PM GatiShakti–National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity

Infrastructure creation in India had suffered for decades on account of a number of issues. There was lack of coordination between different departments of government while planning and executing projects in a comprehensive manner; for example, no sooner was a road constructed than other agencies dug it up for activities like laying of underground cables, gas pipelines, etc. This not only caused great inconvenience but was also a wasteful expenditure of public money. To address this, efforts were put in place to increase coordination between different departments so that all related projects (cables, pipelines, etc. in the above-mentioned case) could be laid simultaneously. Steps have also been taken by the government to address other issues such as time-taking approval process for projects to be undertaken, multiplicity of regulatory clearances among others. In the last seven years, the focus of the government on infrastructure has been a holistic one.

In the past, there has been a wide gap between macro planning of infrastructure projects and micro implementation problems of coordination between different government departments, with information not being shared between them in advance, and government ministries and departments thinking and working in silos. Consequently, there have been inordinate delays in completion of the projects as well as cost overruns. In the words of Prime Minister Modi, “Shakti gets divided instead of getting multiplied or enhanced”. The PM GatiShakti–National Master Plan for multi-model connectivity, announced by the prime minister in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day, will try to overcome the shortcomings in completing projects. Working based on the master plan will lead to optimum utilisation of resources. PM GatiShakti was formally launched on October 13, 2021 and was cleared by the union cabinet on October 21, 2021.

What PM GatiShakti is all about

PM GatiShakti (speed and power) is the national level master plan for infrastructure development in the country. It is a Rs 100 lakh crore project for developing holistic infrastructure in India. The GatiShakti digital platform will form the digital backbone on which infrastructure projects will be implemented. Under the master plan, everything from roads to railways, from agriculture to aviation, various ministries and departments would be linked. A technology platform has also been proposed for every mega project so that every department has accurate information on time.

The GatiShakti digital platform (technology platform) has been developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Administration and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N).

The master plan takes a holistic approach to sector-specific development by bringing together 16 ministries, including seven core infrastructure ministries, in one committee to implement and monitor Rs 100 lakh crore of investment. This is intended to synchronise project planning across stakeholder ministries to break inter-ministerial silos in infrastructure development.

The 16 ministries involved will be required to upload data on their various projects–those that have been taken up or are to be undertaken. Project information of various ministries up to 2020 has been uploaded on the platform, while information for projects to be undertaken up to 2024–25, where approvals have been obtained, is to be put up.

The master plan will integrate roads, railways, ports, airports, and multi-modal connectivity projects across the country as well as incorporate the existing infrastructure schemes of various ministries and state governments such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, and UDAN among others.

One of the important features of the master plan is the establishment of economic zones to boost ease of doing business in the country. Some sectors where economic zones are proposed include industrial corridors, textile clusters/mega textile parks, pharma and medical devices clusters, electronics manufacturing clusters, defence corridors, mega food parks and agro-processing centres, and fishing clusters. 

The government had launched the Rs 110 lakh-crore ‘National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)’ in the union budget of 2021–22 which is a list of social and infrastructure projects that the government plans to build by 2025. PM GatiShakti will provide the framework for the implementation of the NIP programme. 

Six Pillars of GatiShakti PM GatiShakti is based on six pillars:

1. Comprehensiveness By including all the existing and planned infrastructure projects of various ministries and departments within one centralised portal, independent government departments will now have visibility of each other’s activities. That will provide critical data while planning and execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.
2. Prioritisation Different government departments across ministries will be able to prioritise their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.
3. Optimisation The master plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after identification of critical gaps in availability of efficient and seamless infrastructure. For multi-modal transportation of goods and people, 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 resulting in disjointed planning. Lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project results in delays as well as cost overruns. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronising the activities of each government department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination and collaboration of work between them.
5. Analytical Approach The plan will provide the entire data at one place in the form of a centralised portal with Geographic Information System (GIS)-based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200-plus layers of geospatial information, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
6. Dynamic Approach The GIS platform will enable all ministries and departments to visualise, review, and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically. Further, the 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.

Objectives

The basic objective of PM GatiShakti is to achieve an efficient, seamless multi-modal transport network in the country. Due to the issues of inordinate delays and cost overruns associated with public sectors projects in the country, there is a compelling need for coordination in planning and execution of infrastructure connectivity programmes across the country. Coordination will speed up implementation. A seamless multi-modal connectivity (connectivity using various modes of transport, viz., roads and highways, railways, ports) will help facilitate smooth and efficient movement of goods and people. This will cut logistics costs for industry and raise all-round efficiency.

Independent government departments will be required to work in close coordination and collaboration and have visibility of each other’s activities in a centralised manner. It is sought to be achieved through GatiShakti digital platform, the centralised portal. It will provide critical data to the departments while planning and executing projects in a comprehensive manner. Through this, different departments across ministries will be able to prioritise their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.

Implementation Framework

The implementation framework of the national infrastructure master plan will consist of a three-tier mechanism. It will include an empowered group of secretaries (EGoS), a network planning group (NPG) and a technical support unit (TSU) with required technical competencies.

EGoS will be headed by the cabinet secretary and will consist of secretaries of 18 ministries as members, and the member-convenor will be head of logistics division in the Department of Commerce under Ministry of Commerce and Industry. EGoS has been mandated to review and monitor implementation of the PM GatiShakti national masterplan to ensure logistics efficiency. It is empowered to prescribe framework and norms for undertaking any subsequent amendments to the masterplan. EGoS shall also set out the procedure and definitive framework for synchronisation of various activities, and ensure that various initiatives of infrastructure development are part of the common integrated digital platform. EGoS will also look at the interventions required to meet the demand side, in efficiently transporting bulk goods on the requirement of various ministries such as steel, coal, and fertilizer.

The NPG will consist of heads of network planning wing of respective infrastructure ministries; it will meet regularly to ensure coordinated progress and assist EGoS.

The TSU has been approved to provide required competencies in view of the complexities involved in overall integration of networks as well as the need to enhance optimisation to avoid duplication of works for holistic development of any region. The TSU shall have domain experts from various infrastructure sectors as aviation, maritime, public transport, rail, roads and highways, ports, etc., and subject matter experts (SMEs) in areas such as urban and transport planning, structures (roads, bridges and buildings), power, pipeline, GIS, etc.

Sector-wise Break-up

By integrating 16 ministries in a joint committee to implement and monitor investments, the master plan takes a holistic approach to sector-specific developments in the country. The sector-wise break-up is as follows:

1. Telecommunication A total length of 35,00,000 km of optical fibre cable network is to be laid down by 2024–25 and to connect all 2,50,000 gram panchayats with high-speed internet and 4G mobile connectivity by 2022.
2. New and Renewable Energy This sectors capacity is to be increased from 87.7 gigawatt (GW) to 225 GW and 50 per cent of India’s power generation capacity is to be met by renewable energy sources by 2024–25.
3. Power Power transmission network is to be upgraded from 4,25,500 circuit km to 4,54,200 circuit km and transmission network performance parameters are to be set up to match the best global standards.
4. Petroleum and Natural Gas 17,000 km-long trunk natural gas pipeline will be added to connect major demand and supply centres for industries by 2024–25, and will make the total length of pipeline across the country to 34,500 km. All states are to be connected with the pipeline by 2027.
5. Shipping Powered by Sagarmala, this sector is to see an increase in cargo capacity at the ports to 1759 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) by 2024–25 from 1282 MMTPA in 2020. It will also increase cargo movement on all national waterways to 95 million metric tonnes (MMT) by 2024–25 from 74 MMT in 2020 and on the Ganga from 9 MMT to 29 MMT by 2024–25.
6. Civil Aviation Powered by the Regional Connectivity Scheme–UDAN, this sector is to see an increase in the aviation footprint globally. By 2024–25, 220 airports, heliports, and water aerodromes are to be made operational. 109 airports including existing 51 airstrips, 18 greenfield airports, 12 water aerodromes, and 28 heliports are to be developed by 2024–25.
7. Road Transport and Highways Powered by Bharatmala, 2 lakh-km route of national highway network is to be achieved by 2024–25. 5,590 km of four, and six-lane national highways along the coastal areas are to be completed by 2024–25. All state capitals in the north eastern region are to be connected with either four-lane national highway or two alternate alignments of two-lane configurations each by 2024–25.
8. Railways Indian railways is to see a decongestion by 51 per cent due to completion of critical projects. Cargo handling capacity of railways will be increased 1,600 million tonnes from 1,210 million tonnes in 2020. For faster movement of freight trains, western and eastern dedicated freight corridors will be completed soon.

Economic Zones Proposed

A notable feature of the master plan is the establishment of economic zones to boost ease of doing business in the country. Some sectors where economic zones have been proposed are:

1. Industries 11 industrial corridors comprising 32 nodes/projects are to be developed in four phases by 2024–25 for promotion of industry and internal trade. Greenfield smart industrial cities are to be created for reliable, sustainable, resilient, and quality infrastructure for industries.
2. Textiles 90 textile clusters/mega textile parks are to be developed by 2024–25. 10 mega integrated textile regions/parks are to have plug and play facilities, common facilities, and integrated value chain to boost scale and efficiency with two parks exclusively dedicated to machinery manufacturing.
3. Pharmaceuticals 109 pharma and medical device clusters are to be developed by 2024–25. Further, three bulk drug parks and four medical device parks are to be developed.
4. Electronics For electronics manufacturing, 38 electronic manufacturing clusters (EMCs) are to be developed by 2024–25 including 23 to have plug and play facilities.
5. Defence two defence corridors with a target investment of over Rs. 10,000 crore each by 2024–25 are to be developed to achieve a turnover of Rs. 1,70,000 crore including export of Rs. 35,000 crores in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2024–25.
6. Food processing 197 mega food parks and agro processing centres are to be developed for increasing the food processing and preservation capacity from 222 lakh metric tonnes (MT) to 847 lakh MT by 2024–25.
7. Fisheries 202 fishing clusters/fishing harbours and major fishing landing centres are to be developed for an additional fish production of 70 lakh MT and for doubling of fisheries export by 2024–25. Integrated aqua parks as hubs of multifarious fisheries activity will also be developed.

Critical Analysis

Merits PM GatiShakti will mark a paradigm shift in governmental decision-making by breaking departmental silos in planning and implementation of projects across the country. It is supposed to institutionalise holistic planning for stakeholders across major infrastructure projects.

By bringing in various stakeholders together and help integrate different modes of transportation, PM GatiShakti will lay the foundation of atmanirbharta (self-reliance) for the next 25 years and give ‘gatishakti’ to development plans of the 21st century and will help in the timely completion of these plans.

All economic zones and existing infrastructure developments, depicted in a single integrated platform (the digital platform), will provide spatial visibility of physical linkages to promote comprehensive and integrated multi-modal national network of transportation and logistics.

The technology platform will collate and offer 200-plus layers of geospatial information, including on existing infrastructure, such as roads and highways, toll plazas, railways, shipping, as well as geographic information about forests, rivers, and district boundaries. 3D images showing actual ground conditions, with gradient and depth, and latest ISRO satellite imagery will aid in visual understanding and holistic planning of projects.

With the help of digital platform, it would be possible for varied government departments to track, in real time and at one centralised place, the progress of various projects, especially those with multi-sectoral and multi-regional spread.

By highlighting all the clearances that a new project would need, based on its location, it would be possible for stakeholders to apply for these clearances from relevant authorities on the GatiShakti portal itself. For example, if a railway line is being built, the road transport ministry may immediately give clearance for an overpass, and the power ministry can begin projects to ensure that trains can immediately have access to power on completion of the tracks. 

With coordination in planning among all stakeholders and synchronisation in implementation of infrastructure programmes across the country through GatiShakti, the resultant enhancement in efficiency will bring down the logistics costs. A recent report of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) had estimated the logistics costs in supply chain in the country at 14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Reduction in logistics costs would lower the inefficiencies in supply-chain in India and make Indian exports competitive in the global market.

The master plan will provide momentum to next generation infrastructure and multi-modal connectivity in the country. It will give impetus to the government policies related to infrastructure, from planning to execution.

Challenges The initiative marks a significant step in the direction of breaking down departmental silos within government and creating a culture of constant interaction and, hopefully, collaboration among the different agencies of government. Achieving the required integration and collaboration may be harder than expected.

Critical to the success of PM GatiShakti will be the participation of state governments. States need to be made equal partners since most of the developmental activities take place at the level of states. The central government should invite state governments to join the platform and provide with information and data on projects to improve synergy between the efforts of the central and the state governments.

With respect to the GatiShakti digital platform, it should not just remain an information portal, rather it should be developed as a forum for independent appraisal of infrastructure projects.

In the words of Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary of India, “In a country where the right hand often does not know what the left hand is doing; worse with the left hand cancelling out what the right hand is doing, GatiShakti represents a major but still partial reform. The initiative is limited to achieving multi-modal transport connectivity, important in itself, but not comprehensive in scope. With the valuable experience gained through the initiative, the government should aim to overhaul the governance system with the aim of incorporating cross-sectoral approaches across the board.”

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