PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan

Why in News?

PM Gati Shakti program celebrated third anniversary of the launch of the initiative.

What is PM Gati Shakti Program?

• PM Gati Shakti – It is the National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity, launched on October 13, 2021 aimed at transforming India's infrastructure and connectivity.
• This digital platform is designed to bring various Ministries, including Railways and Roadways, to ensure integrated planning and coordinated execution of infrastructure projects.
• Aim  - Provide seamless and efficient connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services across various modes of transport, thereby enhancing last-mile connectivity and reducing travel time.

• Integrated Scheme - PM Gati Shakti incorporates the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, and UDAN.

• District-Level Integration - A District Master Plan (DMP) portal is being developed to extend PM Gati Shakti to the district level to aid district authorities in collaborative planning, infrastructure gap identification, and scheme implementation.
• The DMP portals for all the country's districts will be developed in a phased manner and completed by March 31, 25.
• Digital Master Planning -  IT employs advanced technology and GIS-based spatial planning tools to monitor and manage infrastructure projects.
• Progress - The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) has onboarded 44 Central Ministries and 36 States/UTs and a total of 1,614 data layers have also been integrated.
• State Integration - All 36 states and UTs have developed PM Gati Shakti state master plan (SMP) portals, aligned with the PM Gati Shakti NMP platform, to synchronise infrastructure assets and enhance regional development.

What are the achievements of the program?

• The PM Gati Shakti NMP has resulted in numerous achievements across various sectors, significantly improving project planning, speed, and execution.
• Identifying Infrastructure Gap - 156 Infrastructure Gaps relating to first and last-mile connectivity issues of major sectors of the economy, such as, Coal, Steel, Fertilizer, Ports, Food and Public Distribution have also been identified.
• Roads and Railways - The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) planned over 8,891 km of roads using NMP, while the Ministry of Railways (MoR) used NMP to plan more than 27,000 km of railway lines.
• Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipeline Planning - Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) streamlined the process for Detail Route Survey (DRS), reducing the time required to create reports from 6-9 months to one day using electronic DRS (eDRS).
• Green Energy Corridor - Using NMP principles, a 13 GW renewable energy project from Leh (Ladakh) to Kaithal (Haryana) achieved optimal alignment of the ‘Green Energy Corridor’ for inter-state transmission.
• Disaster Management - Goa used the NMP platform to develop a disaster management plan for flood-prone areas along the Amona River.
• Educational Development - The Uttar Pradesh government employed the State Master Plan (SMP) portal to identify locations for new schools in underserved areas via the Pahunch Portal.
• Coastal Corridor Planning - Gujarat planned its 300 km coastal corridor using NMP, which reduced the number of NoC permissions required for clearance from 28 to 13.
• Skill Development - The Department of School Education and Literacy used the NMP portal to link PM Shri Schools with local industries for district-specific skill training.
• The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship utilized NMP to identify suitable locations for new training institutes near economic clusters.
• Health Planning - The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare identified internet shadow areas and mapped sites for new healthcare facilities using NMP.
• Expanding Anganwadis – It helped in effectively planning the locations of Anganwadi Centres and more than 10 lakh Anganwadi Centres have been mapped on the National Master Plan.
• Scheme Integration - The Ministry of Rural Development integrated schemes such as PMGSY and PMAY-G for better asset planning and implementation.
• Tribal Development - The Ministry of Tribal Affairs identified infrastructure gaps for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) using the PM JanMan portal.
• Universal Broadband - Gati Shakti Sanchar portal was launched to facilitate faster rollout of telecom infrastructure and facilitated the rapid deployment of 5G services across the country on October 1, 2022.

Gati Shakti Sanchar portal is a Centralised Right of Way (RoW) Portal that enables applicants such as Telecom Service Providers/Infrastructure Providers / Internet Service Providers (TSP/IP/ISPs) to apply for RoW approvals.

What are the benefits of PM Gati Shakti?

• Integrated Planning - The ‘whole-of-government’ approach involves 44 Central ministries and 36 States and Union Territories for coordinated project execution.
• Faster Project Execution – It facilitated coordinated planning and execution of  infrastructure projects.
• Eliminating Silos - Network Planning Group (NPG) to synchronise efforts across ministries has eliminated silos that have hindered project efficiency.
• Lower Logistics Cost – The seamless multimodal connectivity improved the logistical efficiency in the movement of goods and people across various transport modes—roads, railways, ports, and air travel.
• Increased  Competitiveness – Improved logistics efficiency and reduced logistics cost have increased the competitiveness of Indian industry.
• This initiative has ensured seamless movement of goods, addressed bottlenecks within the supply chain
• Better Opportunities – Large scale implementation of projects have created direct and indirect employment and livelihood opportunities.
• Sustainable Logistics Network - PM Gati Shakti is also focused on building smart green solutions for sustainable infrastructure and  promoted environmental responsibility aligned with national climate goals.

What lies ahead?

• Taking PMGS to the international level and promoting the use of PM Gati Shakti and geospatial technology in the integrated planning of infrastructure in neighbouring countries.
• granting non-govt players access to non-sensitive shareable data relevant to the planning of infrastructure projects.

References

1. PIB | PM Gati Shakti
2. Hindu Business Line | PM Gati Shakti