AIR Spotlight - PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in the IAS exam preparation. In this article, the discussion is on the PM Gati Shakti programme.

Participants:

• Sharad Kohli, Economic Analyst
• Sonu Sood, AIR Correspondent

Context:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan that is focused on providing Gati Shakti to 21st century India with multi-modal connectivity and next-generation infrastructure. This article will analyze the plan and its implications.

Background:

• Infrastructure has often been the backbone on which countries have transformed themselves. 
• In economics parlance, multiplier effects accrue to the economy through infrastructure spending. 
  • This means that not only does the project contribute immediately through increased demand for labour, construction materials, but also through the second-order effects improved connectivity brings.
• The Prime Minister during his Independence Day speech of 2021 had emphasized that the National Master Plan, Gati Shakti would help realize the dreams of crores of our citizens.

Gati Shakti National Master Plan:

Introduction:

• PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan is a digital platform that will bring 16 ministries and departments together for multi-modal connectivity to economic zones.

Features:

There are certain features of this plan which are enumerated below:

• Integrated Planning: 

• • GatiShakti will target integrated planning and coordinated implementation of all infrastructure connectivity projects.

• Holistic Approach: 

• • GatiShakti will be a National Infrastructure Master Plan for our country which will lay the foundation of holistic infrastructure.
• Removes Coordination Issue: 
  • Individual ministries and departments often work in silos and there is a lack of coordination in the planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. 
  • PM GatiShakti will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, holistically by ensuring coordination.

• Incorporation of various projects:

• • GatiShakti will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Union ministries and state governments: Bharatmala, Sagarmala, UDAN, inland waterways, dry/land ports, etc.
  • Economic Zones such as textile, pharmaceutical, and fishing clusters, electronic parks, defense and industrial corridors, and agriculture zones will be covered to improve connectivity.

• Will improve productivity:

• • GatiShakti aims to increase the productivity of industry, enhance their competitiveness, support local manufacturers, and also help in developing new possibilities for new economic zones. 

• Cost-efficient:

• • The plan will also ensure quick completion of works with cost-efficiency. 
  • The idea is to get all relevant stakeholders aligned for creating the right size infrastructure at a suitable location expeditiously.

• Employment generation:

• • The plan envisages the creation of multiple employment opportunities.

• Will improve supply chains:

• • It aims to improve the global competitiveness of local products by cutting down the logistics costs and improving the supply chains.
  • It will also improve the exports.

• Five Trillion Economy:

• • A well-developed infrastructure is considered one of the healthy signs of a developed country.
  • To move from the status of a developing economy to a developed economy, India needs to strengthen its infrastructure. 
  • To reach the goal of becoming a 5 trillion economy, this project will help in developing world-class infrastructure for India.

• Attract FDI:

• • There are three types of infrastructure projects, the first is projects of the government, the second is the public-private partnership projects and the third one is that in which foreign or international players are also involved.
  • In simple terms, we can say that the third kind of project mentioned above involves Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). 
  • The Gati Shakti Master Plan will remove all the obstacles involved in the completion of a project and will improve the ease of doing business.
  • This will increase the confidence of foreign investors and will attract more FDI to India.

• Growth for all sectors:

• • This plan is focused to include all the sectors because all sectors are responsible for the overall growth of the country.
  • This plan adopts a 360-degree approach that aims to develop all ends of the society because each segment of the economy is interlinked with the others.

Way Forward:

• The government has launched the National Infrastructure Pipeline project in 2019 and now this Gati Shakti National Master Plan was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. 
• It indicates that the government is dedicated to developing the infrastructure of the country because infrastructure is the key factor that plays an important role in the development of an economy.
• This Master Plan will reduce the cost involved in the projects, will preserve the precious resources and monetary resources of the country, and will develop the infrastructure in time.
• This plan will knit the country into a single unit and will provide the objective of maximum governance.

Read more Gist of AIR Spotlight here.

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