of Rajasthan (2013)
• Historic City of Ahmadabad (2017)
• Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi (1993)
• Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)
• Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002)
• Mountain Railways of India (1999,2005,2008)
• Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993)
• Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat (2014)
• Red Fort Complex (2007)
• Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003)
• Sun Temple, Konârak (1984)
• Taj Mahal (1983)
• The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement (2016)
• The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010)
• Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (2018)

Cultural (29)

Natural (7)

• • Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (2014)
  • Kaziranga National Park (1985)
  • Keoladeo National Park (1985)
  • Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (1985)
  • Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (1988,2005)
  • Sundarbans National Park (1987)
  • Western Ghats (2012)

Mixed (1)

• • Khangchendzonga National Park (2016)

Beach

West Coast Beaches

East Coast Beaches

Famous Hill Stations

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