PM Modi will launch National Infrastructure Masterplan on Wednesday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday launch the digital platform for the first ever National Infrastructure Masterplan, through which the entire network of projects - from roads and railways to telecom networks and gas pipelines - until 2020, with plans up to 2024-25, will be laid out.

The masterplan, called PM GatiShakti, was announced on Independence Day and will bring together 16 ministries, including seven core infrastructure sectors, on one platform to synergise project planning across stakeholder ministries to avoid duplication, expedite clearances and plug gaps at the right time.

The Centre has also approached state governments, inviting them to join the platform by providing information and data on projects to improve synergy. States have also been invited to the launch and workshops planned after the event to explain the way the platform will work.

Changes to the national masterplan, government sources said, can only be effected by an empowered group of secretaries headed by the Cabinet secretary. Below this, a network planning group, with representatives from all stakeholder ministries, will be set up to meet regularly to ensure coordinated progress.

The way it works, officials explained, is, say, if the Railways is planning a project, it may not be aware of what another infrastructure ministry, such as roads or petroleum, is planning in and around the same geographical location. More importantly, it may not even have the full picture of the extent of existing projects.

Minimum Repetition, Disruption
The GatiShakti platform will provide that information instantaneously, allowing for better coordination. A roads project and a gas pipeline project may be able to seek clearances together. Essentially, officials said, multiple infrastructure projects can be simultaneously planned and executed with minimum repetition and physical on-ground disruption.

Beyond this, the geographic information system (GIS) platform will collate and provide up to 200-plus layers of geospatial information, down to micro details such as the khasra number of a plot, said officials, adding that 3D images showing actual ground conditions - with gradient and depth - will also be available. The platform, developed by the ministry of electronics and information technology's Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N), will require the 16 ministries to upload data on their various projects. Currently, government sources said, project information up to 2020 has been uploaded, while that up to 2024-25 where approvals have been obtained, is also being put up.

Changing Infra Landscape
"What we are doing by breaking silos is getting departments to plan better. If this happens, clearances can be obtained together, rather than each ministry chasing its own project," said an official familiar with the details.

The plan is aimed at achieving three basic goals - seamless multimodal connectivity to facilitate easy movement of goods and people; improved prioritisation, optimal usage of resources, timely creation of capacities; and resolution of issues such as disjointed planning, standardisation and clearances. The platform will primarily use satellite imagery from Isro, besides working on data provided from the ground. "At the end of the day, we want to transform logistics efficiency, which will make a big impact on our infrastructure landscape," said an official.