The PM has inaugurated the GatiShakti — National Master Plan for infrastructure development aimed at boosting multimodal connectivity and driving down logistics costs.

GatiShakti — National Master Plan

• PM GatiShakti is a digital platform that connects 16 ministries — including Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, and Aviation.
• It aims to ensure holistic planning and execution of infrastructure projects.
• The objective is to ensure that every department now has visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning and execution of projects.
• Through this, different departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.

Notable features

• Geospatial data: The portal will offer 200 layers of geospatial data, including on existing infrastructure such as roads, highways, railways, and toll plazas.
• Protected areas management: It would also geographic information about forests, rivers, and district boundaries to aid in planning and obtaining clearances.
• Realtime monitoring: The portal will also allow various government departments to track, in real-time and at one centralized place, the progress of various projects.

Monitoring mechanism

• The National Master Plan has set targets for all infrastructure ministries.
• A project monitoring group under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will monitor the progress of key projects in real-time.
• It would report any inter-ministerial issues to an empowered group of ministers, who will then aim to resolve these.

Need for such Project

• Avoiding poor infrastructure planning: Examples of poor infrastructure planning included newly-built roads being dug up by the water department to lay pipes.
• Creating a multi-modal network: The government expects the platform to enable various government departments to synchronize their efforts into a multi-modal network.
• Timely completion of infra projects: It is also expected to help state governments give commitments to investors regarding timeframes for the creation of infrastructure.
• Inefficient connectivity: Currently, a number of economic zones and industrial parks are not able to reach their full productive potential due to inefficient multi-modal connectivity.
• Easy clearance: The portal allows stakeholders to apply for these clearances from the relevant authority directly.

Logistics costs in India

• Studies estimate that logistics costs in India are about 13-14% of GDP as against about 7-8% of GDP in developed economies.
• High logistics costs impact cost structures within the economy by making it more expensive for exporters to ship merchandise to buyers.

Benefits offered by PM-GatiShakti

• Collaborative planning: It would incorporate infrastructure schemes under various ministries and state governments, including the Bharatmala and inland waterways schemes, and economic zones.
• Logistics boost: It would boost last-mile connectivity and thus bring down logistics costs with integrated planning and reducing implementation overlaps.

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