GatiShakti: Push for Multi-Modal Connectivity

Oct 13: GatiShakti: Push for Multi-Modal Connectivity- https://youtu.be/wMqQ1k5zW-E 

TOPIC:

• GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
• GS 3: Infrastructure & Economy

GatiShakti: Push for Multi-Modal Connectivity

In news: ‘PM Gati Shakti Master Plan’ – a national master plan for multi-model connectivity and extension of holistic governance which will give impetus to 21st century India, has been launched.

• A target of making India energy independent by 2047 has been set – by replace petroleum with other forms of energy 
• National Hydrogen Mission has been announced noting the country spends Rs 12 trillion on energy imports every year.

What is Gati Shakti Master Plan?

• It is a Rs. 100 lakh-crore project for developing ‘holistic infrastructure’.
• It will be a digital platform that connects 16 ministries — including Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, and Aviation — with a view to ensuring holistic planning and execution of infrastructure projects. It is aimed at easier interconnectivity between road, rail, air and waterways to reduce travel time and improve industrial productivity.
• The push for infrastructure is in line with the government’s efforts to step up capital expenditure in infrastructure to promote economic growth.

What are the focus areas of the project?

• Source of employment opportunities for the youth in future.
• Will create a multiplier effect with every rupee invested, yielding much higher returns.
• Raise the global profile of local manufacturers and help them compete with their counterparts worldwide. 
• Increased possibilities of new future economic zones.
• Increase both manufacturing and exports

Significance

• Logistics Grid: With Gati Shakti, India will be able to build an integrated, harmonised transportation and logistics grid. Such a grid will help bring down logistics & supply cost of India.
• Enhances Supply Chain Efficiency: It helps build new supply-side capacities & enhances supply chain efficiency that can set the wheels of growth in motion and move towards the ambitious mission of a $5-trillion economy
• Coordinated Governance: To have all utility and infrastructure planning under an umbrella framework will ensures coordinated planning, cut down ministerial delays, and leads to faster decision making.
• Attracts FDI: Having an umbrella framework under Gati Shakti provides clarity & stability to investors thereby attracting Foreign Direct investment into infrastructure sector.
• Scope for New Economic Corridors: Increased investment by domestic & foreign investors for new infrastructure creations open the doors for new future economic zones
• Improves Connectivity: It will ensure last-mile connectivity to economic zones in a definite timeframe. 
• Increased Competitiveness of exports: Supply chain inefficiencies add to product costs, and thus, run the risk of making our exports uncompetitive vis-à-vis other international export players. Dedicated infrastructure development under Gati Shakti, therefore, improves India’s infrastructure capacity and global export competitiveness with regard to manufacturing in India. 
• Data for Policy Making: The geographic information system (GIS)-enabled digital platform under Gati Shakti will provide useful data — including a region’s topography, satellite images, physical features, maps of existing facilities and so on — for ministries, thus, helping them save on funds and time for approvals.
• Enhances India’s share in cargo business: India’s share in the international cargo business was worth ₹1,686 crore in 2019-20, which rose to ₹2,644 crore in 2020-21 (a 57% increase). Having a harmonised & integrated logistics hub will help increase this share.

Some concerns

• The effectiveness of a platform in ensuring better coordination among ministries is debatable. Breaking down bureaucratic silos may prove to be harder than expected. 
• Critical to the success of some of these infrastructure projects will be the participation of state governments. The Centre will need to devise political interventions and ways to coax and incentivise state government participation and cooperation.

Conclusion

By bringing together 16 ministries to help remove the hurdles in project implementation, the Gati Shakti digital platform could provide an effective mechanism for closely monitoring the public sector infrastructure projects. This technology-led integrated approach could help align all stakeholders, ease the problems with attaining clearances, and bring about greater coordinated action across government departments.

Can you answer the following question?

Will Gati Shakti prove to be the dawn of a new age in infrastructure development?