Gati Shakti National Master Plan

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The government has launched the Gati Shakti National Master Plan

What is the Gati Shakti National Master Plan?

• About: It is a ₹ 100 lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity that aims to develop infrastructure to reduce logistic costs and boost the economy.
  • The ambitious plan envisages a centralised portal to unite the infrastructural initiatives planned and initiated by as many as 16 central ministries and departments

• Objectives of the Plan: The PM Gati Shakti plan is a campaign to lend more speed (Gati) and power (Shakti) to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform.
  • It will break inter-ministerial silos and integrate the planning and designing of projects with a common and holistic vision, enhance India's global competitiveness through next-generation infrastructure and seamless multi-modal connectivity, ensure seamless movement of goods and people and enhance the ease of living as well as the ease of doing business.
• Need for the Plan: Due to the wide gap between macro planning and micro implementation, problems of lack of coordination, lack of advance information, thinking and working in silos were leading to hampered construction and wastage of budget.
  • Example: There is a new good quality road constructed by one department, and a few days later another department digs that very road to lay water pipelines. Such lack of coordination needs to end.

Targets under Gati Shakti

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

The six pillars of ‘PM GatiShakti - National Master Plan’

What can be the Potential benefits of the Plan?

• Economic Development: The plan is an important part of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-dependent India) vision and ambitiously aims to lend more power and speed to projects under the $1.5-trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline and boost the goal of achieving a $5-trillion economy, especially in wake of the recent economic impacts of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
• Benefits for the MSME Sector: With 11 industrial and two defence corridors, this scheme will hugely benefit our MSME sector in becoming a part of high-speed growth of our economy.
  • It will create multiple employment opportunities through streamlining of projects.
• Inclusive Development: This scheme 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.
• Efficiency of Projects: 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
• Business and Investor Synergy: PM Gati Shakti will provide the public and business community information regarding the upcoming connectivity projects, other business hubs, industrial areas and surrounding environment. This will enable the investors to plan their businesses at suitable locations leading to enhanced synergies.
• Global Competitiveness: It will improve the global competitiveness of local products by cutting down the logistics costs and improving the supply chains, and also ensure proper linkages for local industry & consumers.

Way Forward

• Implementation Modes: Since the mode of implementation has yet not been defined, the Plan can be implemented through various modes like PPP, totally Private mode or entirely under Public Sector.
• Clarity of Risk Uptake: There is need to clarify as who will bear the risk of the programme. The upstream and downstream risk related to the plan need to be differentiated and allocated.
• Package for Monetization: There is need for developing a package to effectively monetize this plan, so that the load on the central resources can be reduced.

Question: Discuss the six pillars of the Gati Shakti Master Plan.

Sources:

• Gati Shakti: Modi launches 100-lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity, details here
• Prime Minister to launch PM GatiShakti on 13th October
• PM Narendra Modi to unveil Gati Shakti master plan next week
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan today