Bill for Gati Shakti University introduced in Lok Sabha

A bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha seeking to convert the National Rail and Transportation University, a deemed-to-be-university, into Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, an autonomous central university.

About PM Gati Shakti:

• The Prime Minister Gati Shakti – National Master Plan was announced in 2021.
• It is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.
• The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another.
• It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people.

Need for such framework:

• Infrastructure creation in India had suffered for decades from multiple issues.
• There was lack of coordination between different Departments, for example, once a road was constructed, other agencies dug up the constructed road again for activities like laying of underground cables, gas pipelines etc.
• This not only caused great inconvenience but was also a wasteful expenditure.
• PM Gati Shakti will address the past issues through institutionalizing holistic planning for stakeholders for major infrastructure projects.

6 Pillars of PM Gati Shakti:

1. Comprehensiveness –

• It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralized portal.
• Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other's activities providing critical data while planning & execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.

2. Prioritization –

• Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross-sectoral interactions.

3. Optimization –

• The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after identification of critical gaps.
• For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.

4. Synchronization –

• Individual Ministries and Departments often work in silos.
• There is lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays.
• PM Gati Shakti will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.

5. Analytical –

• The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.

6. Dynamic –

• All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform.
• Satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically and progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal.
• It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.

Targets under PM Gati Shakti:

• The Rs 100 lakh crore national master planincludes 11 industrial corridors, achieving Rs 1.7 lakh crore turnover in defence production and having 38 electronics manufacturing clusters and 109 pharma clusters by 2024-25.
• It fixes targets up to 2024-25 for all infrastructure ministries.
• Implementing Agency:National Networking Group
  • National Networking Group will consist of experts or officials from all the stakeholder departments.