About:

• PM NarendraModi on 13th October 2021 launched PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for infrastructure development aimed at boosting multimodal connectivity and reducing logistics cost.

Aim of PM GatiShakti:

• The PM GatiShakti is intended to break Departmental Silos.
• It intends to bring in more holistic and integrated planning and execution of projects with a view of addressing the issues of multi-modal connectivity and last-mile connectivity.

Planners and Mandate:

• An Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) headed by the Cabinet Secretary and secretaries of 18 ministries as members, will be set up.
• Head of the Logistics Division of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will serve as the Member Convenor of the group.
• The EGOS has been mandated to review and monitor the implementation of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) to ensure logistics efficiency. It is empowered to prescribe framework and norms for undertaking any subsequent amendments to the NMP.

Efficient policy making:

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has also approved the formation, composition and terms of reference for Network Planning Group (NPG) consisting of heads of Network Planning wing of respective infrastructure ministries and it will assist the EGOS.The NPG will be supported by a technical support unit (TSU) located in the Logistics Division.

The main pillars of the plan are:

1. Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralized portal. Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning & execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.

2. Prioritization: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross–sectoral interactions.

3. Optimization: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after 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.

4. Synchronization: Individual Ministries and Departments often work in silos. There is lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronizing the
activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.

5. Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.

6. Dynamic: All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress
periodically and progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.