Context: The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working to issue detailed guidelines on how the data and mapping facilities provided under PM Gati Shakti portal can be utilised by private sector players, to make efficient decisions in infrastructure and other projects.
Relevance of the topic:
Prelims: Questions based on Gati Shakti Scheme.
Mains: Detailed question about Gati Shakti; Challenges in the infrastructure sector in India.
About Gati Shakti- National Master Plan
- The PM Gati Shakti- National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity is a digital platform to bring Ministries together, including Railways and Roadways, for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.
- Launched: October 2021
Key Objectives:
- Integrated planning by bringing Ministries together on the GIS platform for better coordination.
- Promoting multi-modal connectivity by developing a seamless pattern of rail, road, ports, airports etc.
- Reduction in logistics cost to 8% as in most developed nations.
- Promoting ‘Make in India’ by strengthening India’s position as manufacturing and trade hub.
Key Features:
- PM Gati Shakti will incorporate infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN etc.
- It will cover Economic Zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, and agri zones to improve connectivity & make Indian businesses more competitive.
- It will leverage technology extensively including spatial planning tools with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) imagery developed by BiSAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics).
Achievements of Gati Shakti
- Government Integration: Gati Shakti has integrated 44 Ministries and 36 states and UTs under a single platform.
- Network planning group (NPG) has evaluated more than 200 major infrastructure projects.
- State Master Plans: All 36 states/UTs have developed state master plans aligning with the National Master Plan. (Over 533 projects have been mapped on PM Gati Shakti postal for better coordination)
- EXIM and Trade facilitation: Scheme supports National Logistics Policy. (India’s ranking in World Banks Logistics Performance Index improved from 44 in 2018 to 38 in 2023)
- Training and Capacity building: Over 20,000 officials have been trained through the iGoT platform with more than 150 interactive sessions.
- Expanding to districts: PM Gati Shakti District Master Plan is being developed to enable district level infrastructure planning supported by BISAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space applications and Geoinformatics).
- Taking Gati Shakti to International Stage: Diplomatic engagements with countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Senegal, and Gambia promoting geospatial technology for integrated infrastructure planning worldwide.
Challenges in Indian Logistics sector solved by Gati Shakti
| Challenges | Solutions provided by Gati Shakti |
| High Logistical Cost: India logistics cost hovers about 14% unlike 8% in the USA. | Streamlining Multi-Modal connectivity with rail, road, air and waterways by bringing a single GIS-based digital platform for all ministries. |
| Fragmented Supply Chains | Gati Shakti eliminated the redundant projects and ensures synchronized execution to streamline supply chain |
| Slow execution of projects | Gati Shakti uses a one-stop system for approval of the project to gain clearances. Also, GIS based decision making to avoid bureaucratic delays. |
| Over dependence on road (Over 40% traffic burden is on the National Highways) | Expanding dedicated freight corridors and developing logistics parks and air cargo to depend on the road infrastructure. |
| Lack of digitisation of logistic sectors | Gati Shakti integrated IoT and AI for real-time monitoring and operations of the logistics sector in India. |
| Inadequate storage and warehousing infrastructure | Gati Shakti develops a multi-modal logistics park, cold chain by enhancing private participation. |
| Environmental concerns and sustainability issues | Gati Shakti provides green logistic opportunities like electric vehicles, renewable energy and low carbon logistics solutions to align with sustainable development goals of India. |
What more can be done?
PM Gati Shakti has revolutionised logistics, but further steps are needed like strengthening AI-driven digital infrastructure, expanding rail and waterways, and boosting public-private partnerships, among others.