What PM Gati Shakti plan means for the nation

Synopsis: The current state of infrastructure and how PM-Gati shakti will help in it.

Introduction

This fractionated style of policy-making and execution held back the economic development of India. The Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti plan is a step in changing the status of the progress of the nation by national Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity.

What is the current state of infrastructure and how Gati-shakti would address it?

Logistics– The cost of Indian logistics remains high at 13-14% of GDP compared to developed nations where they are 8-10 per cent. The plan will help India to cut down its logistics cost.

Freight transport– India’s modal mix is heavily tilted towards roads, with 60-65% of transport happening via road compared to 25-30% in developed countries, prompting higher costs.

PM Gati Shakti Master plan, we will increase India’s highway network to 2 lakh km and provision utility corridors for laying adjoining power and optical fibre cables, which will be a life-saver in times of natural disasters.

Rail freight business depends excessively on coal.

Domestic waterways face numerous challenges due to high first- and last-mile costs, unavailability of return load in most cases, high voyage costs for specialised vessels and high repositioning costs of domestic containers, among others.

The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan will herald a new era of infrastructure development and multi-modal logistics.

Master plan will further augment urban infrastructure development by streamlining planning and approvals, and integrating civic amenities.

It is expected to increase the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix to 15 per cent from the current 7 per cent.

Source: This post is based on the article “What PM Gati Shakti plan means for the nation” published in The Indian Express on 25^th Oct 2021.