Social infrastructure
The state has a literacy rate of 76.48 per cent with male literacy at 86 per
cent (Census 2001). It has a well-developed educational infrastructure and ranks
high on the educational development index*.
The health infrastructure includes 50 civil hospitals, 60 community health
centres, 438 primary health centres and 2,067 sub-centres. The state ranked
second on the health index and the education index in 2003-04.
Access infrastructure
Himachal Pradesh ranked second on the infrastructure index in the country**.
It has a road network of 28,208 km including 1,234 km of national highways. The
state has three domestic airports at Shimla, Kullu Valley and Kangra.
PowerThe state is among the few in the country with zero power deficits. It has a huge potential of hydel power
generation at 20,300 MW (24 per cent of the total potential in the country).
So far, 3,942 MW of hydel power has been harnessed, of which only 326.8 MW is
under the Government of Himachal Pradesh.
Source: Government Website
The state is keen to encourage private sector participation in the power
sector. There are six ongoing private power projects with a generation capacity
of 1,663 MW, including Karcham Wangtoo Hydro Electric Project with a production
capacity of 1,000 MW. The State Government has approved 22 small hydro projects
of up to 5 MW capacity in the private sector.
Himachal Pradesh was the first state in the country to be completely
electrified as early as 1988. The state has a transmission network of over
74,200 km cables and 15,000 stations generating revenue of over US$ 208 million.
The state has one of the lowest power tariffs in the country. In terms of
domestic power, the state has the third lowest tariff at 2.2 US cents/kWh
against the national average of 4 US cents/kWh. Industrial power costs 5.7 US
cents/kWh against 7.95 US cents/kWh at the national level and was the fourth
lowest in 2002.
Communications infrastructure
The state has a high tele-density (no. of telephones per 1,000 people) of 8.4
against 5 at the national level. All telephone exchanges in the state are digitalised and are interconnected to each other by Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs).
It has the highest density of OFC penetration per unit area with a 6,000 km
network.
Source: www.indiastat.com
The Government of India has set up a Software Technology Park and High Speed
Data Connectivity facility in Shimla. The state recorded a growth of 84 per cent
in the Internet subscriber base and appeared in the top quartile in the country
in 2002-03.
About 98.5 per cent of the villages in the state have been provided with
telecom facility*. Up to 2004, there were 936 telephone exchanges in the state
with net switching capacity of 650,694. The state recorded the highest growth of
mobile users at 175 per cent in 2002-03.
Industrial infrastructure
The State Government has established 16 industrial areas, 11 export promotion
parks and 11 industrial estates with basic amenities such as roads, power,
sewerage, water, communications and power supply. An electronics complex has
been developed at Shoghi, near Shimla. The state has established three agro
export zones, including the one at Parwanoo, which is one of the largest in
Asia.
Brief facts
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First hill state in the country
to achieve 100 per cent electrification of all census villages by 1988
-
Rongtong Power House at an altitude of 12,000 ft
approximately, is located at the highest altitude in the world
-
Bhabha Power House, an underground facility with
a capacity of 1,200 MW
-
Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN) plans to
invest nearly US$ 2.8 billion to set up a 2,500 MW hydel plant
Financial infrastructure
The state has a good network of banks. It has the highest number of banking
offices per 100,000 of population at 12.7 against 6.3 at the national level. The
total number of bank branches in the state stood at 1,161 in 2003. There are 20
commercial banks operating with a network of 655 branches. The State Bank of
India, Punjab National Bank, UCO and State Bank of Punjab are the key banks with
556 branches.
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