Surprise! 57% Urban Indians satisfied with India’s Infrastructure, India ranked 3rd in quality of Infrastructure after China & Saudi Arabia: GIIA-Ipsos Global Infrastructure Index 2019

Airports, Digital, Motorways and Rail infrastructure rated best Cycle Facilities, Electric Vehicle Charging, Flood Defenses, Pedestrian Pathways and Water Supply & Sewerage infrastructure rated worst

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  • Madhurima Bhatia Media Relations and Content lead
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Infrastructure is the backbone of economy and the progress of the nation largely hinges on the quality of infrastructure.

How does India stack up?

We may begrudge the quality of infrastructure, but the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA)-Ipsos 2019 survey paints a rosy picture and shows that at least 57% of urban Indians polled are satisfied with the quality of infrastructure in the country (infrastructure definition included things that we rely on, like road, rail, air networks, utilities such as energy, water, broadband and other communications). And interestingly, India is placed 3rd in the pecking order, among 28 markets covered in the survey, below China (70%) and Saudi Arabia (68%), in its quality of infrastructure.

Global citizens notably were far less satisfied, with only 37% giving their infrastructure a thumbs up.

"This may appear surprising, but this reflects urban perceptions," said Amit Adarkar, Ipsos India CEO & Operations Director, Ipsos APAC. 

Infrastructure – hits and misses

In Infrastructure, Urban Indians are highly satisfied with the quality of Airports (80%), Digital (high speed broadband, full fiber network, 5G) (65%), Motorways (63%) and Rail (62%) and rate them best. Many others have been rated good too – esp. Housing Supply (58%), Nuclear (nuclear infrastructure to generate energy) (57%), Solar Energy (53%) Local Roads (52%) and Wind Energy (48%).

On the other hand, urban Indians rate India poor on its quality of Cycle Facilities (cycle routes/ lanes) (36%), Electric vehicle charging (EV charging infrastructure) (37%), Flood defenses (38%), Pavements, Pedestrian (pavements, footpaths & pedestrian areas) (43%) and Water and sewerage (44%) infrastructure.

We are making good progress on new age symbols of infra like airports & digital, but seen to fail on pavements & sanitation etc. Some of the Indian airports, for instance, can rival the best across the globe. Though now there is a huge focus on inclusion of hinterlands in the infrastructure overhaul,said Amit Adarkar, Ipsos India CEO & Operations Director, Ipsos APAC. 

India needs to ramp up the infrastructure in the areas of flood defenses, water and sewerage and electric vehicle charging points; cycle lanes and pedestrian pathways are also essential. In case of water and sewerage, India’s ranking is a dismal 23rd among 28 markets and needs a major focus,” added Adarkar.

How India stacks up

Infrastructure

India’s rank in 28 markets

India’s score

(Those who rate it good)

Global score (those who rate it good) 

Airport

3rd

80%

67%

Digital

7th

65%

55%

Motorways

8th

63%

54%

Rail

6th

62%

45%

Housing Supply

4th

58%

43%

Nuclear

2nd

57%

34%

Solar Energy

3rd

53%

33%

Local Roads

9th

52%

45%

Wind Energy

5th

48%

34%

Water Supply & Sewerage

23rd

44%

55%

Pavements, Pedestrian

15th

43%

47%

Flood Defenses

7th

38%

31%

Electric Vehicle Charging

3rd

37%

24%

Cycle facilities

15th

36%

47%

Future Course for India’s Infrastructure

There is consensus among majority of urban Indians (77%) that further investment in infrastructure is interlinked with providing major fillip to economic growth; 75% Indians support further ramping up of infrastructure in the local area (75%); majority of Indians (68%) also support private sector investment in infrastructure, if it helps India modernize;  urban Indians want India to do more in improving its infrastructure (59%) and half of Urban Indians polled (53%) blame our poor track record in implementation of infrastructure projects.       

Global Prioritization for  Infrastructure

Top priorities identified by global citizens (including Indians) were, solar energy infrastructure (42%), water supply & sewerage (39%), flood defences (38%) and local road network (35%).

Methodology 

28 countries, 19,516 participants, 26 July–9 August 2019 (online):
Argentina, Australia*, Belgium, Brazil, Canada*, Chile, China*, Colombia, France*, Germany*, Great Britain*, Hungary, India*, Italy*, Japan*, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Serbia, Spain*, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America*denotes 1,000+ sample size

Participants were adults aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and adults aged 16-64 in all other countries.

Results may not sum to 100% and combinations to their constituent %s (e.g. very/ fairly satisfied) due to computer rounding.

The 2016-2019 surveys used the same methodology, but the profile of participating countries changed. This means that the global trend does not always involve a like-for-like comparison. In 2018, Romania and Czech Republic were included, China wasn’t. This year, Romania and Czech Republic were not included, but some questions were fielded in China.

 

The author(s)
  • Madhurima Bhatia Media Relations and Content lead

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