New Delhi: While underlining the lack of coordination that caused delays in the implementation of infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that with GatiShakti, "Infrastructure Planning, Implementation and Monitoring" will get a new direction. The PM said that due to a lack of clear information among the various concerned departments, projects were getting delayed. "Due to PM GatiShakti, now everyone will be able to make their plan with complete information. This will also lead to optimum utilisation of the country's resources," he added.
Modi was addressing a webinar on Monday on the vision of GatiShakti and its convergence with Union Budget 2022. This is the sixth webinar in the series of post-Budget webinars addressed by the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister said that this year's budget has set the pace (GatiShakti) of India's development in the 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.
Modi stressed on the need for PM GatiShakti National Master Plan by emphasising on the scale at which the government is undertaking infrastructure development. "In the year 2013-14, the direct capital expenditure of the government 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 said. "Infrastructure Planning, Implementation and Monitoring will get a new direction from PM Gati-Shakti. This will also bring down the time and cost overrun of the projects," he added.
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 informed that in the PM Gati-Shakti National Master Plan, more than 400 data layers are available now, which includes information not just about the existing and proposed infrastructure but also information about the forest land and available industrial estate. He suggested that the private sector should use it more and more for their planning and added that all important information regarding the National Master Plan is now available on a single platform. "Due to which it will be possible to get project alignment and various types of clearances at the DPR stage itself. This will also be helpful in reducing your Compliance Burden," he said. The Prime Minister also asked the state government's to make PM Gati-Shakti National Master Plan base for their projects and Economic Zones.
The Prime Minister said, "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." He 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 six 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 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.
The Prime Minister said that GatiShakti will ensure true public-private partnership in infrastructure creation from infrastructure planning to development and utilisation stage. "In this webinar, there should also be a brainstorming on how the private sector can achieve better outcomes in collaboration with the government system," Modi said.
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