'PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to enhance competitiveness, promote manufacturing'

Launch of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for the multi-model connectivity will help improve global competitiveness, promote manufacturing and modernise infrastructure in the country, according to experts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a Rs 100-lakh-crore PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity in the country.

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PM Gati Shakti targets to cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity and reduce the turnaround time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a function to launch the plan.

International Road Federation (IRF) President Emeritus K K Kapila said that IRF has welcomed the launch of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity, as it was the need of the day in the country and will help in improving and fast-tracking of the world-class infrastructure for the country.

He further said coordination between various ministries was also much needed.

Vishnu Sudarsan, partner at J Sagar Associates (JSA), said the launch of Gati Shakti will be a significant step towards the development of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat given that it will bring about significant improvements and enhancements in the crucial supply chain and logistics segments.

Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) Additional Director-General Vijay Kumar Gauba said Gati Shakti is the culmination of the vision of a new India.

He added that the seamless connectivity between rail, road, ports and civil aviation, along with the integration of states, local bodies, corporates, through a geospatial digital platform, will thrust manufacturing and exports besides job creation.

Texmaco Rail and Engineering Ltd's Deputy Managing Director Ashish Gupta said it is a big step towards the smooth and seamless roll-out of infrastructure projects in the country across different sectors.

"The institutional approach in the shape of one central portal will help in cutting down costs, give a big fillip to supply chains, and provide a more integrated approach for the movement of people and goods," he said.

Arindam Guha, partner and leader (government and public services) at Deloitte India, said Gati Shakti represents yet another initiative to facilitate the prioritisation of infrastructure investments for accelerating GDP growth.

He added that it is expected to have a significant downward impact on overall logistics cost. "With many of the infrastructure projects in sectors like urban development, health and education falling under the jurisdiction of the state governments, it remains to be seen how the Government of India incentivises the states to join this initiative," he said.

Sharing similar views, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said that this will improve India's production capacity and global competitiveness with regard to not only manufacturing but also exports from India.

"For a long time, our infrastructure sector was witnessing inter-ministerial delays, multiple layers of stakeholders, and the culture of working in silos," he added.

GIS solutions provider Esri India MD Agendra Kumar said the Gati Shakti platform will provide geospatial data layers and satellite imagery to support government projects in the most critical areas of rural and urban infrastructure, utilities and logistics.

Tata Projects Chief Strategy Officer Himanshu Chaturvedi said Gati Shakti is a significant productivity-boosting initiative for the infrastructure sector.