Goa infrastructure

Goa average income was 58,677 rupees in 2003/04, almost three times the Indian average of 20,989 rupees. Goa is thus by far the richest state in India. This is due not only to tourism and the high degree of industrialization of wear, but also the relative high number who make regular remittances to their relatives in Goa.

Health care is much better than in many other states, where it is mainly in the countryside and is often completely inadequate. Therefore, Goa has very good health indicators.

For example, in 2000 the infant mortality rate was 17 stillbirths per 1000 live births, well below the all-India level (63 to 1000), but still, at three to four times more than the mortality rate in developed countries.

Two National Highways pass through India’s smallest state. The NH-17 connects Mumbai in the north with the port city of Mangalore in the south. The NH-4A runs between the capital city of Panaji and the eastern city of Belagavi in Karnataka. Together the National Highways in Goa have a combined length of 224 kilometers.

Goa’s total road network comprises of approximately 7200 kilometers, making it the densest of all Indian states. Rail lines in the main cities of the country, including to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, consist of the South Central Railway between Vasco da Gama and Hubli.

Goa is also connected to the Konkanbahn between Mumbai and Mangalore. As a principal means of transport in Goa they use privately operated bus lines that connect the major cities with rural areas. Until the late ’80s there was also a frequently used regular ferry service between Mumbai and Panaji. On the basis of thieves, who operated on the ships, and frequent technical problems due to lack of maintenance, this has now been stopped but for groups they sometimes run Hovercrafts.

Goa’s sole airport, the Dabolim Airport (IATA: GOI, ICAO: VAGO) at Vasco da Gama, was originally a military airfield, now used for civil use as well, and was extended to the international airport. However, only a few scheduled flights are for abroad to the Arabian Peninsula, Western Europe and the USA. The port of Mormugao is of enormous economic importance. It is one of the main export ports in India, particularly for iron ore. In 2004/05 they handled there 30.66 million tonnes.