PM Gati Shakti Plan Can Help In Reducing India's Logistics Cost To One Of The Lowest In World At 7-8 Per Cent Of GDP: Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday (28 February) said that with concerted efforts and the best possible use of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, it was possible to lower India's logistics cost to 7-8 per cent of GDP, one of the lowest in the world, and increase country’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”, organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in New Delhi on Monday.

Goyal said that the webinar would lend momentum to the government’s effort to demystify PM Gati Shakti for all stakeholders and utilise the full power of it with ‘Sabka Prayas’ (combined efforts).

Referring to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s holistic vision for GatiShakti, Goyal said that GatiShakti envisioned a ‘nation as whole approach’ to Infrastructure planning, according to a Commerce Ministry statement.

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mistakes when it comes to infrastructure was very difficult and added that time delays often rendered the projects outdated and irrelevant.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.

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 Centre 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.

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 bringing 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.

The minister further 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.

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.

The minister said that PM GatiShakti is a tool, which if used to the maximum possible extent, would make India a super power.

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, he said.