Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Oct 13 launched a ₹ 100 lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity that aims to develop infrastructure to reduce logistic costs and boost the economy. PM Gati Shakti targets to cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity and reduce the turnaround time, PM Modi said at a function to launch the plan.
The plan aims to lend more power and speed to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform. Instead of planning and designing separately in silos, the projects will be designed and executed with a common vision and incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various ministries and state governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN etc.
The Gati Shakti masterplan will use geo-mapping and real-time data in one centralized portal to ensure that key departments and states have visibility over major projects being planned, especially the ones which have multi-sectoral and multi-regional reach. Sixteen central government departments, including Railways, Roads and Highways, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, Aviation and others will be part of this initiative.
Economic zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, agri zones will be covered to improve connectivity and make Indian businesses more competitive. It will also leverage technology extensively including spatial planning tools with ISRO imagery developed by BiSAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics).
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Arindam Guha, partner at Deloitte India said if the multiplier effect of infrastructure investments on GDP is to be maximized within a short time frame, it is critical that specific infrastructure projects which form part of critical trade routes, both internal and external, be prioritized.
“For example, specific road and rail connectivity linkages or evacuation points like ports, airports which form part of designated industrial corridors like DMIC, East Coast Economic Corridor or Amritsar Kolkata Freight Corridor are likely to have a disproportionate positive impact on trade flows of multiple products manufactured in the corridor. Same is the case with last mile connectivity infrastructure to large operational and upcoming industrial parks which are on the verge of completion. The Gati Shakti initiative, with its technology platform for real time monitoring of projects and supporting coordination mechanism between concerned Ministries and Government agencies is expected to provide a major boost in the prioritization of such projects,” he added.
The Prime Minister said that due to the wide gap between macro planning and micro implementation, problems of lack of coordination, lack of advance information, thinking and working in silos are leading to hampered construction and wastage of budget. “PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan will address this as working on the basis of the master plan will lead to optimum utilization of resources,” he added.
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