New Delhi: Prime Minister Modi has often blamed the lack of coordinated effort between different ministries and departments for the sorry state of India’s infrastructure which will change with the launch PM GatiShakti portal.
According to official sources, departmental silos, where each department was working in isolation, will be broken down to plan, conceptualise and execute infrastructure projects, particularly the transportation infrastructure which includes highways, railways, inland waterways, seaports, airports, and warehouses among others in a holistic manner.
Fresh approach
Officials said the entire approach, right from the planning to the execution of transportation projects will be done in coordination with all relevant agencies so that each agency would be fully aware of the plans of other agencies.
"Change in Management approach will help in improving ease of doing business, faster and efficient execution of projects, avoid delays and cost overruns and also result in reducing logistics costs," they said.
What is PM GatiShakti?
At the heart of PM GatiShakti project is a map developed by Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N) which has 200 layers of infrastructure and resource maps for initial planning of the projects.
According to officials, GatiShakti is a transformational, analytical and decision support governance tool that will help in holistic project planning.
PM GatiShakti is a digital platform that will bring 16 ministries including rail and roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.
According to the officials, the Master Plan has been prepared that depicts different economic zones and the infrastructure linkages required to support them with an objective to holistically integrate all the multimodal connectivity projects. The exercise is aimed at removing missing gaps for seamless movement of people, goods and services.
The comprehensive map provides a bird’s eye view of infrastructure development with key layers based on completion timelines of various economic zones, infrastructure and utilities across the country.
Use of latest IT tools
The government plans to employ modern technology and the latest IT tools for coordinated planning of infrastructure such as a GIS-based Enterprise Resource Planning system with more than 200 layers for evidence-based decision-making.
These tools include planning tools for route planning, other tools that deal with the issues of land acquisition, permissions, issues of right of way, and congestion reduction. It will be dashboard-based periodic monitoring of progress with the use of the latest satellite imagery for visual understanding.
Officials said the dynamic mapping of all infrastructure projects with real-time update facility has been developed by Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N).
It also uses satellite imagery made available by the ISRO and base maps from the Survey of India. These BISAG maps will be made available to the public so that the private sector can also participate in the joint planning and execution of the project.
The GatiShakti portal will provide a consolidated view and enable the review of all projects through a dashboard and Project management module of various organisations.
End of lopsided development, regional imbalances
According to officials, the PM GatiShakti portal and National Master Plan has been created to end the lopsided development and regional imbalance in infrastructure development in the country.
They said there was an urgent need to move away from the traditional approach to development which has created regional and sectoral imbalances and resulted in lopsided development.
The infrastructural development in various sectors was seldom in tandem with each other, thus creating a wide gap between infrastructure and imperatives of economic development.
Common Planning
After the launch of the PM GatiShakti portal, the projects will be designed and executed with a common vision instead of separate planning and designing separately.
Minimising disruptions and ensuring quick completion of works with cost efficiency is the key objective as per the National Master Plan.
Joint effort by the Centre, States and Private Industry
However, it is easier said than done as the country has a three-tier system at national, state and local level that plan and execute the developmental work as per their understanding and mandate.
In order to achieve jointness, regular coordination between various central departments and ministries, and also with states and the private sector will be ensured.
The whole idea behind this joint planning and development is to ensure the seamless movement of goods and people across the country. The government says it will enhance the ease of living as well as the ease of doing business and improve the competitiveness of Indian products in the global market.
Three-time periods
For ease of use, the government has divided the projects into three categories. In a single platform, complete information about the projects already completed by 2014-15 and also the status of ongoing projects by then will be there. The second period will cover the projects completed between 2014-15 to 2020-21. The third time period in the portal will cover the projects that the government aims to finish by 2025-26.
Officials said it will help in removing long-standing issues like disjointed planning, lack of standardization, issues of clearances and timely creation and utilisation of capacities created.
Top officers to suggest changes
The government will form an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary for approving any changes in the Master Plan to meet any emerging requirements.
An Integrated Multimodal Network Planning Group (NPG) with heads of Network Planning Division of all concerned Ministries and Departments will be responsible for unified planning and integration of the proposals and assist the EGOS in respect of its mandate.
Whole of the nation approach
The government aims to implement whole of the nation approach for infrastructure development where all the agencies, central, state and private sectors will work jointly for quick development of quality infrastructure.
The GatiShakti aims to achieve a number of targets, which includes a network of National Highways that is 2 lakh kilometres long, increasing the cargo capacity of ports, augmenting power transmission capacity, and increase in renewable energy production.
In addition to transportation infrastructure, Gatishakti aims to set up mega food parks, agro-processing centres, defence corridors, electronics manufacturing clusters, textile clusters and pharma and medical devices clusters.
GatiShakti aims to create a virtuous cycle of higher investment, growth and employment generation in the economy by improving logistics efficiency.
Infra push for poverty alleviation
According to officials, the development of infrastructure is central to India’s efforts to reduce poverty and income inequality. Improvement in road connectivity, especially rural roads, is expected to give a boost to the agriculture sector.
Similarly, better power distribution is expected to help industries, especially small and medium industries.
