Network Planning Group under PM GatiShakti recommends 63 infra projects

The Network Planning Group (NPG) under PM GatiShakti has so far recommended 63 infrastructure projects on the principles of PM GatiShakti.

Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash, in reply to a parliamentary question on Wednesday, said that PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) is a transformative approach for integrated and holistic planning across all concerned ministries and departments.

This was launched in October 2021 with the objectives of holistically integrating the interventions of various departments and addressing gaps to ensure seamless movement of people, goods and services.

Minimising disruptions, ensuring quick completion of work with cost efficiency are the guiding principles for development of infrastructure as per the PM GatiShakti NMP.

PM Gati Shakti NMP has a digital component in the form of a GIS-based platform which integrates the geo-spatial data related to the infrastructure in the country and planning portals of various ministries or departments of the government.

To ensure better decision-making and coordination among various Central ministries and departments and state governments, a three-tier institutional arrangement in the form of Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU) has been created, both at Central and state levels.

Besides NITI Aayog, there are 24 Central ministries and departments as part of PM Gati Shakti, represented in EGoS through their respective secretaries, said the reply.

All the infrastructure and economic ministries/departments at the Centre and also states/union territories have created their own customised planning portals which are integrated to PM Gati Shakti NMP.

These digital systems help with data-based decision-making for integrated planning of infrastructure projects and synchronised implementation.

More than 150 critical infrastructure gaps have been identified by adopting the PM Gati Shakti mechanism. It aims at reducing the logistics cost and supporting economic activity in the country.

--IANS

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