Viewpoint | India’s Gati Shakti Masterplan to Enter a New Era of International Infrastructure Development by Going Global

Since its inception in 2021, the PM Gati Shakti master plan has completely changed the way that infrastructure is developed in India. Presently, the government intends to make the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) available to all nations, with developing and impoverished nations receiving priority. India intends to provide PMGS-NMP for the development and implementation of specific cross-border infrastructure projects first to its close neighbors, including Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

As a result, a unique product will be created for international projects based on the framework created for domestic projects, as India provides the plan to an increasing number of nations worldwide.

India is also prepared to provide these nations with restricted access to the PM Gati Shakti platform, enabling them to track projects from the beginning to the end. Thus far, 30 nations in Central and Southeast Asia have seen demonstrations of Gati Shakti as a weapon.

Additionally, the tool was presented at the Asia Pacific Business Forum, the just-finished G20 summit in Delhi, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP) conference in Hong Kong. It is clear that the Center is promoting the Gati Shakti masterplan at international fora in an effort to showcase the instrument’s capacity to revolutionize infrastructure construction globally. Actually, the Gati Shakti plan is attracting a lot of attention from the global private sector as well, with businesses hoping to implement it in order to expedite projects and eliminate needless red tape.

India is adhering to its “neighborhood first” vow by providing PMGS-NMP to nations such as Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka first. Additionally, India collaborates with these nations on connection projects on a regular basis; thus, using the Gati Shakti effort to expedite their development may serve as a model for several other nations.

In that it simplifies and makes it easier for infrastructure projects to grow smoothly, the PMGS-NMP has become an essential instrument for India in recent years. The goal of the initiative is to build top-notch infrastructure in the nation, which will lower logistical costs and facilitate the efficient flow of products and services. With a massive expenditure of Rs 100 lakh crore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially declared it on the nation’s 75th Independence Day. The objective was to provide multimodal connection to over 1,200 industrial clusters nationwide, including two defense corridors.

Up to 96 projects, valued at a total of Rs 5.80 trillion each exceeding Rs 500 crore, have been evaluated based on PM Gati Shakti’s principles in 53 network planning group (NPG) meetings as of August 2023, after the national master plan’s introduction. Meanwhile, the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is implementing a number of important projects totaling around Rs 108 trillion at varying levels.

Large-scale infrastructure projects including Bharat Net, inland waterways, Bharatmala, Sagarmala, UDAAN, and railway network development are now being carried out under the PMGS-NMP.

Several government agencies may coordinate their efforts into a multimodal network thanks to PM Gati Shakti. As part of the strategy, 16 ministries—including Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, and Aviation—can now communicate with one another, which helps shorten the time and expense of implementation. A single, central site contains all of the ministries’ and departments’ planned and ongoing projects. This allows all ministries and departments to see each other’s work, enabling a “whole of government” approach to achieving goals.

Gati Shakti also uses analytical tools and GIS-based spatial planning to integrate all pertinent data under one roof. Separately, satellite photography occasionally offers on-ground developments, enabling all departments and ministries to examine, track, and visualize the advancement of cross-sectoral initiatives. The master plan’s technological prowess and sheer might may prove to be quite advantageous for the developing world, solidifying India’s standing as the Global South’s leader as well as its voice.

ON THE HORIZON: INDIA’S FORASY INTO GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT?
The proposal to open up access to and use the Gati Shakti Masterplan to all nations has the potential to include India in the international infrastructure development community. In addition to assisting emerging and impoverished nations in streamlining their infrastructure-building procedures, PMGS-NMP will make sure that the best practices that are now assisting India in overcoming a number of obstacles are disseminated to other nations on the planet. India will become a leader in infrastructure development as a result of this. The notion that technology and ideas wholly generated in India might soon serve other nations will further invigorate India’s aspirations to become a “Vishwaguru.”

India’s move to provide the Gati Shakti model to its neighbors and eventually the rest of the globe will also work as a deterrent to China, which only uses the excuse of supporting infrastructure development in other countries to trap people in debt. Recall that China has threatened India’s interests by announcing plans to undertake 200 small-scale projects in the Indian Ocean region.

Therefore, now is the moment for India to take action, and the idea of using Gati Shakti as a platform globally might prove to be a crucial way for India to position itself as a nation that really aids in the development of other countries rather than trapping them in debt. It will be considerably simpler for India to get into infrastructure development when PMGS-NMP is implemented internationally in order to be more effective in challenging Beijing.