The Government of India recognises the contributions of the private sector in driving change and innovation in the logistics sector. The efforts of service providers in the country during the pandemic are a strong display of innovation, diversity and efficiency.
Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, referred to the PM GatiShakti digital platform which brings together 16 ministries, such as Railways and Roadways for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure projects across the country. He was keen that the “government and private sector should work together to bring down logistics costs, increase economic efficiency, and indigenous innovation.”
GatiShakti will benefit the logistics sector most with investment across roads, highways, ports, airports, multi-modal terminals etc. The Minister emphasised the expansion of infra spending from Rs. 2.5 lakh crore to Rs. 7.5 lakh crore (US$ 36.6 billion to US$109 billion) will help in efficient planning and implementation, thereby ensuring last-mile connectivity. He also informed the gathering that the government is considering the promotion of the manufacturing of containers and shipbuilding.
PM GatiShakti, the National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity is a digital platform that was launched in October 2021 by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. Created to leverage technology and improve connectivity between infrastructure schemes and ministries, the 16 departments involved have visibility through the centralised portal.
This addresses systemic issues in India’s complex infrastructure management. Coordination between departments was distinctly lacking. For example, after a road had been constructed, it would be dug up to lay underground cables or gas pipelines. Not only was this a public inconvenience, but it also led to wasteful expenditure.
In addition to avoiding such issues in the future, PM GatiShakti also enables faster approval processes, reduces the number of regulatory clearances and creates a holistic outlook toward infrastructure and development in the country.
PM GatiShakti is based on six pillars:
- Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralised 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.
- Prioritisation: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritise their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.
- 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.
- 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, holistically by ensuring coordination of work between them.
- Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data in one place with GIS-based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
- 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 the progress of the projects will be updated regularly on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.
PM GatiShakti will provide the public and business community with information regarding the upcoming connectivity projects, other business hubs, industrial areas and the surrounding environment. This will enable the investors to plan their businesses at suitable locations leading to enhanced synergies.
It will create multiple employment opportunities and give a boost to the economy. Moreover, the initiative 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 and consumers.