On October 13, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre launched ‘PM Gati Shakti Master Plan’ of Rs. 100 lakh-crore project for developing ‘holistic infrastructure’. So now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Wednesday.
All about Gati Shakti
Gati Shakti, which means the power of speed, is a digital platform that promises “integrated planning and coordinated execution”. It will bring 16 ministries, including rail and railways for the implementation of infrastructure, administrative boundaries, land and logistics.
At the start of his first term in 2014, PM Modi had brought the concept of “super ministers” by allocating each cabinet member to various ministries which do similar work to generate better synergy. But to beat the categorised bureaucratic system, he has urged for the Gati Shakti proposal to make sure all mega-infrastructure and connectivity targets are completed by 2024-25.
In simple terms, the Gati Shakti Plan attempts to overhaul the “Sarkari work culture” in which the government’s right-hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The platform would help increase the productivity of the industry, enhance its competitiveness, support local manufacture and help develop new possibilities for creating future economic zones.
PROBLEMS IN INFRASTRUCTURE CREATION
Infrastructure creation in India had suffered for decades from multiple issues. There was a lack of coordination between different departments. For example, once a road was constructed, other agencies dug up the constructed road again for activities like laying of underground cables, gas pipelines etc.
This not only caused great inconvenience but was also a wasteful expenditure. To address this, efforts were put in place to increase coordination so that all cables, pipelines etc could be laid simultaneously. Steps have also been taken to address other issues like the time-taking approval process, multiplicity of regulatory clearances etc. In the last seven years, the government has ensured unprecedented focus on infrastructure through a holistic outlook.
PM Gati Shakti will address the past issues through institutionalising holistic planning for stakeholders for major infrastructure projects. Instead of planning and designing separately in silos, the projects will be designed and executed with a common vision.
BUT HOW ABOUT THIS 100 LAKH CRORE?
It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various ministries and the state government like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN etc.
Economic zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, agri zone will be covered to improve connectivity and make Indian business more competitive.
The Centre said it will also leverage technology extensively including spatial planning tools with ISRO imagery developed by BiSAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics).
PM GATI SHAKTI IS BASED ON SIX PILLARS
- Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various ministries and departments with 1 centralised portal. Each & every department will now have visibility ODF each other’s activities providing critical data while planning and execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.
- Prioritisation: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their project through cross-sectoral interactions.
- Optimisation: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after the identification of critical gaps. For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.
- Synchronisation: Individual ministries and departments often work in silos. There is a lack of coordination in the planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM Gati Shakti will help in synchronising the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holi9stic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
- Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data in one place with GIS-based spatial and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the execution agency.
- Dynamic: All ministries and departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of the cross-sectoral project, through the GIS platform, as the satellite will give on-ground progress periodically and the progress of the projects will be updated regularly on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions of enhancing and updating the master plan.