PM Gati-Shakti National Master Plan

In News

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India urged State governments as well as the private sector to adopt the Gati Shakti portal to plan infrastructure projects and develop special economic zones.

About 

• The PM emphasised to make the PM Gati-Shakti National Master Plan as base for their projects and economic zones. 
  • The government has made a ?7.5 trillion capital allocation in the budget for 2022-23, as against ?5.54 trillion last year. 
• In October 2021, the government announced the PM Gati Shakti programme under which a portal would be set up to bring 16 Ministries together for integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. 
  • The portal is expected to be ready by March end.
• More than 400 data layers are now available on the portal which give information on not just the existing and proposed infrastructure projects but also on forest land and available industrial estate.

About Gati Shakti Master Plan

• On India’s 75th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will launch ‘PM Gati Shakti Master Plan’, a Rs. 100 lakh-crore project for developing ‘holistic infrastructure’.

Image Courtesy:PIB

• It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments 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 zones will be covered to improve connectivity & 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).
• 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).
• 6 pillars of the Plan:
  • Comprehensiveness: 
    • It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralised portal. 
    • Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning & execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.
  • Prioritisation: 
    • Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritise their projects through cross–sectoral interactions.
  • Optimization: 
    • The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after 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 and there is lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. 
    • PM GatiShakti will help in synchronising the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
  • Analytical: 
    • The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
  • Dynamic: 
    • All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualise, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically and progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal. 
    • It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.

Significance

• Institutional infrastructure:
  • The Centre’s support in creating an institutional framework in time-bound manner and implementation of projects under the PM Gati Shakti national master plan for multimodal connectivity will give a boost to overall infrastructure of the country.
• Ease of Living: 
  • Endeavour to build Next Generation Infrastructure which improves Ease of Living as well as Ease of Doing Business. 
  • The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another. 
  • It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people.
• Information help with investing: 
  • PM GatiShakti will provide the public and business community information regarding the upcoming connectivity projects, other business hubs, industrial areas and surrounding environment. 
  • This will enable the investors to plan their businesses at suitable locations leading to enhanced synergies. 
• Utilisation of resources : 
  • It will create multiple employment opportunities and give a boost to the economy. 
  • PM Gatishakti, will also lead to optimum utilisation of the country’s resources as everyone will be able to make their plan with complete information. ‘Infrastructure-based development’ will lead to an extraordinary increase in the strength of India’s economy, creating many new possibilities of employment.
• Improved competitiveness:
  • It will improve the global competitiveness of local products by cutting down the logistics costs and improving the supply chains, and also ensure proper linkages for local industry & consumers.
• Reduce turnaround time:
  • Besides cutting logistics costs, the scheme is also aimed at increasing cargo handling capacity and reducing the turnaround time at ports to boost trade.
• Tourism: 
  • Infrastructure was key to development of tourism, including spiritual and medical tourism 

Conclusion 

• Infrastructure development will play an important role in India’s aim to become a $5 trillion economy.
• India is seeking the use of innovative technology and materials in road construction, and is open to adopting guidelines for use of new materials and technology.

Source:TH