Context: The infrastructure sector has emerged as a high policy priority and the launch of the Gati Shakti initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week adds a new dimension of implementation to the endeavor. This is a significant step forward for the country’s logistics, where inefficiencies result in an estimated cost burden of 13-14% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 6-8% in more competitive economies.

• The Gati Shakti National Master Plan is expected to deploy a geo-spatial digital platform that will provide real-time information on infrastructure projects across 16 ministries. 
• In this edition of Big Picture we analyse the Gati Shakti Master Plan. 

Background

• GatiShakti project was first announced by PM Modi during the Independence Day speech on August 15, 2021.
• The plan is an important part of Prime Minister Modi's ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-dependent India) vision , the masterplan which will add impetus to projects part of the $1.4 trillion National Infrastructure, which itself is a vital component of the goal to make India a $5 trillion economy.

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

1. Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various ministries and departments with one centralized portal. Each and every department will now have visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning and executing projects in a comprehensive manner.
2. Prioritisation: Through this, different departments will be able to prioritise their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.
3. Optimisation: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after the identification of critical gaps. For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.
4. Synchronisation: Individual ministries and departments often work in silos. There is a lack of coordination in the planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronising the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
5. Analytical: The plan 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.
6. Dynamic: All ministries and departments will now be able to visualise, 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 help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.

About GatiShakti Project

• It is a campaign to lend more speed (Gati) and power (Shakti) to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform. 
• The project aims to enhance global competitiveness, which means bringing local products at par with global counterparts with the help of logistical and supply chain improvements that bring down costs.
• It will focus on multi-modal connectivity, setting ambitious infrastructure targets by 2024-25 to improve the movement of goods and services across different modes of transport.
• This way, the infrastructure schemes of various ministries and state governments will be designed and executed with a common vision. 
• It act as a tool of employment opportunities for lakhs of young people across India.

Need 

• Taxpayers' money in the past was ‘insulted’ through a lethargic approach to development work, with departments working in silos and there was no coordination on projects.
• The push for infrastructure is in line with the government’s efforts to step up capital expenditure in infrastructure to promote economic growth.
• Infrastructure development has the ability to create a multiplier effect with every rupee invested, yielding much higher returns.

What will improve under the masterplan?

• The project will commence institutionalisation of holistic planning in infrastructural projects. Among the targets is enhancing the National Highway network of India to 2 lakh kms by 2024-25.
• Planned expansion of the cargo capacity of the Indian Rail network will take the capability to 1,600 million tons from 1,210 million tons a year ago.
• Advancement of the Indian aviation ecosystem is also a big component of the GatiShakti project will plans to build 220 airports, helipads and water aerodromes by 2024-25.
• 17,000 kms of new gas pipelines will be added to the current infrastructure by 2024-25 in a bid to move more people to clean energy.
• Another component related to energy advancement is the plan to increase the electricity transmission network in India to 4,54,200 circuit km in total.
• On the renewable energy front, the capacity will be enhanced to nearly the triple of the existing capacity 87.7 GW to 225 GW by 2024-25. This will also be the largest renewable energy capacity expansion program in the world.
• Villages will become a bigger part of the Digital India mission will 4G mobile internet accessibility plan across rural India by 2022.
• To further the rural economies, mega food parks and agro-processing centres will be built to double the incomes of farmers.
• Other aspects of the GatiShakti masterplan are advancement of defence manufacturing towards an Aatmanirbhar Defence industry and several projects in sectors like Medical, Pharma and Textile. These new projects target new job creation for lakhs of individuals.