New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw last week informed Parliament that his ministry has given its nod to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for Dedicated Freight Corridors on three new routes — the north-south corridor, the east-west sub-corridor and the east coast corridor. A decision on the projects will be taken based on the DPRs and financing options.
There is, however, a little-known behind-the-scenes story to this move that illustrates the growing synergy among ministries and departments — based on the use of technology for governance.
The rail ministry first mapped the proposed alignments — developed through a standard process by its consultants — of the three corridors. Then it mapped the same alignments on the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), a Rs 100 lakh-crore project for developing infrastructure in the country.
And the result was different.
The NMP is a digital platform that has mapped details of all infrastructure and logistic facilities in the country on a geographic information system (GIS) map, including data of the forest/habitation/other assets they are passing through.
When the alignment was superimposed on the NMP, it was found that the original alignment was passing through forest, mining areas and industrial parks. That would have meant long-drawn and costly clearance processes.
To avoid this, the alignment was modified to ensure minimal disruption by not passing through any of these infra assets.
It’s the modified alignment that has been adopted by the railway ministry, and will go into the making of the DPRs. If approved, the corridors would go a long way in cutting time and cost overruns.
This is an example of how the GIS-based Gati Shakti master plan, launched in September 2021, is helping infra ministries plan their project better.
“It gives a bird’s eye view of the country’s infrastructure and logistics facilities/assets on a GIS map. Just at the click of a mouse, ministries can visualise their proposed projects vis-à-vis other assets passing through the same route and also check against any obstacles coming in the way at the planning stage only,” Amrit Lal Meena, special secretary for logistics at Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce, told ThePrint. Meena heads the Gati Shakti mission.
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NMP workings
So far, over 600 layers of data of different infra ministries have been mapped on the NMP, according to government data.
For instance, the rail ministry has mapped its entire rail line network, status of projects including widening, electrification, gauge conversion, development of cargo terminals, among others, into the NMP.
Similarly, for highways, the entire database of the national highways, the Bharat Mala greenfield corridors, the proposed multimodal logistics hub, besides the network of state highways, district roads, etc. is now available on the NMP.
The telecom ministry has also mapped all its infra including the network of towers and optical fibres.
Almost all central infra ministries have mapped their data layers — data with respect to forest, water sources, mines, etc. — that are required for planning and getting clearances for the projects.
“Till date there was no single platform for comprehensive information on infrastructure and logistics facilities/assets in the country. Now, every ministry knows which ministry is planning what project across the country. Any ministry can see the data of any other infra ministry in one platform, in any combination,” Meena said.
The NMP portal is already being used for pre-feasibility assessment and DPR planning by railways, roads and telecom ministries.
The ministries are being assisted by the Gujarat-based Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Application and Geo-Informatics, an autonomous agency under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
How Gati Shakti NMP is aiding governance
The digital master plan of infra assets isn’t just allowing ministries to align better, and, if required, modify projects before implementation. It is also helping in synchronised planning.
Take the over 1,300-km Delhi-Mumbai expressway that is under construction, for instance.
“Now, after checking on the NMP, the telecom ministry is also laying some 1,300 km of its optical fibre cable network on this stretch. Without acquiring any additional land for the purpose, within the right of way (RoW) of the highway, the cable is being laid. It will not only save cost but more importantly not require any redigging for the purpose,” Meena said.
In another similar instance, the petroleum ministry has suggested to align the Mundra Panipat Crude Oil Pipeline project along the Amritsar-Jamnagar expressway, as the road ministry has already procured the RoW.
The Gati Shakti Mission chief said that on the ground, results will be visible in terms of faster implementation. “Synchronised implementation has started… Now everybody has started talking, unlike earlier experiences where there were delays in implementation of projects as departments worked in silos,” he said.
Since the NMP’s launch, around 80 projects have been discussed by the Gati Shakti Mission and line ministries have been given suggestions to take necessary measures to expedite projects.
After having seen the NMP evolve, many states are also finding it useful for their planning purpose and are replicating the model. Eight states — Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — have started the process to develop their respective state master plans.
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Next big thing? Updating revenue maps
The Gati Shakti Mission is currently working on its next big project — to bring the land revenue maps of villages to the NMP. This will be of immense help to infra ministries, which spend considerable time in acquiring land while planning projects.
Currently, every state government has undertaken computerisation of land records. But consolidated land record data is not available anywhere for users to see on one platform.
How will the NMP help here? Suppose a ministry has to make a land acquisition plan in a 50 km stretch, which has say 20 villages. Once the land revenue maps are updated on NMP, then a ministry planning a project in that area will be able to see everything in the 20 villages through which the project will pass.
“You don’t need to go to a tehsil office. A line ministry will know how much land has to be acquired and what are the problems in the particular alignment… Suppose there is a wildlife sanctuary passing through it, where it is difficult to get clearance. So at the planning stage only you modify your alignment to bypass it,” said Meena.
Monitoring mechanism of Gati Shakti Mission
To oversee the work done by the Gati Shakti, right at the top, there is an empowered group of secretaries headed by the cabinet secretary.
Next, there is a body called the Network Planning Group (NPG) to assist the group. This NPG has the planning in-charges of seven infrastructure ministries as members. The body meets once a fortnight to look at all project proposals from a coordination point of view.
A ministry can raise an issue related to a project, online. Issues raised by user ministries are looked into by NPG and after deliberations, they give their suggestions to the line ministries as to how they can resolve the issue on a priority.
The NMP has also been integrated with the Project Monitoring Group (PMG), an institutional mechanism set up in 2013 to expedite resolution of issues and regulatory bottlenecks in projects with investments upwards of Rs 500 crore.
“The integration will help. For instance, if there is a project on the NMP, and some issue is impeding its progress. The information will automatically reflect on the PMG portal, where its resolution will be taken up,” Meena said.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
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