21-Dec-2022: PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) envisages the creation of a system for inter-connected and multimodal transportation networks leading to integrated economic and infrastructure development

The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) was launched in October 2021 with a vision to enable a mechanism for coordinated planning and to provide a bird’s eye view of planned development to all the Ministries for holistic and integrated development. PM Gati Shakti NMP envisages the creation of a system for inter-connected and multimodal transportation networks leading to integrated economic and infrastructure development, improved trade competitiveness, promotion of exports and employment generation. It envisages establishing integration and synergy amongst different infrastructure sector projects such as National Highways, Railways, Waterways, Telecom, etc., catering to development requirements/ logistic supports of different sectors and industries (e.g. Steel, Power, Fertilizers, Coal, etc.). The NMP will rely on creation of various data layers including geographical features, land records, etc., to facilitate coordinated and integrated planning, project preparations and implementations, optimization of logistics arrangements and efficient transportation systems.

PM Gati Shakti NMP provides the overall framework for planning, sanctioning and execution of projects. There are no separate funds allocated under PM Gati Shakti NMP. The budget is allocated NH projects-wise, as per project requirements, within the sanctioned project costs.

The Ministry closely monitors various issues that affect project implementation such as land acquisition, encroachment removal, law & order issues, utility shifting, non-availability of soil/aggregate, environment/forest/wildlife clearances, ROB & RUB issues, contractual issues, etc. Regular reviews are held with all stakeholders including State Governments and other Central Ministries/Departments to resolve these issues and ensure timely completion of projects. Progress of projects is monitored through advanced digital platforms such as Bhoomi Rashi, Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS) and Data Lake.

15-Dec-2022: Review of Projects Under PM Gati Shakti NMP

The Ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs). 61 NHs / road projects / Corridors in about 13,858 km, including in the State of Odisha, for a total tentative cost of Rs. 6,68,808 Crores have been examined leveraging the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) Portal and were consulted within the Network Planning Group (NPG) of PM Gati Shakti NMP headed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) module tool developed by the Ministry through Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N) along with the available features in the dynamic Geographic Information System (GIS) platform based PM Gati Shakti NMP Portal is helpful for optimizing the NHs project alignments and planning of projects considering information related to existing physical / geographical features, forest areas, eco-sensitive areas, etc.,  in minimizing ecological impacts, requirements of clearances and faster and more effective project preparation. This is expected to contribute significantly in faster implementation of projects by obviating need for mid-course corrections / revisions in project features during project implementation phases. 

14-Dec-2022: Expansion of Road Network Under Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti Yojana

The Ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs) in the country. MoRTH has undertaken development of 55 Port Connectivity Road projects of total length of 2,753 kms. Apart from these, the work of preparation of DPR has been taken up for 2 more stretches.  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) inter-alia approved the proposal of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in October 2021, for inclusion of National Highways (NHs) infrastructure projects of the Ministry in a length of 48,030 km as part of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) for providing Multi-modal connectivity to various Economic Zones. These inter-alia include development of 2,047 km length of Port Connectivity Roads in the country (68 projects).

The length of the corridor from Bhavnagar-Veraval – Gadu – Porbandar - Dwarka-Khambhaliya - Devariya and Dhrol - Bhadra-Patiya - Pipaliya is 583.90 Km. Out of which, three no. of projects having length of 46 Km from Bhavnagar to Sosiya-Alang Ship Recycling yard, Trapaj – Manar and RoB on Kandla Kutch Road is envisaged for development in the state of Gujarat.

The corridor shall connect important places and district such as Bhavnagar, Una, Gir-Somnath, Junagadh, Porbandar, Dwarka, Devbhumidwarka, Jamnagar & Morbi. The corridor will connect places of industrial and major economic activities with ports in the region thereby facilitating cargo transportation and reducing transportation cost & time. In addition it will provide seamless connectivity to major tourism destinations and will give a boost to economic development in the region.

7-Dec-2022: 100 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal (GCT) to be developed till 2025

Under the Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal (GCT) Policy, it has been targeted to develop 100 GCTs in three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24 & 2024-25. 22 GCTs have already been commissioned. 125 applications for development of Cargo Terminals under the GCT Policy have been received and 79 In-Principle Approvals have been granted.

For GCTs to be developed on non-Railway land, the GCT Operators will identify the location and will construct the terminal after obtaining necessary approval. For GCTs to be developed either fully or partially on Railway land, the land parcels will be identified by Railways, and the GCT Operator for construction and operation of Terminal will be selected through open tendering process.

16-Nov-2022: Shri Piyush Goyal reviews progress of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal reviewed the progress achieved by PM GatiShakti National Master Plan at a meeting with senior officials from various line ministries in New Delhi today.

Since its launch in October 2021, the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan has been a transformative approach towards integrated planning and synchronized infrastructure project implementation.  Adopting a ‘whole of the government approach’, the National Master Plan has successfully incorporated more than 1900 GIS data layers for infrastructure mapping of different Ministries and State Governments. In the last one year, the NMP has effectively expedited many projects which had been previously stalled.

Shri Goyal appreciated the progress made by central Ministries and States in stepping up the usage of the National Master Plan, especially to plan critical infrastructure. The Minister called for more training and capacity building to further boost the utilization of PM GatiShakti by various line ministries, departments and states.

He also asked ministries to prioritize the bridging of critical infrastructure gaps and focus on development of regions of strategic importance, especially industrial clusters that can act as drivers of economic growth.

The NMP Platform is now also being used by all Central Ministries and State Governments for smoother planning process and sound decision making. Over 250 infrastructure projects have been examined in the last one year by using the National Master Plan and the PM GatiShakti Institutional Structure.

These projects include many connectivity linkages of rail, port, road, and last mile infrastructure projects for sectors such as agriculture, food, steel, and coal.

During the meeting various Ministries made presentations and deliberated their progress and achievements through the National Master Plan platform.

12-Nov-2022: Industry and technical experts express confidence that strengthening inland waterways under the PM Gati Shakti scheme will have a transformative impact

Industry and technical experts on transportation expressed confidence that strengthening inland waterways under the PM Gati Shakti scheme will bring a transformative impact on the life of the people in the region.

On the second day of the 'PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit 2022' in Varanasi, experts discussed in detail the development of inland waterways and increasing their participation in the country's comprehensive logistics and supply chain.

Experts hoped the country's infrastructure would be bolstered and further strengthened with the PM Gati Shakti Scheme, which will reverberate worldwide.

Dr Nayan Sharma, Chief Consultant, Innovante Water Solutions and former Professor, I.I.T., Roorkee elaborated on the innovative technical solutions based on his vast experience in waterways management. "Innovative technological solutions can be used to resolve the widespread siltation in the river Ganga," said Dr Sharma.

Speaking on occasion, Inland Waterways Authority of India chairman Mr. Sanjay Bandopadhyay said that the inland waterways have the potential to become the lifeline for India's hinterland. It will significantly impact the rural economy by providing them easy access to the global market.

In the multiple sessions held on the second day of the conference on Saturday, the experts presented their unique perspectives on the various challenges and solutions for the development and management of fairways for inland waterways transport.

Taking forward the discussion of the session held on the previous day, the experts elaborated on the intricacies of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. The session also discussed how to strengthen the infrastructure and what should be its road map.

Shri Om Prakash Shaw, Professor, I.I.T., Kharagpur, presented a solution for mechanising the system of quick opening and closing of pontoon bridges, which will help tremendously save time in ship operations. He also stressed the need for proper training for the use and management of this system.

Mr. Harry. D. Lear, an international expert in the field of shipping, emphasised the importance of enabling government policies to develop inland waterways and increase its participation in the country's more comprehensive logistics and supply chain.

Captain Indraveer Solanki stressed the need for encouragement and necessary assistance from the government to promote water transport. He also explains various problems currently faced by the ship operators and their solutions.

Mr. Yaco Clivet, Royal I.H.C., made a detailed presentation on the availability and use of different types of dredgers in inland waterways.

Senior officials of Government of India, state governments and private sector experts were among the legal dignitaries who participated in the meeting. Officials from the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh also participated in this technical session of the summit. In addition, the representatives of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, representatives of Nepal and Bhutan were also present.

Organised under the aegis of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), this 2-day conference will further highlight PM Gati Shakti N.M.P., its components and their importance as engines of economic growth. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri Piyush Goyal, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath  participated in the inaugural session.

11-Nov-2022: PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit 2022 gets underway in Varanasi

With the aim to further strengthen the role of inland waterways, the ‘PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit 2022’ gets underway in Varanasi. The 2-day event under the aegis of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) will take a deep dive into the PM Gati Shakti NMP, its components and their significance as encompassing engines of economic growth.

Speaking at the event, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH, Government of India said, “Under the guidance of the Hon'ble Prime Minister we are progressing in every field and different ministries of the Government of India have taken important steps to improve the logistics system. Our economy will not be strong unless the logistics system is improved. The government is speeding up projects and schemes through the logistic policy. Today every state is moving forward on the path of development because of this policy.”

“There are 111 waterways in the country and with the steps that the government has taken to improve logistics, we have made significant progress towards making India self-reliant. The discussions and inputs received from experts through this summit will help accelerate the growth and development of the nation” he added.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister for Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Govt of India said, “No one has an effective tool like Gati Shakti, not even the most developed nations in the world. The country is progressing in every field under the able leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. As the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had ushered in an era of rapid progress in the infrastructure and after becoming the Prime Minister of the country the country is witnessing rapid progress in this sector. The PM Gati Shakti is providing the much needed impetus to projects and has emerged to be a key growth driver.”

In his address to the summit, Shri Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh said, “The entire country is watching the progress that is being made in every field through the PM Gati Shakti Scheme. Uttar Pradesh is a key beneficiary of the scheme and has sufficient water resources available which will accelerate the pace of development.”

Shri Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India said, “The summit is organised to integrate the Ganga waterway in Varanasi, UP with different states and different modes of transportation. Under the JMVP project, we plan to carry cargo and passengers from Varanasi right upto Haldia crisscrossing four states. Then using the IBP route that passes through Bangladesh onto the North-eastern states of the country. The discussions during the summit will help us in finalising a planning and implementation schedules for this. The infrastructure inaugurated and various MoUs signed during the summit will help strengthen inland waterway transportation and that too in a green and sustainable way.”

The summit saw plenary sessions on Decoding PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan and Enhanced Multimodal Connectivity to Industrial and Commercial Clusters were held. The discussion sessions saw political leaderships and top bureaucrats from the state & central government, industry captains and sector experts deliberate on pertinent topics to strengthen the role of inland waterways in the logistics ecosystem of the country.

Special Session with Uttar Pradesh and with Nepal & Bhutan were also held to strengthen interstate multimodal connectivity, enhance regional integration, enhance logistical efficiency and explore new avenues for river cruise tourism. XX no's MoUs were also signed with representative of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to boost ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies.

A new website for Trade Facilitation Centre for Inland Water and Coastal Transport ( )was also launched for users of waterways and coastal shipping to access relevant operational and commercial information.

A MoU between IWAI and Cochin Shipyard Ltd. for Electric-Battery powered hybrid catamarans for Assam was also signed at the summit.

A host of dignitaries such as, Mr. Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, State Minister for Shipping, Govt of Bangladesh, Dr Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to Prime Minister of India, Dr Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Govt of India, Mr Amit Kumar Ghosh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Govt of India, Mr. Naveen Srivastava, H.E Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Dr Shankar Prasad Sharma, H.E Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Nepal in India, Mr. Karma Tshering, Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Govt. of Bhutan, Shri Dayashanker Singh, Minister for Transport, Govt of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Govt of India, addressed the summit and shared valuable insights.

9-Nov-2022: Shri Sarbananda Sonowal to inaugurate 2-day  PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit to be held in Varanasi

The Indian Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the aegis of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India is organizing the ‘PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Waterways Summit’ on 11th - 12th November, 2022. The summit to be held at the Deendayal Hastkala Sankul (Trade Centre and Museum) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh will bring about greater awareness about the PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan with focus on infrastructure development in the waterways.

Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways will also unveil the Inauguration Stones (7) & Foundation Stones (8) of Community Jetties on NW-1 (River Ganga) at Ravidas Ghat, Varanasi before the Summit.

Speaking about the PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan and the Multimodal Waterways Summit, Shri Sonowal said, “The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is committed to the idea of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas. The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) is a transformative approach for improving logistics efficiency and reducing logistics cost to ensure first and last mile connectivity for seamless movement of people and goods. MOPSW had identified 101 projects estimated to cost around Rs. 62,627 crore under GatiShakti NMP which are aimed to be completed by 2024, while the target for the nine high-impact projects costing Rs. 1,913 crore is by the end of this fiscal year.”

Shri Sanjay Bandopadhyaya Chairman, IWAI said, “The Summit will provide a networking platform for key stakeholders from central government and state governments, industry and think tanks to share and discuss the national master plan. Senior officials from relevant Ministries and departments, Port authorities, sector experts and stakeholders from the private sectors will be in attendance.”

The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, launched by  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, aims at providing Multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various SEZs and enhancing logistical efficiency. The plan aims to integrate the implementation of all existing and proposed infrastructure development initiatives to support faster and efficient movement of people and goods. A smooth and efficient logistics system serves as the backbone of development and will be a key factor in achieving ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’.

13-Oct-2022: PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan has the potential to save over Rs. 10 Lakh Crore annually by improving logistics efficiency

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal has said that PM GatiShakti National Master Plan has the potential to save over Rs. 10 Lakh Crore annually by improving logistics efficiency. He was addressing the National Workshop on PM GatiShakti held to mark the first anniversary of the roll out of the National Master Plan, in New Delhi today. The workshop focussed on the progress and achievements made by PM GatiShakti till date and the way forward.

Shri Goyal said that PM GatiShakti is increasingly being used in the social sector for better infrastructure development, thereby, taking fruits of technology to every citizen of the country and improving ease of life for the common man. The Minister said that PM GatiShakti would define India's future in the years to come. Quoting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, he said that PM GatiShakti National Master Plan would lend both 'Gati' and 'Shakti' to India's efforts in Infrastructure development.

The National Master Plan will transform the way we work and the outcomes of our work and will drive economic development, Shri Goyal said. He observed that the entire nation has come together, transcending political differences to use PM GatiShakti to the best possible extent. The Minister expressed confidence that PM GatiShakti NMP would find a place in history as a powerful intervention that spurred rapid growth and development in the country. We look upon PM GatiShakti as s service to the nation and society, he said.

Shri Goyal opined that the anniversary celebrations must be used as an opportunity to visualize and conceive plans for the future. He asked all stakeholders to envision out of box ways to utilize PM GatiShakti for better, more economical and time bound infrastructure planning.

The Minister expressed confidence that PM GatiShakti would help bring in balanced, inclusive, equitable development in the country by helping remote areas, especially those in the North East undertake integrated infrastructure planning and close development gaps.

The Minister referred to the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) scheme launched yesterday and said that by dovetailing PM GatiShakti into the scheme would help utilize resources much more efficiently. Shri Goyal said that the whole of the government was working in tandem to ensure the best possible use of PM GatiShakti. He added that industry, business and social sector had welcomed PM Gati with open arms.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched PM GatiShakti on 13.10.21 for integrated planning of infrastructure and synchronized project implementation across all concerned Central Ministries, Departments and State Governments.

PM GatiShakti is a transformative approach for integrated and holistic planning across concerned Ministries/Departments to improve multimodal connectivity, and logistics efficiency and address critical gaps for the seamless movement of people, and goods, with a focus on minimizing disruptions and ensuring timely completion of works.

It provides for an integrated platform, the National Master Plan, where all the economic zones and their multimodal connectivity infrastructure are depicted, along with physical linkages to promote a comprehensive and integrated multimodal national network of transportation and logistics to create efficiency gains and avenues for further developments, value addition and creating employment opportunities.

It may be noted that in the last 8 years, Capital Expenditure has seen over 4 times increase from 1.75 lac crores in 2014 to 7.5 lac crores in 2022. The development of 7.582 kms new roads, 2500 kms of new petroleum & gas pipelines, 29,040 circuits kms, and 200 million tonnes of cargo being handled by India’s railway network have been constructed adopting PM Gati Shakti’s approach.

Through the mechanism of PM National Master Plan 197 critical infrastructure gap projects have been identified and examined in sectors namely, the Ministry of Steel, Coal, Fertilizer as well as Food and Public Distribution under PM GatiShakti to improve logistics efficiency. Over 1300 inter-ministerial issues were resolved in the 11 months through the PMG Portal integrated with the National Master Plan.

The Minister also launched the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2022 survey report.  The LEADS is an indigenous data-driven index to assess logistics infrastructure, services, and human resources across all 36 States and UTs.

By engaging with various end-user stakeholders, the LEADS acts as a feedback mechanism on the existing logistic capacities and draws recommendations for further improvement. The LEADS further uses the feedback evaluation to classify states on the scale of logistics ease currently present among them.

The LEADS 2022 has garnered more than 6500 responses from more than 2100 respondents across the country. Unlike the previous versions of LEADS which were based on ranking systems for all states, LEADS 2022 has adopted a classification-based grading, states have been now classified under four categories viz coastal states, hinterland/landlocked states, north-eastern states, and Union Territories. For the assessment of how well a State or UT has performed in comparison to the Top State/UT within the specific cluster.

Three performance categories namely, Achievers: States/UTs achieving 90% or more percentage, Fast Movers: States/UTs achieving percentage scores between 80% to 90%, and Aspirers: States/UTs achieving percentage scores below 80% have been made.

The LEADS 2022 survey report would assist PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) and National Logistics Policy (NLP) to perform a network mapping of logistics infrastructure, services, and regulatory environment enabling State Governments to identify and fill the gaps and achieve data-driven multimodal connectivity. LEADS continues to act as a guiding & bridging mechanism for the identification of interventions enhancing logistics efficiency at State/UTs.

3-Oct-2022: Three important road connectivity projects recommended by Network Planning Group (NPG)

Network Planning Group (NPG) constituted under the institutional framework of ‘PM GatiShakti’ has recommended 3 important road connectivity projects.  These are Construction of Four Lane Highway from Gazipur - Ballia - UP/Bihar State Border, Improvement and Up-gradation of Existing Road from 2-Lane to 4–lane in Uttar Pradesh and Moradabad & Kashipur bypasses in UP, Uttarakhand.

All 3 projects are important for the improvement and upgradation of the roadways with a view of multimodality, easier commute, and land acquisition.

As a part of the proposal in the 33rd Meeting of the NPG, 3 critical agendas were discussed and recommendations were made as follows:

1. Construction of Four Lane Highway from Gazipur - Ballia - UP/Bihar State Border:  For better freight flow, and interstate multimodal connectivity in Uttar Pradesh. The proposal was for a  4-lane highway (in greenfield) to connect the economic centers for (Lucknow, Varanasi, Azamgarh, and Mau cities). This will ensure shortest connectivity from south Bihar to Delhi. At Buxer a bridge on river Ganga is being constructed with spur which will enhance connectivity of South Bihar to Delhi The project will reduce travel time between Lucknow – Patna by 3.5 Km/hr. for seamless traffic, and interstate connectivity. The highway will serve the Lucknow defense corridor at two points (Banaras and Purvanchal expressway).
2. Improvement and Up-gradation of Existing Road from 2-Lane to 4–lane in Uttar Pradesh: The proposal was to make 2 lane roads into 4 lanes for upgradation and improvement of the Roads. The proposal is for 4 – a lane bypass Palia – Shahjahanpur – Hardoi – Lucknow. This project is a part of strategic border roads of Indo – Nepal border road project (INBRP) of Ministry of Home Affairs providing connectivity to Indo – Nepal border and facilitating SSB mobility. It will also ensure connectivity to Bardoi National Park. It will also enhance the freight flow and traffic movement.
3. Moradabad & Kashipur bypasses in UP, Uttarakhand: The proposal was for a 4-lane Bypass Project (brownfield) for decongestion, and to reduce travel time. The project provides interstate connectivity between Uttar Pradesh- Uttarakhand -bypass connecting major economic centers of the region. It serves as a trade route for  India – Bangladesh, and India- Bhutan – Bangladesh. It will provide connectivity to Jim Corbett National Park.

The members of the Network Planning Group have further suggested certain components of integrated planning and synchronized implementation concepts and have ensured faster clearance and support for the projects. Through PM GatiShakti NMP, it shall be possible to implement these projects in the coming years.

NPG has the head of Planning Divisions of the infrastructure Ministries including, the Ministry of railways, MoRTH, Power, MoPNG, DoT, MoCA, MoPSW, Transport department, Ministry of Ports, Waterways, PwD, PSU, PMT, DS SM & PPP  with a special representative from NITI Aayog and MoEF&CC. Logistics Division, DPIIT functions as the secretariat of PM GatiShakti.

7-Sep-2022: Cabinet approves policy on long term leasing of Railways Land for implementing PM Gati Shakti framework (Cargo related activities, Public utilities & Railway’s exclusive use)

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the Ministry of Railway’s proposal to revise the railways’ land policy to implement PM Gati Shakti framework  (Cargo related activities, Public utilities & Railway’s exclusive use).

Impact:

1. This will help in attracting more cargo to railways, increase railways’ modal share in freight transportation thereby reducing logistics cost of the industry.
2. This will bring more revenue to railways.
3. This will simplify approvals for utilities as envisaged in PM Gati Shakti Programme.  This will help in development of public utilities like electricity, gas, water supply, telecom cable, sewage disposal, drains, optical fibre cables (OFC), pipelines, roads, flyovers, but terminals, regional rail transport, urban transport etc. in an integrated manner.
4. This policy amendment will enable employment generation potential of about 1.2 lakh employment.

Financial Implications: No additional expenditure will be incurred.  Liberalizing the land leasing policy would open avenues for all stakeholders / service providers / operators to establish more cargo related facilities and render their participation assisting in generation of additional cargo traffic and freight revenues to Railways.

Benefits: This policy amendment will enable employment generation potential of about 1.2 lakh employment.

Details:

1. The revised railways’ land policy will enable integrated development of infrastructure and more cargo terminals.
2. It provides for long term leasing of railway land for cargo related activities for a period up-to 35 years @ 1.5% of market value of land per annum.
3. The existing entities using railway land for cargo terminals will have the option to switch to the new policy regime after transparent and competitive bidding process.
4. 300 PM Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals would be developed over next five years and about 1.2 lakh employment would be generated.
5. This will increase modal share of rail in freight transportation and reduce overall logistics cost in the country.
6. The policy also simplifies Railways’ land use and Right of Way (ROW) for integrated development of public service utilities like electricity, gas, water supply, sewage disposal, urban transport etc by providing railway land @ 1.5% of market value of land per annum.
7. For Optical Fibre Cables (OFC) and other smaller diameter underground utilities, a one-time fee of Rs. 1000/- will be charged for crossing railway track.
8. The policy provides for use of railway land at nominal cost for setting up of solar plants on railway land.
9. The policy also encourages development of social infrastructure (such as hospitals through PPP and schools through Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan) on railway land at a nominal annual fee of Rupee 1 per sqm. per annum.

Implementation strategy and target:

1. Comprehensive Policy document will be framed and implemented within 90 days of cabinet approval.
2. The approvals for setting up utilities envisaged under PM Gati Shakti Programme will be simplified.
3. 300 PM Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals would be developed over the next five years.

Background: Railways’ organization and network spans the entire country.  However, railways with its existing land policies could not integrate well with other modes of infrastructure.  Thus, a need was felt to streamline and simplify Railway’s land lese policy to enable faster integrated planning and development of infrastructure across the country under PM Gati Shakti framework.

Extant policy permits licensing of railway land for a short period upto five years for any railway related activity.  Such short-term license period does not attract any serious investors for creating multi-modal cargo hubs.  Long term leasing of railway land upto 35 years is allowed for leasing government land mainly to Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), thereby limiting the scope of investments in cargo terminals.  Since rail is an efficient mode of transport it is essential to more freight by rail so as to reduce the logistics cost of the industry.  To enhance the modal share of rail in freight transportation need has been felt to modify the land leasing policy to encourage development of more cargo terminals.

25-Aug-2022: Gati-Shakti Vision for Telecom Infrastructure – Right of Way Rules Amended for Faster 5G Roll-out

In an event organised by the Department of Telecommunications, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communications, Electronics & IT and Railways released amendment in the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (RoW) Rules, 2016 to facilitate faster and easier deployment of Telecom Infrastructure and launched a new 5G RoW application 'form’ on GatiShakti Sanchar Portal to enable faster 5G roll-out in India. Shri K Rajaraman, Chairman DCC & Secretary (T), senior officials of Department of Telecommunications and representatives of industry were present.

In his address, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned about the 4 basic ingredients for ensuring faster rollout of 5G services across the country, mainly allocation of spectrum, reforms in the processing of RoW permission, co-operative federalism and rollout of services. Spectrum allocation and harmonization has been completed successfully. GatiShakti Sanchar Portal was launched by DoT in May, 2022 in line with Hon’ble PM’s vision of development of infrastructure services in an integrated manner. The IT systems of all States/UTs and major infrastructure central ministries such as Railway, Highways have been integrated with the portal to make India ready for 5G launch. Hon’ble Minister also commended State Governments & UTs for their work on RoW policy alignment. He also mentioned that 13 States/UTs have also implemented deemed approval clause in their RoW Policies ensuring speedy approvals. These measures have resulted in major reduction in average time for approval of RoW applications, from 435 days in 2019 to 16 days in July, 2022.

He further mentioned that in the amended Right of Way Rules, charges for RoW permissions have been made reasonable and a ceiling for RoW charges for installation of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on street furniture has been fixed. These amendments will pave the way for deployment of 5G small cells on existing street infrastructure. With these series of reforms, the country is now ready for launch of 5G services by October, 2022.

The salient features of the amendments are as follows:

Expansion of telecom infrastructure:

• To facilitate faster 5G roll-out, RoW application procedures for small cell has now been simplified.  Telecom licensees will be able to use street infrastructure to deploy telecom equipment at a nominal cost of Rs. 150/annum in rural areas and Rs. 300/annum in urban areas.
• To facilitate faster fiberisation, street infrastructure may be utilized at a nominal cost of Rs. 100/annum to install overground optical fibre.
• The amendments create distinction between ‘poles’ and ‘mobile towers’. Overground infrastructure of height up to 8 meters shall be treated as poles and will need minimal regulatory permissions for deployment.

Improving ease of doing business:

• Telecom licensees had to submit RoW applications on different platforms of State/UTs. The amendments provide for a single window clearance system for RoW applications. Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal of Ministry of Communications will be the single window portal for all telecom related RoW applications.
• Single window clearance will reduce multiplicity of compliance and facilitate easier approvals.

Rationalization of fees/charges:

• Rationalization of administrative fees:  Telecom licensees are required to pay administrative fees for the RoW permissions. As technology improves, significant telecom equipment will be deployed on poles. To reduce the cost of compliance, the administrative fees have been rationalized as follows:
  • No administrative fee shall be charged by Central Government or its agencies for establishment of poles on the land owned/controlled by them.
  • For State/UTs, the administrative fee for establishment of poles shall be limited to Rs. 1,000 per pole.
  • Administrative Fee for laying overground optical fiber shall be limited to Rs. 1,000/ Km.
• Uniformity in calculation of area: Telecom licensees have to pay charges proportionate to the area occupied by telecom infrastructure. At present, different agencies use different methodology to calculate the area. The amendments now prescribe a methodology to calculate the area occupied by telecom infrastructure. This will bring uniformity in computation of area and associated charges for the telecom infrastructure across the country.
• Rationalizing cost of restoration: In case of restoration, Telecom licensees either have to undertake the restoration themselves or pay the concerned authority for restoration work. To ease this process, two major reforms have been introduced.
  • If the Telecom licensee undertakes the restoration work, a Bank Guarantee amounting to 100% of restoration cost needs to be submitted to the concerned agency. This amount has now been rationalized. Telecom Licensee shall be required to submit a BG for an amount of 20% of the restoration cost only.
  • If the Telecom Licensee wishes to pay the concerned agencies, the cost of restoration shall be calculated at the rates prescribed by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) or Public Works Department (PWD) of the State/UTs.
• No compensation for establishment of poles: Telecom licensees shall not be required to pay compensation for land for establishment of poles.
• Incentivizing use of technology: Technology is now available for laying Optical Fiber without digging a full trench. Therefore, in case of fiber laid using horizontal directional digging technology, Telecom Licensee shall have to pay restoration charges only for the pits, and not for the entire route.
• These reform measures are aimed at bringing down the time and cost of deployment of telecom infrastructure.

Telecom infrastructure over private property:

• For installing telecom infrastructure on private property, Telecom licensees may enter into agreement with private property owners and they will not require any permission from any government authority.
• In such cases, Telecom licensees shall be required to give only prior intimation along with structural suitability certificate.

These measures are expected to facilitate rapid expansion and upgradation of telecom networks and therefore improvement in the quality of services.

4-Aug-2022: 3 important railway projects recommended by Network Planning Group

Network Planning Group constituted under the institutional framework of ‘PM GatiShakti National Master Plan’ has examined and recommended 3 important railway projects on 3rd August, 2022. These are Doubling of Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmiki Nagar rail line, Katihar – Mukuria and Katihar – Kumedpur Doubling and Pachora – Jamner Gauge Conversion & Extension upto Bodwad. All 3 projects are extremely important with a view to ensure faster movement of goods in the hinterland which will accelerate the logistics efficiency and bring reduction in logistics costs.

MoR has identified ‘high density network’ of railway lines to achieve target of 3000 million metric tonne of freight movement. As part of that mission, 3 critical important projects have been identified as follows:

1. Doubling of Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmiki Nagar rail line : To ensure freight flow, particularly food grain movement from western India to North Eastern States, Gorakhpur Cantt – Valmiki Nagar (95 km.) is an important stretch which was having only single railway line affecting the freight movement. From Valmiki Nagar  upto Muzaffarpur, work on doubling is already going on. This proposed doubling project with the cost of Rs. 1120 Crore is expected to improve the logistics efficiency significantly.
2. Katihar – Mukuria and Katihar – Kumedpur Doubling: Katihar – Mukuria and Katihar – Kumedpur are extremely busy sections. Currently  this is single line and it is a Rajdhani train route. This is important link to connect  Northeast and also Howrah. Doubling of these sections will significantly help     movement of cargo from Kolkata Port to Virat Nagar. The cost of this project is Rs.942   Crore.
3. Pachora – Jamner Gauge Conversion & Extension upto Bodwad: This project is in the State of Maharashtra. Pachora to Jamner Gauge Conversion and extension of railway line of Bodwad. This project would be 84 km. long at an anticipated cost of Rs.955 Crore. This project will provide bye pass double line railway connectivity for Jalgaon and Bhusawal. It will provide faster freight movement from JNPT to Nagpur and eastern region of the country.

Network Planning Group has recommended all 3 project proposals. The members of the Network Planning Group have further suggested certain components from integrated planning and synchronized implementation concept. M/o Environment, Forests & Climate Change has assured faster clearances. All these projects have been mapped on PM GatiShakti NMP. Through PM GatiShakti NMP it shall be possible to implement these projects in the next five years within estimated cost

The Network Planning Group has the head of Planning Divisions of the infrastructure Ministries including M/o Railways, MoRTH, Power, MoPNG, MNRE, DoT, MoCA, MoPSW with special representative from NITI Aayog and MoEF&CC. Logistics Division, DPIIT functions as secretariat of PM GatiShakti.

7-Jul-2022: PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan – “An impetus to Power infrastructure development”

The Prime Minister launched PM GatiShakti-National Master Plan (NMP) for infrastructure development in October, 2021 with the objective to bring different Ministries/ Utilities & infrastructure planning under a single unified vision, across all sectors such as  Highways, Railways, Aviation, Gas, Power transmission, Renewable Energy etc. Such an unprecedented initiative outlines the vision for infrastructure development across the country including “Power” in general and “Transmission” in particular, which strengthens the energy life-line of the country.

It would be a game changer providing multi-modal connectivity of infrastructures to various economic zones by leveraging technology extensively including spatial planning tools with indigenous ISRO imagery developed by BISAG-N, Gujarat, fulfilling the objective of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

As country takes strides towards strengthening its infrastructure, power plays a pivotal role in development of infrastructure and the economy. The PM GatiShakti NMP portal provides "One-click Comprehensive view” to steer and simplify the planning & implementation process by reduction of time and cost of implementation in Power transmission projects.  It would also aid in improving logistics efficiency through single digital platform & multi-modal portal.

In development of Power Transmission projects, PM GatiShakti NMP portal shall play critical role in Planning, Tendering, Implementation and Approval stages.  At planning stage, user shall identify the tentative line length of the planned transmission line and location of the substation(s). Under tendering/bidding stage, the survey agency will utilize the portal for identifying the best techno-economical route. During Implementation stage, based on actual conditions, finalization of the transmission line route and location of substation shall be done. Lastly, approval stage is envisaged for single window clearance.

PM’s call for “One Sun, One World, One Grid” has set the tone for strong and reliable transmission system which will support India’s Renewable Energy (RE) ambitions along with supplementing growth of renewables globally. Power transmission has been an enabler in the RE story and various key Power projects are enabling RE evacuation across country.  Of these projects, Ministry of Power has undertaken 9  High Impact Power projects (10 no. of transmission lines) spanning over 6 RE rich States Viz. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. The requisite details of projects have been mapped in the portal, by creating a separate layer of ISTS transmission lines incorporating basic data (like Line route, tower location, location of substation, name of owner etc.).

In line with goal of PM GatiShakti, entire “existing” Inter State Transmission System ( ISTS) lines have been mapped on the portal spanning across length and breadth of the country. Also, 90% “under construction” ISTS lines have also been integrated in the portal and remaining 10% ISTS lines are to be integrated after finalization of route survey by respective Transmission Service Providers.

PM GatiShakti NMP portal will ultimately aid in solving problems of development of infrastructures in the country by building secure, sustainable, scalable and collaborative approach towards infrastructure planning for seamless connectivity to economic zones. Now, with PM GatiShakti NMP portal and onset of more holistic & comprehensive approach towards planning for Ministries, Utilities and Infrastructure, we as a nation are well poised to take giant stride towards evolving into 5 trillion dollars economy while enabling reliable “Power to All”.

6-Jul-2022: Commerce and Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal reviews progress of PM GatiShakti

The PM GatiShakti is already beginning to fast-track a number of infrastructure projects across the country with some states beginning to use it for better implementation of social sector projects. Commerce and Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal, chaired a review meeting of the PM GatiShakti here today. The meeting deliberated the progress achieved so far and saw participation of various senior officials from M/o Railways, MoRTH, MoPSW, D/o Food & PDS, M/o Coal, M/o Steel, D/o Fertilizers, DoT, M/o Rural Development, and BISAG-N( Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics).

The meeting reviewed the status of the National Master Plan since its launch on October 13, 2021 and discussed plans for faster integration of data into the portal. With over 900 data layers updated by Central Ministries and 316 essential layers by States/UTs, the meeting took note of various Ministries/Departments using the same to share their proposed projects after having been mapped and aligned digitally.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that under the PM Gati Shakti’s transformative approach, the government is committed to resolve user issues by overcoming various departmental silos. He added that its role through the National Master Plan and the Institutional Framework is essential to lay down the stepping stones to India’s multimodal infrastructure network

The meeting also acknowledged the progress made on state-level institutional arrangements. The Secretary, Shri Anurag Jain, DPIIT informed that along with a functioning Empowered Group of Secretaries in 32 States/UTs, 29 among them have also been able to formulate their Network Planning Group and Technical Support Unit.

The Special Secretary, Amrit Lal Meena, DPIIT, also highlighted the role that the National Master Plan has been playing in inter-ministerial planning and coordination. He shared that, with portals for Central and State Ministries now fully functional, all essential data layers have been uploaded to enable infrastructure Ministries/Departments extensively utilise the National Master Plan for all pending and future projects. He highlighted the case of the Taranga hill- Ambaji-Abu Road Broad Gauge New Railway Line which had stalled its pre-alignment for nearly 6 months due to the lack of khasra data, field survey on forest and wildlife sanctuary and no visibility of intersection with mining areas. It was completed in just 7 days using the National Master Plan. Senior official representing the MoRTH also shared that the pre-alignment of 5 Greenfield Corridors were fast-tracked using the National Master Plan.

The meeting deliberated over releasing the National Master Plan in public domain. Senior officials informed that guidelines for the release are already underway. The meeting particularly emphasised the role that the National Master Plan could play in decision-making for the social sector. The Special Secretary, informed that few States/UTs have already been doing the same.

As an approach towards integrated planning and coordination, the meeting applauded the recently operationalized GatiShakti Sanchar portal by the DoT. Since its launch, the portal has been able to reduce pendency, thus leading to faster implementation of projects. Senior officials from the M/o Steel also shared the launch of a mobile app under the National Master Plan for geotagging infrastructure and resolving geolocation availability issues.

9-Jun-2022: 20th Meeting of The Network Planning Group (NPG)

The Network Planning Group (NPG) held its 20th meeting on June 8, 2022 at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. It was chaired by the Special Secretary, Logistics Division, DPIIT Sh. Amrit Lal Meena and saw active participation from member ministries/departments including MoRTH, MoCA, MoR, MoPSW, MoP, DoT and Niti Aayog. The forum saw senior officials from these ministries deliberate on various agendas on logistic capacities and PM GatiShakti.

Applauding the recently launched GatiShakti Sanchar portal of the Department of Telecommunications, it was highlighted that all 36 States and UTs have been integrated into the portal. The Department of Telecommunications will soon be convening a meeting with all NPG members to further accelerate the process of integrating the portal into the National Master Plan.

As an approach towards multimodal infrastructure, the Ministry of Railways will soon be creating 100 cargo terminals that have easier connectivity with roads and ports. The senior official from the Ministry shared that various details identification, timelines and mapping are already underway and will soon be shared across with all other member ministries/departments for in-depth coordination.

The Special Secretary also highlighted the role that the National Master Plan portal plays in integrating inter-ministerial planning and coordination. The NPG members were requested to maintain periodic engagement with the BISAG-N and regular project updates in the portal. Members were also advised to regularise planning and project mapping through the portal.

The NPG members were apprised with the latest guidelines from the Ministry of Financed which mandates the examination of logistics and connectivity project by the Network Planning Group.

Through the Network Planning Group, all 8 infrastructure Ministries/Departments are taking up integrated planning, synchronised implementation and consolidated decision.

2-Jun-2022: Ministry of Coal Undertakes Thirteen Railway Projects Under PM-Gati Shakti

The Ministry of Coal,  in view of cleaner environment in coal transportation has given momentum in rail evacuation and also initiating news efforts to gradually move away from  road movement of coal in country.  Planned construction of new broad gauge rail lines in Greenfield coal bearing areas, extending the rail links to newer loading points and  doubling and tripling the rail lines in some cases will  enhance  rail capacity considerably.

PM launched Gati Shakti- Nation Master Plan for Infrastructure development in October 2021 with the objective to bring different Ministries together and for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity Projects. It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments and  will also leverage technology extensively including spatial planning tools.

In line with the goal of PM Gati Shakti, the Ministry of Coal has undertaken 13 Railway Projects to develop multimodal connectivity and identified missing infrastructure gaps for each projects. Four Railway projects are successfully mapped in the NMP portal under High Impact projects which will be developed in the States of Jharkhand and Odisha and will facilitate movement of coal with rapid logistics and wider connectivity for all the commercial miners.

18-May-2022: Nearly 400 comprehensive GIS based maps already prepared under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that nearly 400 comprehensive GIS based maps already prepared under PM GatiShakti National Master Plan.

The Minister emphasized that the revolutionary PM GatiShakti initiative would help solve the problem of haphazard development of infrastructure in the country and will help us build a secure, sustainable, scalable and collaborative approach towards infrastructure planning.

He was delivering the keynote address at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Ministerial Session ‘Seminar on Collaborative regulations: Co-creation and sharing of infrastructure (in sync with PM GatiShakti) and international regulators’ roundtable on ‘Collaborative regulations using RegTech and Technology platforms’.

The Minister congratulated TRAI for completing 25 years in service of the nation as the country celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (completing 75 years of independence). 

Speaking of the remarkable progress made by the telecom sector in the last few years, especially with regard to bridging the digital divide, the Minister expressed confidence that Information Technology and last mile digital connectivity will have an impact on every sector and would be the foundation of India’s growth story in the years to come. He added that Digital India would form the foundation for AatmaNirbhar Bharat.

The Minister spoke of the momentous role that digital connectivity had played in combating the COVID-19 pandemic by enabling quick and easy access to health infrastructure and other support systems world over. He expressed his appreciation for the rapid pace at which education went online during the pandemic and switched over to EdTech. The Minister also highlighted that India had earned the title of being a trusted partner to the world by not letting down a single international commitment.

Referring to the giant strides that India has been taking in the field of Telecom and Digital Technologies, Shri Goyal opined that the government had infused new energy in the telecom sector with the Panchamrit of Reach, Reform, Regulate, Respond and Revolutionize in the last eight years. These principles, he said, defined the work done by the government in the last 8 years to reenergize this sector.

The Minister noted that the efforts made to successfully take connectivity to every last village in the country was a testament to the sensitivity of the government towards bridging the digital divide to ensure that no citizen remained deprived of their ability to connect with the world.

Applauding the regulators for creating and preserving a stable policy ecosystem, the Minister said that it had helped protect both telecom companies and consumers. He noted that one for the lowest number of complaints received by the Department of Consumer Affairs was in the telecom sector.

The Minister opined that the launch of Digital India and JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile) was a watershed moment in the history of the country and said that it revolutionized the way public services were delivered to common man. He added that the JAM Trinity helped take the fruits of technology to the common man, bringing down transaction costs, eliminating middle men, leakages and corruption from the system.

Terming One nation one ration card (ONORC) as one of the most revolutionary initiatives, the Minister said that the use of technology in PMGKAY had ensured that the crores of beneficiaries of the scheme could collect food grains at a time and place of their choosing. 

Underscoring that the nation was moving towards transparent and effective Governance, the Minister noted that under the leadership of PM Modi, nation has moved transparently from 2G/3G to 4G & now 5G 4. 5G will contribute $450 bn to the Indian economy in next 15 yrs and the launch of indigenous 5G testbed by PM will be milestone towards Aatmanirbharta in telecom. It will help in digitizing the economy, boosting Startup ecosystem, improving governance, ease of living  and ease of doing business in the country, he added. 

Shri Goyal opined that the two  2 tech programs of TRAI, Collaborative Regulations: Co-creation and Sharing of Infrastructure (in sync with PM GatiShakti) & 5 2. International Regulators' Roundtable on "Collaborative Regulations using RegTech and Technology Platforms had path breaking potential and have taken place at a suitable time, as government is pushing for Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

He added that the pioneering work done by TRAI would help other regulators and take the potential that smart and simple regulations have for the orderly development of this sector to the world.

Elaborating on the technology architecture of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, the Minister said that if we were to develop all the available resources in the nation as data points using technology and if the Data points could talk to each other using APIs, we can plan better and implement infrastructure projects efficiently in a time bound manner, within budget.

Expressing concern over infrastructure projects that have been languishing for decades for lack of sensible, data based integrated planning, the Minister pointed out that PM Gati shakti was a simple, elementary, logical, rational tool to address these issues. The Minister also noted that every part of government had contributed towards the realization on PM GatiShakti, making it a fine example of the whole of govt approach.

The seminar discussed inter-governmental collaborative approach on co-creation and sharing of infrastructure across multiple sectors, multilateral approach to creation and feasibility of infrastructure sharing in telecom and power sector possibilities and challenges, among other topics of relevance.

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT and Railways, Dr. P. D. Vaghela, Chairman TRAI, Officials of TRAI and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

14-Apr-2022: Shri Piyush Goyal reviews progress made under PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for holistic and integrated planning for infrastructure

Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired a review meeting on PM GatiShakti with Shri V K Tripathi, Chairman, Railway Board, Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri. Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade and senior officials from all other infrastructure Ministries/Departments.

The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) is an integrated plan depicting all the existing and proposed development initiatives of various Ministries/Departments for better synergy.

The NMP will help in achieving the objective of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ by providing visibility to various stakeholders involved in development of infrastructure. It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments. Economic Zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defense corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, agri zones etc. will also be covered under the master plan.

This will boost economic growth, attract investments and enhance the country’s global competitiveness.

During a presentation made by Special Secretary, Logistics Division, DPIIT, the ministry wise progress on the targets set under the PM GatiShakti were discussed. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has completed 1,41,190 Kms of National Highways as on 31st March 2022 out of the set target of 2,00,000 kms for 2024-25.

Similarly, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has completed laying of gas pipeline of 20,000 kms out of 34,500 for the same time period. The Ministry of Power has already surpassed its target for laying of the transmission network of 4,54,200 kms till the end of March 2022.

The Department of Telecommunication has created the OFC network of 33,00,997 kms as on 31st March 2022 against the set target of 50,00,000 kms for 2024-25.

It was noted during the meeting that institutional framework has been brought into action. Accordingly, the apex body - an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary has been constituted to approve any changes in the Master Plan for meeting any emerging requirements. An integrated Multimodal Network Planning Group (NPG) has been operationalized with representation from various connectivity infrastructure Ministries/Departments involving their heads of Network Planning Division for unified planning and integration of the proposals and assist the EGoS.

States have been on-boarded and institutional set-up has been constituted in states as well to streamline and demonstrate the concept of PM GatiShakti. Empowered Group of Secretaries has been constituted in 25 states, Network Planning Group is functional in 9 states and Technical Support Unit has been set-up in 6 states. The capacity building exercise for the officials of the Central ministries/departments and States Government has been completed.

The benefits and on-ground impact of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan portal were also illustrated. Various ministries/departments and state governments have started using this portal for integration and synchronization of implementation efforts, optimization of cost and time at the stage of planning of infrastructure projects.

To achieve its objective to provide 50 Mbps of bandwidth to the citizens under the National Broadband Mission, planning for connecting all the non-fiberized towers through the OFC is being done through the PM GatiShakti NMP. All the non-fiberized towers and existing OFC Network is mapped on the Department of Telecommunication GatiShakti Portal.

Based on the data and Planning criteria, the tool is being developed to get the length of required OFC and cost of OFC Laying.

The portal has also been used by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), Ministry of Railways for firming the alignment for the East-West, East-Coast and North-South Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) to minimize disruption, cost and time overruns in project implementation.

To meet the rising demand for air connectivity, the Ministry of Civil Aviation AAI (MoCA) has used this portal to identify the land acquisition requirements, land use analysis and road connectivity for expansion of the Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. AAI benefitted in terms of timely planning, and cost saving as use of this portal replaced the need for physical survey.

Highlighting the potential of the PM GatiShakti NMP, the Minister emphasized that improved multimodal connectivity to various economic zones will ensure seamless movement of goods and people. PM GatiShakti NMP portal will provide a bird’s eye view of infrastructure and facilitate better network planning and faster clearances.

In his concluding remarks, he expressed satisfaction on wide adoption of the NMP by central ministries/departments and states. He appreciated the positive on-ground impact of PM GatiShakti and lauded the good work done by all infrastructure ministries in an integrated manner to realize the objectives of the PM GatiShakti.

He provided future guidance on developing robust mechanisms for tracking progress of projects, futuristic scenario building based on impact generated and mitigation requirements, collecting feedback to improve the portal and problem statements of different stakeholders to develop solutions/use cases/functionalities.

24-Mar-2022: Road Projects Under Pm Gati Shakti-NMP

In October, 2021, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal for development of 'PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP)' for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various Economic Zones of the Country. The PM GatiShakti NMP will depict the economic zones and the infrastructure linkages required to support them with an objective to holistically integrate all the multimodal connectivity projects and remove missing gaps for seamless movement of people, goods & services.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has planned to augment the NH network to 2,00,000 Km by 2022-23 by connecting all State capitals in the North Eastern region with either 4 lane national highways or 2 alternate alignments of 2 lane configuration each and completing 4/6 lane NH covering length of 5,590 km along coastal areas.

The details of Economic Corridor, National Corridor & Expressways envisaged under Bharatmala Pariyojana are as follows:

A study named ‘Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Program (LEEP)’ has been conducted with an aim to enhance the economic growth of the country by making the logistics sector more efficient, seamless, and integrated. It also aims to drive down logistics costs as a share of GDP.

Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1 provides for 4 laning of Kochi-Munnar-Theni section of NH-85, which passes through Idukki, with the primary focus on optimizing the efficiency of the movement of the goods and people.

10-Mar-2022: Indian Railways' 1st Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal commissioned in Asansol Division of Eastern Railway

In pursuance to Prime Minister’s vision “Gati Shakti” and Ministry of Railways’ Policy regarding ‘Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal’ (GCT), Asansol division of Indian Railways has successfully commissioned private siding of Maithan Power Limited at Thaparnagar. This is the FIRST such GCT commissioned in Indian Railways since publication of GCT policy in Dec.’2021.

The Maithan Power Project was initiated in the year 2009 and subsequently the power generation was started in the year 2011. Till now the requirement of coal to the power project was being made through road which is expected to convert into 120 inward coal rakes per month. Also 02 to 04 outward rakes of Fly Ash is projected to be handled from the siding. This will enhance Railways’ earnings by approximately Rs. 11 crores per month. The location is in the vicinity of industrial and mining area and the future prospect of the siding is promising. Speaking on the commissioning of the GCT, Chairman and CEO, Railway Board, Shri V K Tripathi said that the Indian Railways is committed to making the vision of PM Gati Shakti a reality. “Transportation by rail is good for the economy as it is the most energy efficient and the most economical mode of transport. The commissioning of this terminal and more such terminals will have a very positive impact on the economy of the nation” he added.

28-Feb-2022: PM GatiShakti National Master Plan can help lower our logistics cost to one of the lowest in the world at 7-8% of GDP– Shri Piyush Goyal

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that with concerted efforts and the best possible use of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, it was possible to lower our logistics cost to 7-8% of GDP, one of the lowest in the world and increase India’s competitive edge in the global market.

He was addressing the concluding session of the “Webinar on PM GatiShakti: Creating Synergy for Accelerated Economic Growth”, organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) from New Delhi today. Over 850 participants drawn centre and state government agencies, leading players from the private sector, academics and industry representatives came together to discuss and chart out the strategy for enhancing India’s logistics efficiency during the webinar.

Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing the inaugural session of the Webinar, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the Webinar would lend ‘गति’ (momentum) to the government’s ‘प्रयास’ to demystify PM GatiShakti for all stakeholders and utilize the full power of it with ‘Sabka Prayas’. Referring to Prime Minister’s   holistic vision for GatiShakti, Shri Goyal said that GatiShakti envisioned a ‘nation as whole approach’ to Infrastructure planning.

Shri Goyal lamented that for decades India had been held back by lack of infrastructure development. Infrastructure that got created was built in bits and pieces and there was an utter lack of coordination between the Center, States and Local Bodies which resulted in uneven development with gaps, he added. He said that GatiShakti would help States and central bodies to plan utilities and infrastructure such as ports, electricity, water, internet connectivity, rail, road, common affluent treatment plants, packaging facilities and even skill development centers as per the needs of industrial clusters. He called upon all stakeholders to continually engage with GatiShakti and make the best possible use of its tremendous potential.

The Minister opined that fixing mistakes when it comes to infrastructure was very difficult and added that time delays often rendered the projects outdated and irrelevant. He said that the root cause of the problem was the huge difference between macro planning and micro implementation. Due to silos approach in decision-making, the budget was wasted and instead of infrastructure acting as a force multiplier, we often ended up losing value, he said.

Shri Goyal said that guided by PM’s mantra of ‘Work for Progress, Wealth for Progress, Plan for progress and Preference for progress’, GatiShakti aspired to increase synergy and coordination between Center and States at every level. PM GatiShakti envisions to accelerate the economy and the nation with 7 engines of progress viz. roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure, he added.

Shri Goyal said that GatiShakti would help in building Next Gen infrastructure to improve Ease of Living as well as Ease of Doing Business. This will kickstart the virtuous cycle of private and public investment and will have a multiplier effect, he added.

He appreciated the scientists of BISAG-N for their hard work in brining GatiShakti to life and congratulated DPIIT for playing a pivotal role in keeping the Master Plan on track. It may be noted that The National Master Plan portal, developed by BISAG-N (Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications & Geoinformatics) is a dynamic GIS platform. It is a Digital Master Planning tool with Project Management tools, dynamic dashboards, MIS reports etc. It provides a bird’s eye view of infrastructure development in India.

Observing that we must aim to increase infrastructure investment and enable supply side infra financing both by public and private sector, the Minister said that there was a need for workable financial models for projects to prepare smarter concession agreements with least scope of litigations and come up with options for long term and cost-effective agreements to encourage private sector participation in infrastructure projects.

Shri Goyal called for multi-stakeholder collaboration across academia, industry and government for data sharing and for upskilling the logistics sector. He also asked for better coordination between various agencies for faster clearances for Land, Environment, Forest etc.

Placing the Webinar in the context of the mythological story of ‘Saagar Manthan’, the Minister expressed confidence that the Webinar would ‘churn’ many new ideas which would then be translated into actions soon.

Alluding to the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, Shri Piyush Goyal said that at this critical juncture in our history, we all need to collectively think of the ways we can improve further and keep asking ourselves the question- What can I do today for the nation that may benefit generations?

Shri Goyal said that PM GatiShakti is a tool, which if used to the maximum possible extent, would make India a super power in the ‘Amrit Kaal’. PM GatiShakti will showcase our true potential and show the world how a confident Aatmanirbhar Bharat is engaging with technology to create a better future for our citizens.

Earlier, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address and five sub-groups in breakout sessions discussed various aspects related to implementation of Gati Shakti. Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry led the session on ‘Nation as a whole approach’ to introduce a new vision of integrated planning and synchronized time bound implementation. The second session on ‘Cooperative Federalism and Enhanced Capital Investment for Infrastructure’ was led by Shri Amrit Lal Meena, Special Secretary for Logistics at DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), Shri Giridhar Aramane led a separate session on ‘Enablers of Logistics Efficiency’ focusing on the national expressway master plan along with Sagarmala, Parvatmala as well as the PM GatiShakti multi-modal cargo terminals. Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was lead for the session on ‘Logistics workforce strategy- Enhancing skill and employment opportunities’. The final session was led by Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, was titled ‘ULIP-Revolutionizing Indian Logistics’.

28-Feb-2022: PM Modi addresses post-budget webinar on vision of 'GatiShakti'

With Government of India’s focus to ensure rapid infrastructural development in the North-East India and the region taking strides towards joining the National Gas Grid, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas organized the North-East Zonal Conference for PM GatiShakti (PMGS) in Guwahati today. The Conference was aimed at bringing together various stakeholders and hasten infrastructure development and adoption of environment-friendly Natural Gas in the region.

Chief Minister of Assam Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Labour & Employment Shri Rameswar Teli, Minister for Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, Transports, Skill, Employment & Entrepreneurship, Act East Policies, Welfare Minorities, Govt. of Assam Shri Chandra Mohan Patowary, Minister for FCS & CA, Industry & Commerce, Govt. of Tripura Shri Manoj Kanti Deb, Minister for Soil & Water Conservation, Govt. of Nagaland Shri. V Kashiho Sangtam, Minister for Education, Law, Legislative & Parliamentary Affairs, Land Revenue & Disaster Management, Sports & Youth Affairs Dept., Govt. of Sikkim Shri Kunga Nima Lepcha took part in the meeting. Representatives from various infrastructure Ministries of the Central Government, North-eastern States and other stakeholders also attended the Conference.

Before the start of the Conference, the dignitaries attended a webinar on the vision of GatiShakti and its convergence with Union Budget 2022, which was addressed by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister said that this year’s budget has set the pace (GatiShakti) of India’s development in 21st century. This direction of ‘Infrastructure-based development’ will lead to extraordinary increase in the strength of our economy, creating many new possibilities of employment, he said.

Underlining the lack of coordination among the stakeholders in the traditional ways of completing projects, the Prime Minister said that this was due to lack of clear information among the various concerned departments. “Due to PM Gatishakti, now everyone will be able to make their plan with complete information. This will also lead to optimum utilization of the country's resources”, he added.

The Prime Minister stressed the need of PM GatiShakti by emphasizing the scale at which the government is undertaking infrastructure development. “In the year 2013-14, the direct capital expenditure of the Government of India was about two and a half lakh crore rupees, which has increased to seven and a half lakh crore rupees in the year 2022-23”, the Prime Minister informed. “Infrastructure Planning, Implementation and Monitoring will get a new direction from PM GatiShakti. This will also bring down the time and cost overrun of the projects”, he added.

Shri Modi said “Strengthening the principle of cooperative federalism, our government has made a provision of one lakh crore rupees for the assistance of the states in this year's budget. State governments will be able to use this amount on multimodal infrastructure and other productive assets.” He mentioned National Ropeway Development Programme to improve connectivity in the inaccessible hilly areas and Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North-East (PM-DevINE) in this regard. Mentioning PLI initiative, the Prime Minister called upon the private sector to invest in the infrastructure of the country.

The Prime Minister commented that “even today, the Logistic Cost in India is considered to be 13 to 14 percent of GDP. This is more than other countries. PM Gati-Shakti has a huge role in improving infrastructure efficiency”. The Prime Minister talked about Unified Logistic Interface Platform- ULIP provided in this budget and which is being adapted by the various government departments as per their needs, leading to reduced logistics cost. “24 Digital Systems of 6 Ministries are being integrated through ULIP. This will create a National Single Window Logistics Portal which will help in reducing the logistics cost”, he added.

The Prime Minister informed about the steps like Logistics Division in every department and Empowered Group of Secretaries for logistics efficiency through better coordination. “Our Exports will also be greatly helped by PM Gati-Shakti, our MSMEs will be able to be Globally Competitive”, he added.

Later speaking in the North-East Zonal Conference, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said that PM Gati Shakti is a remarkable initiative, as it aims to drive down logistics costs in India by streamlining and integrating infrastructure projects of various Central and State Govts. He said that through this breakthrough master plan, major projects across sectors like petroleum, railways, highways, utilities etc. will share a unified vision for accelerated and efficient execution.

Shri Puri said that we will be able to bring synergies between multi-modal transportation, logistics & supply chain, urban development, ports and utilities & services to bring about a transformation in both Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business. Indian goods and services will move on an express lane and Indian industry will be able to match the export capabilities of manufacturing hubs like China, Taiwan and South Korea, he added. “PM GatiShakti will ensure multimodal connectivity. For instance, fresh fruits grown in the North East India will swiftly cater to consuming markets and Gulf.” Minister said

Shri Puri said that the petroleum sector will play a crucial role in the North East region's industrial growth. He said that oil production from NER is expected to increase by 67% from 4.11 MMT in 2020-21 to 6.85 MMT in the next 4 years. Shri Puri added that the area under exploration in the region is going to double in near future, with crude production expected to go up by 45% in 4 years, and gas production by about 90% in the same period.

Requesting all the State Government leaders to lend their support  to this transformative mission by the way of necessary project clearances and the cooperation of State agencies, Shri Puri said that in order to succeed, this dream needs to be fulfilled by teamwork between State and Central Governments in the spirit of Cooperative Federalism.

Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Prime Minister has brought about a paradigm shift in the development of the country, and PMGS will provide a lot of benefit to the people. He said that the North east is connected to the rest of the country through a chicken-neck, and hence this master plan for connectivity is unique in the nature. He said that not only this represents a grand vision of the Prime Minister, but also it has been backed by adequate budgetary resources. Stating that the Government of Assam is fully on board for the scheme, Dr Sarma informed that the state has already prepared an institutional framework for this and has also started capacity building. Assuring full cooperation in preparing the master plans, he said that the steps taken by the state will result in tangible results. The Assam Chief minister also thanked the Centre for providing funds for capital expenditure. Dr Sarma said that the State is fully cooperating with all the stakeholders to increase E&P activities in the oil and gas sector.

Shri Rameswar Teli said that connectivity through roads, rail, pipelines and waterways is an important requirement of development. He said that PM GatiShakti will bring together all the agencies involved in the supply chain. This will enable the country to grow stronger and reach the world standards. Shri Teli expressed happiness that the Conference on PM Gati Shakti is being organized in Guwahati. He said that the North east region has always been at the forefront in the area of oil and gas. The exploration, transportation and marketing of oil and gas leads to employment generation as well as skill development. He said that PM GatiShakti will provide balanced development. He said that it is immensely important that states create more awareness about PM GatiShakti. They should tap into Information Technology, which will have a greater role on the Scheme, he added.

Shri Manoj Kanti Deb said that the scheme will help in infrastructure development, all types of connectivity as well as doubling of farmers’ income. He said that Tripura is primarily an agriculture-based state, and the improved connectivity through PMGS may help in setting up of more industries there. He said that it will benefit every citizen of the country, and provide a new direction to the country.

Shri. V Kashiho Sangtam said that the PM GatiShakti will help in better exploration of mineral resources of Nagaland. It will lead to ease of doing business and open up new opportunities. Stating that the North eastern states will benefit a lot from it, he said that it will lead to timely completion of projects and incur economic benefits.

Shri Kunga Nima Lepcha said that multiplicity of agencies lead to poor planning and bad execution. Gati Shakti will bring about a positive change, and will help in development of the country, particularly hilly and small states. He said that Sikkim will make full efforts to benefit from the scheme.

PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. Each Ministry and Government department will be able to access information about the ongoing and upcoming projects for a balanced and synchronized approach.

Hon’ble Prime Minister had launched the PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan (NMP) for multi-modal connectivity at a function in New Delhi on 13 October 2021. Subsequently, on 21 October 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved PM GatiShakti National Master Plan including institutional framework for rolling out, implementation, monitoring and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity.

28-Feb-2022: Enabling Logistics Efficiency” through Implementation of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan

The Prime Minister during his special address stressed on the importance of integrated planning and breaking of siloes across various stakeholders including Central Government Ministries, State Governments and Private sector to optimize resource deployment. PM GatiShakti National Master Plan is the first step in the direction for enabling integrated infrastructure planning, efficient coordination and monitoring and will reduce time and cost overruns in project execution, he pointed out.

The Prime Minister highlighted that the capital expenditure by the central government has increased from Rs. 2.5 Lakh Crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 7.5 Lakh Crore in 2022-23. The government has increased investment across infrastructure sectors such as National Highways, Railways, Civil Aviation, Waterways, Optical Fiber, Gas Grid and Renewable Energy. The Prime Minister also emphasized that the State governments have been given Rs. 1 Lakh Crore in 2022-23 for infrastructure development under PM GatiShakti.

The Prime Minister underlined that the logistics cost in the country needs to be reduced from the current levels of 13 - 14% of GDP. This will require coordinated action between the government and private sector. He assured the stakeholders that their suggestions will be given due consideration in policy making by the government.

The breakout session on the theme of “Enablers for Logistics Efficiency” was organized and moderated by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways. The breakout session saw participation and engagement from 20+ panelists from the industry and infrastructure agencies, including eminent personalities such as Shri Harikishan Koppula Reddy (CEO, Cube Highways), Shri Vikram Jaisinghani (CEO, Adani Logistics), Shri Benjamin Fauchier Delavigne (Asia Sales Manager, POMA), and Shri Sachin Bhanushali (CEO, GRFL).

The breakout session commenced with an address by Chairperson NHAI, Smt. Alka Upadhyaya. Smt. Upadhyaya sought the inputs of stakeholders on 4 sub-themes of Master Plan for Expressways, PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals & Multimodal Logistics Parks, Parvatmala: Improving Last-mile Hill Connectivity, and Sagarmala: Port Integration with Conventional Transport System.

On Master Plan for Expressways, Shri Reddy suggested that high-speed connectivity should be ensured to all major economic centers. Expressway network should complement existing National & State Highway network, he added. Panelists suggested that a workable financing model needs to be developed for PPP concessionaires and credit availability should be improved through early operationalization of Development Finance Institution (DFI). Time-bound Forest, Wildlife, Mineral and other approvals at central and state level were emphasized.

On PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals & Multimodal Logistics Parks, automatic provision of custom bonding facilities and other clearances at MMLPs and Cargo Terminals identified in PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, was suggested. Shri Jaisinghani stressed on inter-Ministerial coordination to ensure truly multi-modal connectivity (road, rail) and time-bound clearances from central Ministries (e.g., environment) and state governments. Proposal was also made to improve flexibility in policy for enabling asset recycling and longer concession period to attract private investors in the sector.

On Parvatmala, Shri Delavigne highlighted the need to have flexibility in selection of technologies in view of safety requirements and use of alternate PPP modes (Hybrid Annuity Mode) for attracting private investment. Panelists suggested that regulatory framework needs to be liberalized to promote and develop sector including tariff policies and air rights norms in urban areas. Clearance regime needs to be liberalized through exemption of Environment clearance and time-bound Forest clearance, panelists added. Capacity building through setting up of Centre of Excellence through IITs and NSDC skill courses was suggested to grow the ropeway ecosystem in line with Prime Minister’s vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Make in India”.

On Sagarmala, Shri Bhanushali suggested use of innovative modes of financing and cost recovery for port connectivity projects. Panelists stressed on provision of multi-modal connectivity to all ports supported by time-bound land acquisition and clearances from State Governments. Central ministries, State governments and port operators should effectively utilize BISAG-N portal for coordination, they added.

In his concluding remarks, Secretary MoRT&H Shri Giridhar Aramane thanked the stakeholders and underlined that the suggestions shall be duly reviewed by the respective ministries and an action plan will be drawn up for its implementation in a time-bound manner.

15-Feb-2022: PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan(NMP)

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has made significant progress under the “PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP)”, aimed at improving multi-modal connectivity and last mile connectivity across the country.

“Gati Shakti” is a digital platform, which will bring 16 Ministries, including railways and roadways together, for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects for industrial cluster and economic nodes.

As part of the PM Gati Shakti NMP, the Ministry plans to develop 22 Greenfield Expressways, 23 other key infrastructure projects & other highway projects and 35 Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), as part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana and other schemes of the Ministry. Some of the major Expressways and Corridors, which are under construction stage are Delhi – Mumbai Expressway, Ahmedabad -- Dholera Expressway, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, Ambala-Kotputli Expressway, Amritsar-Bhatinda-Jamnagar Expressway, Raipur-VZG Expressway, Hyderabad-VZG Expressway,  UER II, Chennai-Salem Expressway and Chittor-Thatchur Expressway.

Some of the major key infrastructure projects, which are under construction stage include construction of Zojila Tunnel (Ladakh), roads to connect Krishnapatnam Port (Andhra Pradesh), a major bridge over Middle Strait Creek (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), 2-laning of Lalpul-Manmao changing road (Arunachal Pradesh), 6-lane bridge over Ganga bridge at Phaphamau (UP) and 4-lane bridge over Brahmaputra between Dhubri-Phulbari (Meghalaya).

The Ministry, through its implementing agencies NHAI/NHLML and NHIDCL, has kept pace with the work of implementing the 35 MMLP projects identified for development under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I. The MMLP at Jogighopa, Assam, which is being developed in partnership with the Assam Government as equity stakeholder in the project SPV, is already under construction. Besides, bids for three MMLPs have been invited: They are 1. MMLP Nagpur: It is being developed in partnership with JNPT at Sindi Village 2. MMLP Chennai: It is being developed at Mappedu in partnership with Chennai Port Trust and Tamil Nadu Government through its Industrial body SIPCOT 3. MMLP Bengaluru: It is being developed in partnership with Government of Karnataka, through its infrastructure body KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board).

In order to make the people aware of the progress made with regard to projects under “PM Gati Shakti”, the Ministry ran a special campaign on the Social Media in the last two weeks. Under this campaign, the Ministry apprised the people of the current status of the projects like Greenfield Expressways and Corridors, Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), Ropeways and other key infrastructure projects on different Social Media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Koo.

The ambitious programme, launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 13 October 2021, is intended to break departmental silos and bring in more holistic and integrated planning and execution of projects, which will help in bringing down the logistics cost and translate into enormous economic gains to consumers, farmers, youth as well as those engaged in businesses. Subsequently on 21 October, 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal for development of ‘PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) for providing Multi-Modal Connectivity to various economic zones. The Ministry is taking steps to further intensify the efforts to realize the vision of the Prime Minister of providing seamless connectivity across India so that it becomes $5 trillion economy by 2025.

10-Feb-2022: PM Gati Shakti

The Ministry keeps on receiving proposals from various State Governments / Union Territories (UTs) etc. for declaration / up gradation of State roads as new National Highways (NHs). The Ministry considers declaration of some State roads as NHs from time to time based on the requirement of connectivity, inter-se priority and availability of funds. The total length of NHs has been enhanced from about 91,287 km in 2014 to about 1,41,190 km at present.

Out of 860 identified nodes of economic importance across country under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), it is targeted to connect 783 nodes under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I (BMP-I). The government is committed to take up projects for establishing the connectivity over identified economic nodes including augmentation of NH Network in synergy with PM Gati Shakti NMP.

Two locations in Rajasthan and four locations in Maharashtra have been identified for development of MMLPs. There are as under :

These are at feasibility assessment and fund requirement/cost estimation state.

Ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways. The Government of India had approved BMP-I in October, 2017 with an aggregate length of about 34,800 km (including 10,000 km residual National Highways Development Programme stretches) at an estimated outlay of Rs. 5,35,000/- crore. PM Gati Shakti NMP will create a system for inter-connected and multimodal transportation networks leading to integrated economic and infrastructure development, improved trade competitiveness, promotion of exports and employment generation.

One identified node in Latur district and two identified nodes in Solapur (Madha) district are targeted for connectivity under BMP-I.

Out of nine identified nodes of economic importance in Chhattisgarh under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), seven nodes are targeted for connectivity under BMP-I.

Projects comprising length of 19,363 km have been awarded in the entire Country under BMP-I so far out of which 6,997 km length has been completed.

Status of development of projects under BMP-I in the State of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is as under:

8-Feb-2022: Progress related to PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan

In order to plan coordinated execution of infrastructure projects, project identification for PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan is ongoing based on inputs from Infrastructure and Economic Ministries. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister stated that the progress so far under PM Gati Sakti Master Plan is as under:-

1. Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications & Geo-informatics in coordination with DPIIT is integrating data layers of Central Ministries/Department on National Master Plan (NMP) portal. State related layers to the extent information shared have been integrated in coordination with States.
2. Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU) have been constituted and operationalized.
3. Training and capacity building for 17 Ministries/Departments on PM Gati Shakti NMP has been completed and five zonal conferences have been organised.

Giving more details, the Minister stated that these projects, to the extent information provided, have been updated on PM Gati Shakti NMP for synchronized planning and implementation. Various Departments & Ministries have been synchronised by creation of two bodies namely EGoS and NPG. 18 Ministries/Departments have been synchronized through EGoS. After 1st meeting of EGoS, 4 Ministries/Departments namely NITI Aayog, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Department of Commerce are also co-opted as a part of EGoS, the Minister stated.

Additionally, the Minister stated, the Network  Planning Group (NPG) consists of the Ministry of Railways; Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways; Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Ministry of Civil Aviation; Ministry of Power; Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Department of Telecommunication.

Giving more details, the Minister further stated that the Ministries/Departments represented through EGoS are: -

1. Ministry of Railways
2. Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways
3. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
4. Ministry of Civil Aviation
5. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
6. Ministry of Power
7. Department of Telecommunications
8. Ministry of Coal
9. Ministry of Mines
10. Department of Chemicals & Petro-Chemicals
11. Department of Fertilizers
12. Ministry of Steel
13. Department of Expenditure
14. Department of Food and Public Distribution
15. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
16. Ministry of Tourism
17. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
18. Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
19. Department of Commerce
20. NITI Aayog
21. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; and
22. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

3-Dec-2021: PM GatiShakti mission to reduce logistics cost for coal evacuation

A meeting was organized under the chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog to review and discuss the mission of Coal India Limited to produce 1 billion tonnes of coal by 2025-26. Coal remains the primary domestic fuel for India as well as the single largest commodity transported across the country; thus the mining, supply and consumption of coal is central to the growth of Indian economy.

With the thrust of Ministry of Commerce and Industry on the development of evacuation infrastructure and the work being undertaken by Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Ports Shipping and Waterways in that direction, the production capacity of coal is ahead of its domestic demand. In lines with PM GatiShakti, the development of integrated infrastructure with coordinated efforts by all infrastructure ministries lies at the heart of further augmentation of coal production and evacuation capacity through multi-modal connectivity.

As discussed in the meeting, rail remains the dominant evacuation mode for coal with an aim to expand its modal share from 64% to 75% by FY 2030. To cater to the increased coal dispatch in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, 14 railway infrastructure projects are under implementation in lines with GatiShakti principles. The railway line capacity is adequately addressed for coal transportation up to FY 2026. In order to promote coal production by private companies, railways have also taken steps such as reduction in conversion fee from private siding to private freight terminal from Rs 1 Cr to Rs 10 Lac.

Ministry of Railways has also developed Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) to monitor movement of freight trains which also calculates freight and other charges.  The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) also offers Freight Business Data Integration (FBDI) for FOIS that can be used by the customers for integration with their internal MIS networks.

A similar facility called Port Community System (PCS) has been developed by and Ministry of Ports Shipping and Waterways to provide a platform for secure exchange of information between government agencies, terminal operators and the traders. The digitalization across infrastructure ministries shall contribute towards augmentation of coal evacuation capacity of the country.

Further, with the advent of PM GatiShakti NMP, the status and type of roads (national highways/state highways/ rural roads/PMGSY roads) depicting the first and last mile connectivity of coal mines shall also be accessible to the Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways to take necessary steps of integration and capacity enhancement. The Plan will holistically look at the interventions required to be taken for reduction of logistics cost for coal evacuation and thus lead to efficiency gains in coal sector.

2-Dec-2021: PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan

In October, 2021, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal for development of 'PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP)' for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various Economic Zones. The PM Gati Shakti NMP will depict the economic zones and the infrastructure linkages required to support them with an objective to holistically integrate all the multimodal connectivity projects and remove missing gaps for seamless movement of people, goods & services.

There is no financial implication for multimodal connectivity infrastructure to the economic zones under the PM Gati Shakti NMP as the concerned line Ministries/Departments will seek funding of their respective infrastructure projects serving the economic zones as per procedures laid under their respective schemes/programmes.

PM Gati Shakti NMP will bring in holistic planning and development across the country. It will provide complete visibility of multimodal infrastructure connectivity to the economic zones and will thus help in supplementing the various initiatives being taken to increase the share of manufacturing in the country, attract investment in manufacturing and service industry sectors, which will have a catalytic effect on upgradation and development of skills of the workforce and generation of employment opportunities.

The PM Gati Shakti NMP has been prepared in the Geographic Information System(GIS) based platform developed by BISAG-N to provide bird's eye view of the infrastructure development across the country encompassing the layers of Administrative boundaries, economic zones, infrastructure & utilities, etc. This portal is a GIS based ERP system to support the stakeholders in planning, reviewing and monitoring of the Plan.

The Geographic Information System (GIS) based platform of the PM Gati Shakti NMP will ensure smarter decision making through the power of spatial analysis made available to the Network Planners. The portal will provide analytical tools for Planning, Permissions and Project Management Information Systems which will be available for individual organisations at Centre and State level. This will not only provide visual depiction of the Master Plan but will also integrate, through APIs, the physical progress on real-time with existing database of these Ministries.

In recent years several infrastructure projects including Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Jal Marg Vikas and UdeDesh Ka AamNaagrik (UDAN); regulatory, IT and process reforms (such as introduction of GST, electronic toll collection system (FASTAG) for reducing time loss at toll plaza; introduction of paperless EXIM trade process through E-Sanchit etc. have been introduced to improve logistics and efficiency of logistics management in the country.

To integrate and to build upon the initiatives already taken/planned, 'PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP)' has been launched for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure up to the last mile to various Economic Zones which will be the fulcrum of economic development.

1-Nov-2021: GoI constitutes 20-member Empowered Group of Secretaries to monitor development and implementation of the PM Gati Shakti NMP

Government of India has constituted a 20-member Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), which will be a monitoring mechanism for the development and implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP). The Cabinet Secretary will be its Chairperson. Members include Chairman, Railway Board; Secretaries of Ministry/Department of Road, Transport & Highways; Ports, Shipping & Waterways; Civil Aviation; Petroleum & Natural Gas; Power; Telecommunications; Coal; Mines; Chemicals & Petro-Chemicals; Fertilizers; Steel; Expenditure; DPIIT; Food and Public Distribution; Agriculture & Farmers Welfare; Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; and Tourism. Head of Logistics Division will be the Member, Convenor. Besides, the EGoS can co-opt any other Secretary or Secretaries as per requirement.

The Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) shall have the following terms of reference:

1. Review and monitor implementation of the Plan to ascertain the logistics efficiency accruing thereof;
2. Adopt framework and norms for undertaking any amendments in the Plan;
3. Coordinate for any changes in the projects already included in the Plan, within the prescribed framework and norms;
4. To set out a procedure and a definitive timeframe for synchronisation of various activities for construction of roads, rail, etc. along with all utility services in an area-based approach for development of infrastructure on pilot basis;
5. Align various initiatives on development of a common integrated portal which serves the needs of all stakeholders;
6. Issue appropriate directions for achieving the objectives and for compliance to guiding principles of the PM GatiShakti NMP and in addressing demand side requirements of concerned Ministries.
7. The EGoS will also look at the interventions required to meet the demand side, in efficiently transporting bulk goods based on the requirements of various Ministries like Steel, Coal, Fertilizer etc.

The Logistics Division will act as Secretariat to the Empowered Group of Secretaries for its Terms of Reference (ToRs).

21-Oct-2021: Cabinet approval sets the implementation of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) in motion

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan including institutional framework for rolling out, implementation, monitoring and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity.

Hon’ble Prime Minister launched PM Gati Shakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity on 13th October, 2021. Implementation framework includes Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS), Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU) with required technical competencies.

EGOS will be headed by Cabinet Secretary and will consist of Secretaries of 18 Ministries as members and Head of Logistics Division as Member Convenor. The EGOS has been mandated to review and monitor implementation of the PM Gati Shakti NMP to ensure logistics efficiency. It is empowered to prescribe framework and norms for undertaking any subsequent amendments to the NMP.EGOS shall also set out the procedure and definitive framework for synchronization of various activities, and  ensure that various initiatives of infrastructure development are part of the common integrated digital platform. EGOS will also look at the interventions required to meet the demand side, in efficiently transporting bulk goods on the requirement of various Ministries like Steel, Coal, Fertilizer, etc.

CCEA has also approved 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.

Further, in view of the complexities involved in overall integration of networks, enhancing optimization to avoid duplication of works for holistic development of any region as well as reducing logistics costs through micro-plan detailing, the Technical Support Unit (TSU) is approved for providing the required competencies. The structure of TSU has also been approved. TSU shall have domain experts from various infrastructure sectors as Aviation, Maritime, Public Transport, Rail, Roads & Highways, Ports, etc. and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as Urban & Transport Planning, Structures (Roads, Bridges & Buildings), Power, Pipeline, GIS, ICT, Finance/Market PPP, logistics, Data Analytics, etc.

The PM Gati Shakti NMP is intended to break Departmental Silos and bring in more holistic and integrated planning and execution of projects with a view to address the issues of Multi Modal connectivity and last mile connectivity. This will help in bringing down the logistics cost. This will translate into enormous economic gains to consumers, farmers, youth as well as those engaged in businesses.

With this approval, the roll out of PM Gati Shakti will get further momentum which will result in holistic and integrated planning framework for infrastructure development in the country.

With this approval, PM Gati Shakti shall bring in various stakeholders together and help integrate different modes of transportation. PM Gati shakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity will ensure holistic governance at the Centre of which are people of India, industries of India, manufacturers of India and farmers of India.

13-Oct-2021: Prime Minister launches PM Gati Shakti

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity here today. He also inaugurated the New Exhibition Complex at Pragati Maidan. Union Ministers, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Shri Piyush Goyal, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia and Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shri R K Singh, Chiefs Minister, Lieutenant Governors, State Ministers eminent industrialists were present on the occasion. From Industry, Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman Aditya Birla Group; Ms. Malika Srinivasan, CMD Tractors and Farm Equipments; Shri TV Narendran, CEO, MD, Tata Steel and President CII and Shri Deepak Garg, Co-founder Rivigo expressed their views on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister noted the auspicious day of Ashtami, the day of worshiping Shakti and said that on this auspicious occasion, speed of nation’s progress is also getting new Shakti. He said that with the resolve of AatmaNirbhar Bharat, the foundation of India for the next 25 years is being laid today. PM Gati Shakti National Master plan will take the confidence of India to the pledge of Aatmanirbharta. “This Masterplan will give impetus (Gati Shakti)  to 21st century India,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister stressed that the people of India, Indian industry, Indian business, Indian manufacturers, Indian farmers are at the center of this great campaign of Gati Shakti. It will give new energy to the present and future generations of India to build the India of the 21st century and will remove the obstacles in their path.

The Prime Minister said that over the years, the signage ‘work in progress’ became the symbol of lack of trust, He said progress requires speed, eagerness and collective efforts. Today’s, 21st century India, he said,  is leaving behind old systems and practices.

“ Today’s mantra is -

‘Work For Progress’

Wealth for Progress.

Plan for progress.

Preference for progress.

We have not only developed a work culture of completing the projects within the stipulated time frame but efforts are now being made to complete the projects ahead of time”, he added.

The Prime Minister lamented the fact that the subject of infrastructure in our country has not been a priority for most political parties. This is not even visible in their manifesto. Now the situation has come that some political parties have started criticizing the construction of necessary infrastructure for the country, the Prime Minister said. This despite the fact that it is globally accepted that the creation of quality infrastructure for Sustainable Development is a proven way, which gives rise to many economic activities and creates employment on a large scale, the Prime Minister pointed out.

The Prime Minister said that due to the wide gap between macro planning and micro implementation problems of lack of coordination, lack of advance information, thinking and working in silos are leading to hampered construction and wastage of budget.  Shakti gets divided instead of getting multiplied or enhanced, he said. PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan will address this as working on the basis of the master plan will lead to optimum utilisation of resources.

He recalled 2014 when he took over as Prime Minister when he reviewed hundreds of stuck projects and put all projects on a single platform and tried to remove hurdles. He expressed satisfaction that now the focus is on avoiding delays due to lack of coordination.  The Prime Minister said now with the whole of government approach, the collective power of the government is being channeled into fulfilling the schemes. Because of this, many unfinished projects are being completed for decades now, he said. The Prime Minister remarked that the PM Gati Shakti Master Plan not only brings together the government process and its various stakeholders but also helps to integrate different modes of transportation. “This is an extension of holistic governance”, he said.

The Prime Minister elaborated upon the steps taken to increase the speed of infrastructure development in India. He said that the first interstate natural gas pipeline in India was commissioned in 1987. After this, till 2014, i.e. in 27 years, a 15,000 km long natural gas pipeline was built. Today, work is going on for a more than 16,000 km long gas pipeline across the country. He added that this work is targeted to be completed in the next 5-6 years.

The Prime Minister said in the 5 years before 2014, only 1900 km of railway lines underwent doubling. In the last 7 years, more than 9 thousand kilometres of railway lines have been doubled. In the 5 years before 2014, only 3000 km of railways were electrified. In the last 7 years, more than 24000 kilometres of railway tracks have been electrified, Shri Modi informed. The Prime Minister said before 2014, the metro rail was running on only about 250 km of track. Today the metro has been expanded up to 700 km and work is going on in the 1000 km new metro route. In the five years before 2014, only 60 panchayats could be connected with optical fibre. In the last 7 years, we have connected more than 1.5 lakh gram panchayats with optical fibre.

The Prime Minister said in order to increase the income of the farmers and fishermen of the country, the infrastructure related to processing is also being expanded rapidly. In 2014, there were only 2 Mega Food Parks in the country. Today 19 Mega Food Parks are functioning in the country. Now the target is to take their number to more than 40. There were just 5 waterways in 2014, today India has 13 functional waterways. Turnaround time of the vessels at the ports has come down to 27 hours from 41 hours in 2014. He said that the country has realised the pledge of One Nation One Grid. Today India has 4.25 lakh circuit kilometre power transmission lines compared to 3 lakh circuit kilometers in 2014.

The Prime Minister expressed the hope that with the development of quality infrastructure, India can realize the dream of becoming the business capital of India. He said our goals are extraordinary and will require extraordinary efforts. In realizing these goals, PM Gati Shakti will be the most helpful factor. Just as JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile) trinity revolutionized the access of government facilities to the people, PM Gati Shakti will do the same for the field of Infrastructure,  he added.