• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 100 lakh crore Gati Shakti — 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.

• Gati Shakti will bring ministries including railways and roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.

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.

How will the plan be implemented?

• The plan involves the creation of a common umbrella platform through which infrastructure projects can be planned and implemented in an efficacious manner by way of coordination between various ministries/departments on a real-time basis.

• With more visibility and availability of information and data on a real-time basis, there will be efficient implementation of infrastructure projects, less information asymmetry between ministries, reduction in working in silos as well as fewer delays due to lack of coordination between various government agencies.

• 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 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).

• 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. 

Gati Shakti is based on six pillars:

1) 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 and execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.

2) Prioritisation: Through this, different departments will be able to prioritise their projects through cross–sectoral interactions.

3) Optimisation: 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.

4) Synchronisation: Individual ministries and departments often work in silos. There is lack of coordination in 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 holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.

5) Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS-based spatial planning and analytical tools having over 200 layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.

6) 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.

Targets under Gati Shakti

The national master plan fixes targets up to 2024-25 for all infrastructure ministries. 

• For the road transport and highways ministry, the target is having national highways of 2 lakh km, completion of four or six-lane national highways of 5,590 km along coastal areas and all state capitals in the northeast to be connected with four-lane national highways or two two-lane national highways.

• For Railways, the target is to handle cargo of 1,600 million tonnes from 1,210 million tonnes in 2020, decongesting 51 per cent of the rail network by completing additional lines and implementation of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs).

• In civil aviation, the target is to double the existing aviation footprint to have a total of 220 airports, heliports and water aerodromes by 2025 which would mean building an additional 109 such facilities by then. 

• In shipping sector, the target is to have total cargo capacity to be handled at the ports at 1,759 MMTPA from 1,282 MMTPA in 2020.

• The gas pipeline network in the country is aimed to be doubled to 34,500 km by building an additional 17,000 km long trunk pipeline connecting major demand and supply centres for industries, as per the plan. 

• In power sector, the total transmission network is targeted to be 4.52 lakh circuit km and the renewable energy capacity will be increased to 225 GW from 87.7 GW.

• The plan includes 11 industrial corridors, achieving a Rs 1.7 lakh crore turnover in defence production and having 38 electronics manufacturing clusters and 109 pharma clusters by 2024-25.

• With 11 industrial and two defence corridors, this scheme will hugely benefit the MSME sector. It will not only ensure a widespread reach of basic amenities to the remotest areas of our country but will also significantly enhance business opportunities for inclusive growth.

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