Development of Transport and Communication Infrastructure

Between 1858 and 1947, the British undertook massive expansion of railways, ports, and telegraph lines across India. Officially these projects were claimed to bring “modernisation” and “national integration,” but in reality, they primarily served the colonial objectives of efficient resource extraction (raw materials to ports), rapid military mobility, and expanding British trade and revenue collection. The result was a new infrastructural network that permanently altered India’s economic geography.

Development of Railways

Origins and Early Growth