Gati Shakti is the third pillar of our Amrit Kaal growth strategy

Source: The post is based on the article “Gati Shakti is the third pillar of our Amrit Kaal growth strategy” published in Mint on 15^th March 2023.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Infrastructure

Relevance: measures required to boost infrastructure

News: India has taken several steps to improve its infrastructure and boost domestic manufacturing. However, there is also a need to focus on the third pillar.

What is the third pillar of domestic manufacturing?

The first two pillars of domestic manufacturing (Atmanirbhar Bharat and green growth) rest on an important third pillar – ease of movement.

Ease of movement focuses on creating such infrastructure that will bring down the cost of logistics while also increasing transport efficiency in India.

A reduction in the cost of logistics will make India more competitive internationally. Therefore, along with other measures taken by the government, there is also a need to focus on ease of movement.

What are other measures taken by the government to improve infrastructure?

Increase in Capex: The government has increased its capex from ₹6.03 trillion in 2021-22 to ₹7.3 trillion in 2022-23.

PM Gati Shakti Initiative: The initiative has made India the first country to digitize and make visible whole processes across all ministries.

Budget 2023-24: Budget has focused on 100 crucial infrastructure projects with ₹75,000 crore of total investments.

Multimodal connectivity, digital connectivity and green solutions can be implemented in these projects. This will not only help in reducing the cost of doing business but will also reduce carbon emission in the country.

Further, the government has also committed its largest ever capex outlay of ₹10 trillion in the Budget. This has the potential to attract private investments and reduce the carbon footprint.

FastTag: The implementation of FastTag for road traffic has brought a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Funding to States: Budget 2023-24 provides for concessional funding to states. This means loans will be provided to states on easy terms to implement crucial projects and achieve their objectives.

This support will ensure that development is spread across various regions of India. This will ultimately create domestic demand along while positioning India as a global manufacturing hub.

What more can be done to improve infrastructure?

First, there is a need for a sustained dialogue with users and private players so that bottlenecks are removed. This can be made more efficient by ensuring data integration through the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP).

Second, a periodic evaluation of the infrastructure along with implementing digital solutions would lead to optimal utilization of the infrastructure. This would also help the government to reduce its total capex needs.

Third, measures such as real-time tracking and information on available capacity will help in the improvement of end-to-end logistics management.

Fourth, there is also a need for integration and coordination among Indian logistical service suppliers and the signing up of small service providers. These will enhance the efficiency of the logistics services.

Fifth, outsourcing to third- and fourth-party service providers in India will make PM Gati Shakti more relevant and climate-friendly.