Moving ahead with Gati Shakti

Allowing the private sector even a limited access to the platform will make Gati Shakti universal in its appeal and effectiveness

The Gati Shakti National Master Plan was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2021. For the yet uninitiated, it is a platform based on the geographic information system that seeks to connect all economic zones and clusters in the country. Superimposed on the platform are layers of infrastructure linkages that are required to make a cluster function effectively. These include road and rail links, optical fibre cables, oil and gas pipelines, power transmission lines, water supply pipes, and suchlike.

The platform is also expected to be a dynamic master planning tool for project design and implementation monitoring. This platform has been developed by the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG). BISAG is a Gandhinagar-based autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology that undertakes projects in satellite communication, geo-informatics and geo-spatial technologies. A trained and dedicated team of officers drawn from different ministries are housed in the Ministry of Commerce in a specialised cell called the Network Planning Group (NPG), that anchors all activities related to Gati Shakti.

There are four reasons why Gati Shakti is “transformational.” One, it breaks the silo culture of project design and implementation, and forces an integrative approach across Centre, states, ministries and departments. Two, it leads to better project proposal clearance decisions. Three, it achieves digitally what an overarching Ministry of Infrastructure was once expected to harmonise. Four, it should (ultimately) give visibility to private investors on investment location choices.

The announcement of a National Logistics Policy (NLP) in September 2022 once again turned the spotlight on how the Gati Shakti platform is expected to play a crucial role. It is reckoned that India’s logistics costs add up to around 13 per cent of gross domestic product, and the NLP aims to bring it down to 8 per cent. Whilst various strategies will address this ambitious target, chief among them are the insights the Gati Shakti platform will provide.

So, where are we now on the progress of this platform? Well, it has been made known that currently Gati Shakti has 1,300 data layers covering infrastructure, environment and social aspects; and that data concerning roads, railways, ports, airports, power, telecom, petroleum and natural gas and renewable energy have been fully integrated with the portal and are being used for holistic planning. Data for these is available up to village, taluka and district levels, along with information on Khasra numbers, inhabited areas, terrain conditions, 3D imagery, soil conditions et al. Moreover, it has been made known that 30 central ministries and all 36 states and Union Territories have developed their matching portals. These portals are integrated with the Gati Shakti platform at the backend.

The Gati Shakti platform is now routinely being used to reduce the time spent on preparation of detailed project reports, issues related to land acquisition, getting clear visibility on all permissions required, and identifying alignments for linear infra projects. So far, 44 meetings of the NPG have been held, wherein 66 high impact infrastructure projects have been evaluated, with their total cost at about Rs 5 trillion. Using the Gati Shakti mechanism, 156 infrastructure gaps relating to first- and last-mile connectivity issues of the major sectors of the economy, such as coal, steel and fertiliser, have been identified.

Some of the more recent projects where Gati Shakti has optimised different elements include the Dighi Port area; Gurdaspur-Jammu-Srinagar natural gas pipeline; Chennai-Tutucorin expressway; and the 181 km new railway line between Barbil and Barsuan. In all, 100 critical port-connectivity projects have been identified on the Gati Shakti platform and are being addressed, according to the minister for ports, shipping and waterways.

There is talk of Gati Shakti necessitating associated changes in the administrative framework at the ground level. If each economic cluster is indeed going to show up and be recognised as a bundle of coordinated linkages, then should not such zones have dedicated development commissioners instead of district magistrates and collectors who are burdened with many other diverse responsibilities? No doubt, such issues will be examined as Gati Shakti seeps into the DNA of administration, replacing decades of working in archaic formats.

It is also heartening that the power of Gati Shakti has been well recognised as a tool for nation-building even by Opposition-ruled states.

However, the government is still to open up Gati Shakti for private viewership and usage. The Gati Shakti platform is currently accessible only to authorised personnel in government departments, state agencies and public private partnership (PPP) projects. This is because the platform houses certain sensitive locations and connectivity details that entail national security concerns. However, there are many interested civil-society sections keen to explore the rich data embedded in the platform. They include private industry, researchers of logistics, as well as students and journalists. There is, therefore, angst amongst non-governmental players that it is not yet accessible to them.

It is understood that the government is considering certain adaptations to the architecture that would enable giving limited access to the private sector.

The sooner this is done the better. It would make Gati Shakti universal in its appeal and effectiveness.

The writer is an infrastructure sector expert. He is also the founder and managing trustee of The Infravision Foundation