Coal ministry undertakes 13 railway projects under PM Gati Shakti

• In line with the goal of PM Gati Shakti, the coal ministry has undertaken 13 rail projects to develop multi-modal connectivity and identified missing infrastructure gaps for each project.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gati Shakti — national master plan for multi-modal connectivity in October 2021 with the objective of bringing different ministries together and for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. 

• It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various ministries and state governments and will also leverage technology extensively, including spatial planning tools.

• For a cleaner environment in coal transportation, the Centre has given momentum to rail evacuation and is also initiating new efforts to gradually move away from road movement of coal in the country.

• Planned construction of new broad gauge rail lines in greenfield coal bearing areas, extending the rail links to newer loading points and doubling and tripling the rail lines in some cases will enhance  rail capacity  considerably.

• Four railway projects are successfully mapped in the national master plan portal under high impact projects which will be developed in Jharkhand and Odisha. These will enable movement of coal with rapid logistics and wider connectivity for all the commercial miners.

Significance of Gati Shakti

• Infrastructure creation in India had suffered for decades from multiple issues. There was a lack of coordination between various departments.

• For example, once a road was constructed, other agencies dug up the newly constructed road again for activities like laying of underground cables, gas pipelines, etc. This not only caused great inconvenience but was 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 time-taking approval process, multiplicity of regulatory clearances, etc.

• 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. 

• Logistics costs are 13 per cent that of India’s GDP. Due to this figure, the competitiveness of Indian exports decreases. India needs to strengthen its last-mile connectivity.

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