Multimodal master plan Gati Shakti foundation for India's next 25 years: PM

October 13, 2021: Prime minister Narendra Modi today launched the PM Gati Shakti, the 100 lakh crore national master plan to give multimodal connectivity to industrial clusters around the country to improve the competitiveness of Indian business.

Addressing the gathering, the prime minister said, "With the resolve of aatmnirbhar bharat, the foundation of India for the next 25 years is being laid today. PM Gati Shakti National Master plan will take the confidence of India to the pledge of aatmnirbharta. This master plan will give impetus to 21st century India."

The prime minister said that due to the wide gap between macro planning and micro implementation problems of lack of coordination, lack of advance information, thinking and working in silos are leading to hampered construction and wastage of budget. "Shakti gets divided instead of getting multiplied or enhanced. PM Gati Shakti national master plan will address this as working based on the master plan will lead to optimum utilisation of resources," he said.

He remarked that the PM Gati Shakti master plan not only brings together the government process and its various stakeholders but also helps to integrate different modes of transportation. “This is an extension of holistic governance”, he said.

The prime minister elaborated upon the steps taken to increase the speed of infrastructure development in India. He said that the first interstate natural gas pipeline in India was commissioned in 1987. After this, till 2014, i.e. in 27 years, a 15,000 km long natural gas pipeline was built. Today, work is going on for a more than 16,000 km long gas pipeline across the country. He added that this work is targeted to be completed in the next 5-6 years.

The prime minister said in the 5 years before 2014, only 1900 km of railway lines underwent doubling. In the last 7 years, more than 9 thousand kilometres of railway lines have been doubled. In the 5 years before 2014, only 3000 km of railways were electrified. In the last 7 years, more than 24,000 kilometres of railway tracks have been electrified.

"In 2014, there were only 2 mega food parks in the country. Today 19 mega food parks are functioning in the country. Now the target is to take their number to more than 40. There were just 5 waterways in 2014, today India has 13 functional waterways. Turnaround time of the vessels at the ports has come down to 27 hours from 41 hours in 2014. Today India has 4.25 lakh circuit kilometre power transmission lines compared to 3 lakh circuit kilometres in 2014," he added.

Watch prime minister Narendra Modi launching Gati Shakti