Gati Shakti May Go Global, As Three Neighbouring Countries Show Interest

(MENAFN- Live Mint) New Delhi: A little over three years since its 2021 launch, PM Gati Shakti may soon go global with as many as three neighbouring countries showing an interest in the platform and the government planning to showcase the technology in Europe and the US.

India is offering the Technology platform to all 'friendly' neighbouring countries, two people told Mint.

“We are offering Gati Shakti to friendly countries and there is interest from three countries. We also plan to showcase it to countries in the developed world, who have made investments into the country. We want to show the developed world the improvements that we have made in infrastructure planning, which will also help their investments,” said one of them, a senior government official, who did not want to be identified.

PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan may first be offered to neighbouring
countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, for planning and execution of certain cross border infrastructure projects before a separate product is developed for overseas project planning and execution to be implemented on the framework developed for domestic projects.

An Indian delegation visited Nepal last year to showcase the master plan. It was also shown to Bangladesh at the invitation of the government there. Similarly, Gati Shakti has been showcased
to 30 countries in Central Asia and South East
Asia. The official said that the tool has also been showcased at the UN ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific)
Conference in Hong Kong, the Asia Pacific Business Forum last year and the G-20 meeting in Delhi last September.

The plan is also to offer PM Gati Shakti model to countries where India is already implementing projects. Later, other interested countries could be offered this integrated planning and execution tool. The master plan is going to be portrayed as a unique product, using state of the art
technology and one of its kind in the world which is going to reform the governance, especially of project implementation and management.

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The officials quoted above said that countries looking to get on board the Indian system may also get limited access to the PM Gati Shakti portal to get first-hand experience of how projects are brought from the drawing board to actual execution bringing together an integrated planning tool.

The second official explained that India is offering the technology knowhow to run the platform and also the processes, experience and learnings that the country learnt through its implementation. The aim is to assist other countries streamline their infrastructure planning processes
by establishing an integrated digital tool.

Analsyts say this will help neighbouring countries.

"Our neighbours would benefit from similar master plans for their districts, and the know-how for quick implementation. They would be able to plan and execute their connectivity projects with right-of-way for better logistics, as also location identification for social infra. So many solutions and innovations in India can be shared with the Global South, including African and Asian nations. Such innovations would be equally relevant for OECD members and G20 members. Beyond Gati Shakti, another example is the UPI mobile payment system," said Shailesh Pathak, former CEO, L&T Infra Dev Projects Ltd.

PM Gati Shakti is a digital platform to bring 16 ministries, including railways and roadways, together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. This platform helps in the planning of infrastructure project and suggests alternatives that require minimal approvals.

Reportedly, Gati Shakti helped reduce the number of No-Objection Certificates required for a coastal road road project in Gujarat to 13 from 28. Till September-end, it has assessed over 208 major infrastructure projects, estimated at over $180 billion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the the Brics summit last month, offered Gati Shakti to member countries.

“We have established a digital platform called the Gati-Shakti portal to rapidly expand multi-modal connectivity in India. This has helped in integrated infrastructure development planning and implementation and has reduced logistics costs. We will be happy to share our experiences with all of you,” Modi said in his speech at the plenary of the 16th Brics summit.

Brics comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. There is, however, no interest from any Brics member country yet, official added.

An email sent to the commerce ministry did not elicit any immediate response.

Along with friendly countries, the government has also arrived at a consensus on sharing the platform with private sector firms to help them plan their projects well.

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