PM Modi To Launch Rs 100 Lakh Cr Gati Shakti Master Plan To Rebuild 'Sarkari Work Culture'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, October 13, will launch PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity to economic zones. As per government sources, a cabinet note on the Gati Shakti platform is ready and the proposal may get the cabinet's nod on Tuesday, October 12.

Gati Shakti, which means the power of speed, is a digital platform that promises "integrated planning and coordinated execution", India Today reported. It will bring 16 ministries, including rail and railways, for the implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. The platform will also provide high-resolution satellite images, utilities, infrastructure, administrative boundaries, land, and logistics.

At the start of his first term in 2014, PM Modi had brought the concept of "super ministers" by allocating each cabinet member to various ministries which do similar work to generate better synergy. But to beat the categorised bureaucratic system, he has urged for the Gati Shakti proposal to make sure all mega-infrastructure and connectivity targets are completed by 2024-25.

In simple terms, the Gati Shakti Plan attempts to overhaul the "sarkari work culture" in which the government's right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

The platform would help increase the productivity of the industry, enhance its competitiveness, support local manufacturers, and help develop new possibilities for creating future economic zones, Mint reported.

It has been made depicting economic zones and the infrastructure linkages required to support them to ensure the seamless movement of goods. It will also integrate the planning and designing of projects with a standard and holistic vision.

It includes projects related to national highways, gas pipelines, freight hauled by railways, airports, and aviation, manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and electronics items, defence production, food processing and industrial corridors.

"It will use latest technologies like a Geographic Information System (GIS) base Enterprise Resource Planning with more than 200 layers of evidence-based decision making, planning tools for route planning, dashboard based periodic monitoring and use for latest satellite imagery," a government official said.

The Technology

The GatiShakti platform provides powerful technologies like GIS-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with over 200 layers of evidence-based decision making, tools for route planning, dashboard-based periodic monitoring, and use for latest satellite imagery, India Today reported.

It has been developed by BISAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics) and uses satellite imagery available from ISRO and base maps from the Survey of India. The visualisation of BISAG maps will be available to individuals, including the private sector, and will bring efficiency.

A digital system is an overarching software where individual ministries will be provided with individual user identification to update their data periodically. The data of all these ministries will be combined in a single platform which the Network Planning Group will plan, review and monitor. The Logistics Division, Ministry of Commerce will further help all the stakeholders create and update their required layers in the system and update their database through Application Programming Interface (APIs).

To minimise disruptions and to have better cost efficiencies, the need to synchronise the activities that are related to greenfield roads, rail, etc and laying of utilities like gas lines, OFC cables, electricity in an area by effectively coordinating between central agencies, state agencies, private sector, ULBs, parastatals, etc has been factored in.

To improve the participation of states, the central government plans a national-level conference on Wednesday. Also, virtual links have been generated at 36 locations in the country for the launch programme.

Working Of The Plan

An Integrated Multimodal Network Planning Group or NPG will execute Gati Shakti, which will be entrusted with combined planning and integration of proposals and connectivity projects that are not included in the current master plan with an estimated cost of more than Rs 500 crore.

The National Networking Group will comprise experts from all the stakeholder departments. The Department of Promotion of industry and Internal Trade will act as the nodal agency. The group would take responsibility for sharing their specific Action Plans for the year 2020-21 to 2024-25 with each other to facilitate the integration of networks, increase optimisation through modification/expansion/new network creation to avoid duplicate works for holistic development of any region as well as reducing logistics costs through micro-plan detailing.

After examining all the interventions proposed to be taken by different Ministries, the group shall delineate all projects where synchronisation of efforts are needed and propose any changes in the National Master Plan for further consideration and approval of the Empowered Group of Secretaries. This Group will meet at least every month to coordinate regularly to avoid Ministries working in silos and at their own speed.

An 'Empowered Group' of secretaries will also be there, which will be headed by the Cabinet secretary that would make the decisions on projects and synergies in terms of changes to be made to the master plan when needed. The EGoS will also look at the interventions required to meet the demands in efficiently transporting bulk goods based on the needs of various Ministries like Coal, Steel, Fertiliser etc.

This Group will comprise of the Chairman, Railway Board, Secretaries of Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Ports, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Mine, Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Steel, and Special Secretary, Logistics Division, Department of Commerce (Member Convenor).

The satellite mapping would give a decision assist mechanism to reduce permissions and clearances required for projects. It would also carry out a Gap Analysis or a link between the two projects.

During his Independence Day speech on August 15 this year, Modi had announced the launch of the 'PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan'. He had said that GatiShakti would help make the local manufacturers competitive worldwide and added that the power of speed would be the basis of the country's transformation.

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