PM Modi launches GatiShakti – National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the GatiShakti – National Master Plan which envisages a centralized portal to unite the infrastructural initiatives planned and initiated by as many as 16 central ministries and departments. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said this initiative will infrastructure creation a new direction and also provide a new pace to existing projects.

GatiShakti – National Master Plan is part of the ambitious Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision and aims to give 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 the wake of the recent economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Venkatesh Prasad, Partner, JSA, said the NIMP/PM Gati Shakti Plan involves the creation of a common umbrella platform/portal through which infrastructure projects can be planned and implemented in an efficacious manner by way of coordination between various ministries and 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,” he explained. “The platform will also depict multi-modal connectivity which is or would be made available to connect with each region to ensure easier movement of goods, services and people.”

Moreover, this initiative will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people. It will provide the entire data at one place with GIS-based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.

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Furthermore, all ministries and departments will now be able to visualize, 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 also help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.