Gati Shakti: The National Master Plan

The unified infrastructure platform will accelerate India growth story

Hari Hara Mishra | October 14, 2021


#INfrastructure   #economy   #Gati Shakti   #business  
(Illustration: Ashish Asthana)
(Illustration: Ashish Asthana)

The launch of the Gati Shakti master plan will be a booster dose for India growth story. The plan, as the name indicates, will ensure Gati, i.e., speed and Shakti, i.e., empowerment to the ₹1 trillion national infrastructure pipeline.

The plan will break inter-ministerial silos. For example, there are ministries of roads, railways, ports, aviation, mining etc and the left hand does not know what the right is doing. A road gets constructed, the other department comes in and digs it up for laying, say, sewage or fibre or something else. A port gets constructed without approach road or a mega industry is set up without a rail head. Export/import units, SEZs are set up without linkage to ports. Essentially, economic activities are not at an optimal level due to absence of forward and backward linkages.

The present plan tries to have a holistic approach to development. A digital platform has been created which will bring 16 ministries for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure projects. The programme will have access to satellite imagery in respect of land, logistics, boundaries etc. The centralised portal will have real time online data in respect of various stages of project starting with land acquisition.

Not only central government departments, but the prime minister has also requested states too to join this initiative. Apart from the government, other stakeholders including the private sector may also be roped in.

The cherished goal is to make India the Global business capital. The initiatives are likely to reduce cost of production by improved logistics planning and enhance competitiveness of the exporting units. During the process several industrial and defence corridors are likely to emerge. Agriculture, including cold storage chains, fishery and textiles are also expected to get a boost. The pipeline will try to step up last mile connectivity to economic zones in a defined time frame. A multimodal transportation network will integrate various markets and facilities.
This integrated approach will subsume all existing flagship programmes under different ministries like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Udaan, Inland waterways, roads, and Bharat Net.

On Tuesday, the IMF forecast a 9.5% growth for India during the current year – the fastest by any major economy. While participating in a TV programme on Wednesday, my view was that India may do still better, due to a series of reform measures undertaken so far and the big infra push in Gati Shakti that will have a multiplier effect in development.

Mishra is a policy analyst and columnist.

Comments

 

Other News

Free food grains for 81.35 cr beneficiaries for five years

The central government will provide free food grains to about 81.35 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for a period of five years with effect from January 1, 2024, the cabinet decided on Wednesday. Terming it as a “historic decision”, a

“I wrote ‘Survival at Stake’ to provide food for thought about solutions”

Survival at Stake: How Our Treatment of Animals Is Key to Human Existence By Poorva Joshipura HarperCollins, 328 pages, Rs 499 With science now recognising animal consciousness, intelligence, emotion, and even morality, there must rise an awareness of

‘Bon Voyage’ through the Arctic: Exploring new horizons for India

India`s tryst with trade through the Arctic regions, including the Northern Sea Routes (NSR), has become an impact-making endeavor recently. The Arctic of yore is now a pivot – point of geopolitics, of climate change discussions, and for economic opportunities; 40% of oil and gas reserves said to be

Demystifying Contemporary Finance Theory and other lessons in investment

Investing Decoded: Simple Path To Building A Portfolio In Millions By Anirudh Rathore Penguin India, 320 pages, Rs 499

Deepfake: India to prepare four-point action plan

Deepfake has emerged as a serious threat to democracy and social institutions across the world. Propagation of deepfake content via social media platforms has aggravated this challenge. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has, from time to time, advised social media in

Mumbai traffic: Let’s use some simple math

Two level of roads not enough, BMC to have triple traffic jams through underground junctions There is no shortage of short-sighted traffic experts who believe that creating more vertical space (either above or below the level) in already overcrowded and congested cities will be cou

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter