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Good infrastructure raises productivity and lowers production cost. There is a direct and proportional relationship between infrastructure and production.

Infrastructure facilities boost production in the following manner:

1. Infrastructure provides supporting services in the main areas of industrial and agricultural production, domestic and foreign trade and commerce.

2. Infrastructure facilities include roads, railways, ports, airports, dams, power stations, oil and gas pipelines, telecommunication facilities, educational system, health system, monetary system, etc. It is the support system.on which depends the efficient working of a modem industrial economy.

3. Modem agricultural largerly depends on infrastructure for speedy and large scale transport of seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, and the produce by making use of modem roadways, railways, and shipping facilities.

4. Infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country both by increasing the productivity of the factors of production and improving the quality of life of its people.

The infrastructure consists of services like transport, communication, banking, irrigation, power, etc. which are essential for production of goods.

The infrastructure can be divided into two categories: 

1. Economic infrastructure:

Economic infrastructure includes energy, transportation, communication, etc.

2. Social infrastructure:

Social infrastructure includes education, health, and housing.

Infrastructure are divided into two categories:

1. Economic 

2. Social

Primary health care centers are hospitals set up in villages and small towns. They are generally managed by a single doctor. They have limited quantity of medicines.

Medical tourism means flocking of foreigners to india for surgeries liver, transplants, dental and even cosmetic care.

Coal is the largest source of energy generation in India.

Agriculture depends on the adequate expansion and development of irrigation facilities and its industrial progress depends on the development of power and electricity generation. These facilities are more in Punjab and Haryana, so these states are more advanced in agriculture.

Medical tourism means flocking of foreigners to a particular country for surgeries, liver transplants, dental and even cosmetic care.

Some of the challenges india’s power sector feces today are:

1.  India’s installed capacity to generate electricity is not sufficient to feed an annual economic growth by 7% in order to meet growing demand for electricity between 2000 and 2012, India needs 10,000 MW of new capacity. At present india is able to add only 20,000 MW, a year. Even the installed capacity is underutilized because the plants are not running properly.

2.  State electricity boards which distribute electricity incur losses which exceed Rs. 500 billion. It is due to transmission and distribution losses, wrong pricing of electricity and other inefficiencies. Free distribution of electricity to the farmers is the main reason for the losses. Electricity is also stolen in different areas.

3.  Private sector power generators are yet to play their role,

4.  There is general public unrest due to power tariffs and power cuts in different parts of the country Thermal power plants which are the mainstay of indian power sector are facing shortage of raw material and coal supplies.

It is a cooking gas used as field. Its supply fells short of the demand, so we have to import it.

Energy generated by dung, agricultural wastes, and other biological materials is known as bio-energy.

Economic development and population growth are driving the demand for energy faster than what India is producing currently. More investment, better research and development efforts, expansion technical innovations use of renevable energy sources can ensure the additional supply of electricity, private sector has made some progress.

It is also necessary to tap this sector to come forward to produce power on a large scale, for example, india is already the world’s fifth largest producer of wind energy with more than 95% investment coming the private sector.

Bangalore is different from other cities because this city has better infrastructure than other cities. It has better transportation facilities, raw material, technical know-how. The city provides world class communication facilities that is why many multinational companies are attracted towards this city.

Biogas plants are fed dung and generate gas for cooking, lighting, and heating.

1. commercial sources of energy: coal, ignite and petroleum.

2. non-commercial sources of energy: Animal wastes, wood and agricultural residue.

3. nonconventional resources of energy: Wind energy, tidal energy, energy from biomass and solar energy.

Following are the characteristics of health of the people of the country:

1. India has about 17% of the world’s population but it bears a frightening 20% of the global burden of diseases. Gldbal burden of diseases (GBD) is an indicator to guage the number of people dying prematurely due to particular diseases.

2. Every year about five lakh children die of water-borne diseases in our country. The changer of AIOS is increasing very fast.

3. At present less than 20 percent of the population utilizes public health facilities.

4. Only 38 percent of primary health centers have doctors and medicines. These centers do not have even x-ray or blood testing facilities.

5. Villagers have no access to any specialised medical care like pediatrics, gynecology, anesthesia and obsterics.

6. It is estimated that there are more than 120 lakh blind persons in india. The total 80 mpercent are blind due to contract.

7. Tuberculosis (TB) is a widespread disease in india. It is estimated that 14 million people are suffering from tuberculosis in India.

8. It is estimated that nearly 20 percent of the country’s population lives in endemic diseases area.

Energy generated by captivating solar power is called solar energy.

India has 17% of the global burden of diseases. It is an indicator used by experts to guage the number of people dying prematurely due to particular diseases as well as the number of years spent by them in a state of disability owing to the diseases.

In India, half of the global burden of diseases is accounted for by communicable diseases such as diarrohea, malaria and tuberculosis. Every year around five lakh children die of waterborne diseases in our country. The danger of AIOS is increasing. Malnutrition and inadequate supply of vaccines lead to death.

The electricity generated by the various power station is not consumed entirely by ultimate consumers. Apart of it is consumed by power stations and auxiliaries. While transmitting power, a portion is lost in transmission.It is a great loss to the nation. Efforts should be made to recover losses by using new technology.

Electricity is one of the most critical infrastructure that determines economic development of a country. The growth rate of demand for power is generally higher than GDP growth rate. In order to have 8 percent GDP growth rate per annum, the power supply needs to grow around 12 percent annually. This show that the rates of consumption of energy and economic growth are connected.

Majority of our people live in rural areas. Despite so much technological progress in the country rural women are still using bio-fuels such as crop residues, dung and fuel-wood to meet their energy requirement. The census 2001 shows that in rural india only 56% households have an electricity connection and 43% still use kerosene.

About 90% of the rural households use biofuels for cooking. Tap water availability is limited to only 24% rural households. About 76% f of the population drink water from open sources such as wells, tanks, ponds, lakes, rivers, canals, etc. As per study conducted by the national sample surve organisation by 1996, access to’ improved sanitation in rural areas was only 6%.

At present commercial energy consumption makes up about 65 percent of the total energy consumed in india. This includes coal, with the largest share of 55 percent followed by 31 percent by oil, 11 percent by natural gas and 3 percent by hydro-energy.

Non-commercial energy sources consisting of firewood, cow dung, and agricultural wastes account for 30 percent of the total energy consumption. The transport sector was the largest consumer of commercial energy consumption in 1953-54. The share of industrial sector is falling. The share of oil and gas is highest among all commercial energy consumption.

Trends in sectoral share of commercial energy consumption

1 Health care as an emerging challenge: 

Following observations highlight the drawbacks or deficiency (or emerging challenge) of our social infrastructure in term of health facilities:

1.  While 70 percent of the country’s population lives in rural areas, 80% of the hospitals are located in urban areas i.e only one fifth (20%) of the total hospitals are located inrural 1 areas.

2.  The PHCs (Primary Health Centers) in rural areas do not offer even x-ray or blood testing facilities.

3.  Out of 7 lakh beds, roughly 11 % are available in rural areas.

4.  There are only 0.36% hospitals for every one lakh people in rural areas while urban areas have 3.6 hospitals for the same number of people.

5.  Villagers have no access to any specialised medical care like pediatrics, gynaecology, anaesthesia and obsletrics.

6.  There are shortage of doctors in rural areas poor-rich divide: There is also poor rich divide in health care infrastructure.

It is clear from the following facts:

• The poorest – 20 percent in Indians living in both urban and rural areas spend 12% of their income on health care while the rich spend only 2%.
• Many poor people have to sell their land or even pledge their children to afford medical treatment.

2. Gender bias (poor health of women):

Women constitute about half of the total population. They suffer from a serious neglect in the areas of health care. More than 50% of women in India in the age group of 15 - 49 suffer from nutritional deficiency. Female foeticide is a common practice causing a decline in sex ratio.

3. High GBD :

Global burden of diseases is an indicator used by experts to gauge the numbers of people dying prematurely due to a particular disease and the number of years spent by them in a state of disabihty owing to disease. As far india is concerned, it bears 20% of the global burden of disease. In India, more than half of GBD is accounted for communicable diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria, and T.B.

4. Poor sanitation level:

Sanitation level is extremely poor both in the rural and urban areas in india. It is found that nearly 30 percent of the houses have no toilet facilities in the urban areas. In the urban slums, sanitation is absolutely poor and the slum-dwellers are living in a hell-like polluted atmosphere Rural sanitation is still worse. 

5. Other problems related to health facilities :

Communicable diseases is rising their ugly heads and posing a serious threat to society. The government is gradually moving towards privatisation of health care is becoming increasingly expensive. Moreover, health personnel are grossly inadequate, particularly in rural areas.

Health is a holistic process related to the overall growth and development of the nation. Health is not only the absence of disease but also the ability to realize one’s potential. It is a yardstick of one’s wellbeing. Development of health infrastructure ensures a country healthy manpower for the production of goods and services.

In recent times, the government is making efforts to provide basic health care facilities. Health infrastructure includes hospitals, doctors, nurses, beds, and equipment required hospitals.

The government has the constitutional obligation to guide, regulate all health-related issues such as medical education, adulteration of food, drugs, and poisons. Central council of health and family welfare collects information and renders financial and technical assistance to state governments. 

India has a large number of hospitals run by voluntary agencies and private sectors. The government has provided primary health care facilities in rural areas.

Primary health and community health centers have been established. The big hospitals have better facilties such as surgery x-ray, electrocordiogram, etc. These hospitals have advanced level equipments and medicine and undertake all the complicated health problems.

These are some premier institutions like All India Medical institute, new Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of medical research, Pondicherry etc. With the help of the following table, we can study the health care facilities in india.

1. Atomic energy power plant at Tarapur

2. Atomic energy power plant at Rana Pratap Sagar dam near Kota

3. Atomic energy power plant in Kalapakkam near Chennai

4. Atomic energy power plant at Narora

The communicable diseases are smallpox, malaria, filaria, tuberculosis, AlbS etc.

Morbidity in the propensity to fall ill. It is caused by acute respiratory and diarrhea in India.

Six system of Indian medicine are:

1. Ayurveda

2. Yoga 

3. Unani

4. Siddha 

5. Naturopathy and 

6. Homeopathy.

1. Ayurveda:

Ayurveda is one of the traditional sytems. It is presumed that the fundamental and applied priciples of Ayurveda got organised and enunciated around 1500 BC. Atharvaveda, the last of the four great bodies of knowledge, known as Vedas, contains 114 hymns related to formulations for the treatment of different diseases.

Two major schools and eight specialisations got evolved from this body of knowledge. Those schools had their respective compilations, Charaka Samhita for the school of medicine and Sushruta Samhita for the school of surgery. The Ayurvedic practitioners recommend diet and lifestyle changes along with drug therapy.

The methods of ayurveda such as applying herbs and massage can simultaneously be applied along with other systems. Ayurveda stresses a balance of three elemental energies : (air and space “wind”, (fire and water – “bile” and (water and Earth – “phlegm”. According to ayurvedic medical theory, when these three substances exist in equal quantities, the body will be healthy. Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, yoga and meditation.

2. Yoga:

Yoga has been practised in India since thousands of years. It has references in Upanishads and Puranas composed by Aryans in the Vedic period. The main credit for systematising yoga goes to Patanjali who wrote ‘Yoga Sutra’ which is the most important and basic text on Yoga. Yoga is defined as an art of righteous living or an integrated system for the benefit of the body, mind and inner spirit.

3. Unani:

Unani medicine also means “Greek Medicine”, and is a form of traditional medicine widely practiced in South Asia. It refers to a tradition of Graeco – arabic medicine which is based on the teachings of Greek physician Hippocrates, and Roman physician Galen, and developed into an elaborate medical system by Arab and Persian physicians.

Unani medicine is based on the concept of the four senses of humor Phlegm, Blood, Yellow bile and Black bile. Unani medicine first arrived in India with establishment of Delhi Sultanate (120C – 1527 CE) and Muslim rule over North India and subsequently flourished under Mughal Empire.

4. Siddha:

‘Siddha’ comes from the word ‘Siddhi’ which means an object to attain perfection or heaven. Preference of people for natural health remedies is increasing and hence, Siddha has emerged as an important and unique system of Indian medicine. Siddhi is attained through meditation which cures mental illness and promotes mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

5. Naturopathy:

Naturopathy heals with the power of nature as it assumes that all healing powers are within our body. It uses the inbuilt immune system of the human body for curing. Naturopathy regards that we fall ill only when we go against nature. An ailing body can purify and recover itself with thorough rest and fasting or having natural diet which helps in healing.

6. Homeopathy:

Homeopathy consists of two words – ‘Homeo’ meaning ‘similar’ and ‘Pathos’ meaning ‘suffering or treatment’. In this system, a drug and a disease that produce similar symptoms are believed to be having a nutralising effect on each other.

Thus, the homeopathic treatment is based on the symptoms, the body is showing and medication is given accordingly. It is popular among the people due to its remarkable healing capacity. Also, its remedies are free from side effects.

Secondary health care centers are hospitals which are mostly located in district headquarters and in big cities. They function as primary health care provider and also provide better health care facilities.

Health is the holistic process related to overall growth and development of nation. Development of health infrastructure ensures a country of healthy manpower for production of goods and services. The government has the constitutional obligation to guide and regulate all health related issues such as medical education, adulteration of food, drugs, and poisons, etc.

The union government has developed broad policies and plans through the central council of health and family welfare. Through following programmes we can increase the effectiveness of health care programmes:

1. Public health facilities should be decentralised

2. People should be educated about the nature, causes, and remedies of general diseases.

3. People should be made aware about sanitation facilities, cleanliness, immunisation, etc.

4. Efforts should be taken to develop health infrastructure

5. Through telecom and I.T. sector, messages can be spread regarding small family, vaccination better quality of life, etc especially in rural areas.

6. Primary health care facilities should be strengthened.

7. Private public partnership indeveloping primary, secondary and tertiary health care system can be taken.

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh are relatively lagging behind in health care facilities.

Health infrastructure includes hospitals, doctors, nurses, paramedical professionals, beds, equipment required in hospitals and pharmaceutical industry here presence of health infrastructure is not sufficient to have healthy people.lt should be accessible to all the people.

Women constitute about half of the total population in india. They suffer many disadvantages ascompared to men in the areas of education, participation in economic activities and health care. There is a deterioration of the child sex ratio in the country from 1945 in 1991 to 927 according to the census 2001.

It points out the growing incidence of female foeticide in the country. More than 50% of married women, between the age group of 15 & 49 have anemia & nutritional anaemia caused by iron deficiency. Which contributes to 19% of maternal death.

There are three main sources of power generation in our country.

1. Thermal power:

It is generated in india at various power stations with the help of coal and oil. It has been our major source of electric power. Its share in the total power generation was 51 percent in 1950-51 which has increased to 81 percent in 2001. Bulk of the thermal ‘ power is derived from coal and only a small fraction comes from oil.

2. Hydroelectric power:

Hydroelectric powers plays a major role in the field of power generation in the country. It is produced on a large scale through multipurpose river valley projects by constructing big dams. In India, the contribution of hydro-electric power is 20 percent of the total electricity generation.

3. Nuclear power:

India has set up nuclear power projects at Tarapur(Maharashtra), Kota(Rajasthan), Kalpakamftamilnadu), Narora(U.P). India is in favour of using nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

Solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, and bio-gas energy are the non-conventional sources of energy.

Energy is a critical aspect of the development process of a nation. It is essential for industries as it is used on a large scale in agriculture and related areas like production and transportation of fertilisers, pescides and farm equipments.

It is required in houses for cooking, household lighting and heating transport and communications. If proper attention is not paid to the development of infrastructure, it is likely to act a severe constraint on economic development.

The solar energy, wind energy, and tidal energy are the non conventional energies. India being a tropical country, has almost unlimited potential for producing all three types of energy using cost effective technology, cheaper electricity can be produced by solar, wind, tidal, firewood and cow dung.

There are two sources of energy commercial and non- commercial. Non-commercial sources of energy are fire-wood, agricultural waste, and dried dung. These are non-commercial as they are found in nature. Non-commercial sources of energy like grass, hay, twings and small branches of tree, sun-dried cowdung cakes are generally renewable.

More than 60 percent of Indian households depend on these traditional sources of energy for meeting regular cooking and heating needs. The energy crisis can be overcome with the use of renewable sources of energy.