Pvt players likely to have limited access to data from GatiShakti portal

Private players to get limited, non-downloadable access to national masterplan portal data

Private sector may soon have limited access to the PM GatiShakti national masterplan (NMP) portal as the government has “nearly finalised” rules around it, a senior government official said. 

The GatiShakti national masterplan is a digital platform that intends to reshape how India approaches infrastructure development.   

“The rules are being framed in a way that private sector companies will not be allowed to download data from the national masterplan portal,” the official told Business Standard. 

The extent of data sharing with the private sector has been decided by the respective line ministries that have integrated their data with the national masterplan. All the ministries and departments have uploaded every minute data related to its social and economic projects on the portal. They can access this data and plan their own projects or social initiatives around it. As a result, it is reducing duplication of efforts, and easing movement of goods and people. 

For over two years, the department for promotion of industry and internal trade has held inter-ministerial meetings and has done extensive consultations with various government departments and ministries on the matter. 

The idea behind giving access of the national masterplan to private players has been to help them in execution of infrastructure projects, depending on the extent to which data is shared. 

In the Union Budget announcement in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that certain data and maps from the PM GatiShakti portal will be provided to the private sector -- a move which could help them optimise last-mile delivery services and develop infrastructure-based applications. 

Ahmedabad-based Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG), under the administrative control of ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), is finalising the broader rules.

BISAG’s involvement is crucial since protocols for private users’ access are sensitive considering security concerns, the official cited above said. 

At the moment, only state and central government ministries and departments can access the digital portal for detailed planning and implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.