India on the move: Gati Shakti helps ministries, states to work as a team

Anyone who has dealt with government departments would know, from experience, what this expression means: The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The central government hopes to change this perception. And it intends to do so by demolishing silos and breaking barriers.
 

Since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led government came to power nine years ago, its repeated message to bureaucrats has been to coordinate better and work as one entity.
 

A key step towards ensuring such collaborative functioning is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project, the Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
 

The initiative, which was launched by Modi two years ago from the ramparts of the Red Fort, aims to not only develop next-generation infrastructure, but also transform the way these projects are planned.
 

 

Plugging potholes Infrastructure projects have historically faced delays due to ministries working in isolation. So, it is not unusual for issues — such as the need for forest, mining or coastal regulation zone clearances —  to arise after work on the project has begun.
 

There were times when the government realised that there was no waterway, or road or rail connectivity on a particular stretch of an economic zone after a manufacturing unit had already been set up. Or, that an optical fibre could not be laid in that particular area.
 

All this would result in delays and escalated project costs.
 

It was to address precisely such challenges that Gati Shakti was conceived some four years ago. The aim was to improve inter-ministerial coordination and provide multimodal connectivity across various industrial hubs to stimulate economic growth and regional development.
 

The core idea was simple: integrate data from key government departments during the project’s conceptualisation phase, pre-empting potential hurdles, and ensuring seamless project execution, without delays.
 

The initiative consolidates infrastructure schemes from ministries and state governments such as Bharatmala, SagarMala, inland waterways, and UDAN (an acronym for Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik). It also encompasses economic zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical, defence and electronic corridors, electronic parks, fishing clusters, agricultural zones, and more.

The official statement on Gati Shakti says that this comprehensive approach aims to improve connectivity, enhance Indian businesses’ competitiveness, attract foreign investments and boost economic growth.
 

According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under which Gati Shakti operates, the initiative is in keeping with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) push and intends to ensure transparency for the stakeholders.
 

The road map
 

The digital planning tool, known as the National Master Plan, acts as an extensive database for ongoing and future projects involving the 39 ministries engaged in economic zone development and all the 36 states and Union Territories (UTs).
 

The National Master Plan contains over 1,450 layers of data: 585 related to central ministries and more than 870 related to states and UTs. The government maintains that over 30 central ministries and departments, and all states and UTs are now part of this platform. So far, the platform is accessible only to government departments and ministries.
 

Over the past 16 months, the government says, the Gati Shakti approach has effectively identified critical connectivity gaps, high-congestion areas on national highways and railway tracks, and provided timely solutions to address these issues. DPIIT is spearheading the master plan, collaborating with ministries and departments at both the central and state government levels.

As part of the Gati Shakti approach, an inter-ministerial panel, called the Network Planning Group (NPG), reviews all publicly funded projects. The panel’s mandate is to ensure that government departments collaborate and coordinate during the conceptualisation stage of a project. NPG, comprising heads of network planning from relevant infrastructure ministries, assesses projects for ‘convergence’ and ‘integration’ during their feasibility study phase. Only projects with a budgetary outlay of Rs 500 crore or more are taken up under Gati Shakti.
 

Getting on track
 

The Gati Shakti approach is beginning to yield results. Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet approved seven railway projects that align with PM Gati Shakti’s principles. These include converting the proposed Rs 13,000 crore dedicated freight corridor between Bihar and West Bengal, initially intended for goods trains only, into a track suitable for both goods and passenger trains.
 

This transformation demonstrates how Gati Shakti is central to multi-faceted transport development, influencing planning across various modes of transportation, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. By integrating the transportation modes into a unified portal, Gati Shakti aims to optimise the network for railways, highways and waterways, he added. “In some places, we may need a dedicated freight corridor. In others, we may require tripling or quadrupling of rail tracks, while in others, expressways might be needed. That’s the thought,” the minister had told Business Standard when the project was announced.

Ironing it out
 

Government officials emphasise that the portal has enabled ministries to anticipate unexpected hurdles during the planning and conceptualisation stages. Internal estimates show that the integration of the Railways ministry on to the National Master Plan platform has expedited the sanctioning of pending project plans by up to seven times within a year.
 

Furthermore, the Gati Shakti Group of Infrastructure Ministries is addressing some 25 environmental regulatory barriers that have delayed national highway projects. Under discussion are eight or nine key policy issues around regulatory approvals and inter-ministerial conflicts. These include simplifying bureaucratic processes around compensatory afforestation, meeting forest clearance requirements by highway authorities, and provisions of the forest conservation Act.

Removing speed breakers
 

Meanwhile, numerous road projects have encountered delays due to issues surrounding the transfer of land between the Railways ministry and the National Highways Authority of India. These concerns are currently being addressed through a proposed agreement between the two entities, aimed at expediting the process of transferring railway land for future projects.

In addition, various urban initiatives, such as the Nagpur Metro, have undergone reviews to accelerate their progress through empowered committees established under Gati Shakti.
 

The highways ministry has successfully integrated the entire national highways network, spanning some 144,000 km, into the national masterplan portal.
 

Likewise, transportation delays affecting cargo movement around ports have historically been attributed to inadequate connectivity between highways, railways, and port infrastructure. Despite the launch of the flagship SagarMala project in 2015 to address these issues, numerous connectivity projects had not obtained approval before 2022, primarily due to the complex, multi-ministry nature of the projects and compartmentalised planning.
 

In 2022, the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) under Gati Shakti acknowledged these concerns and held the ministries of Railways, and road transport and highways accountable for the lack of progress in implementing port connectivity projects. Subsequently, these ministries collaborated, along with the industry department, to formulate an action plan aimed at expediting 191 SagarMala port connectivity projects. Additionally, a review process identified 107 new areas of opportunity (comprising 61 road projects and 46 rail projects) where gaps could be addressed. These areas were presented for sanctioning.
 

Furthermore, in her Budget speech in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled plans for 100 critical transportation projects, with an allocated budget of Rs 75,000 crore.

Private question
 

Meanwhile, debate on sharing the national masterplan data with the private sector continues, given the concerns around data security and privacy. DPIIT is developing a framework for sharing data with private entities, aiming to assist them in executing infrastructure projects while safeguarding sensitive information – both involving national security and individuals’ privacy.

The framework will outline the scope of 'viewing rights' and access to social and economic infrastructure data by private entities. Currently, only government ministries can use the portal for time-bound planning and implementing connectivity projects.

 

Social network
 

The government has started integrating data from social sector ministries such as health, rural development and panchayati raj on the national master plan platform. Presently, 16 ministries have joined the effort that aims to boost not only economic planning, but also social sector strategies.
 

For instance, the platform has been employed to devise evacuation strategies for disaster management in flood-prone regions such as Sanquelim and Amona along the Amona river in Goa. This involved a comprehensive mapping of flood-prone zones in Amona and Sanquelim, pinpointing areas susceptible to high- and low-level flooding, and identifying crucial assets like government edifices, schools, places of worship, and hospitals. Additionally, a 'routing tool' was employed to determine the most efficient routes to essential locations during emergencies.
 

There is also heightened emphasis placed on 'area-based planning,' empowering state governments to holistically develop local areas with the aid of available platform data. To fully realise these advantages, the focus will be directed towards the comprehensive development of entire regions. In line with this vision, around 100 area planning projects are already in progress.