Network Planning Group under PM GatiShakti recommends five projects pertaining to road connectivity at its 51st Meeting

During the milestone 51st meeting of the Network Planning Group under PM GatiShakti chaired by Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, along with Smt. Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, five projects of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) worth Rs. 15,683 cr. were evaluated.

These five projects in States of Mizoram (1), Maharashtra (2), Uttarakhand (1) and Kanpur (1), are expected to improve connectivity to industrial clusters and social sector assets and improve logistics efficiency through streamlining freight traffic movement and decongestion of cities.

Critical from the perspective of regional connectivity, the Greenfield Twin Tube Uni-directional Aizawl Bypass Tunnel of 2.5 km, proposed under Bharatmala Pariyojna-2, will enhance connectivity between Sittwe port on Kaladan river in Myanmar and North East Region. It will also provide connectivity to economic centres in Sairang, Aizawl, Seling, social sector assets including Zoram Medical College, Mizoram Central University and NIT Aizawl, and tourist places including Solomon’s Temple Church, Aizawl, Mizoram State Museum, Aizawl. This project is expected to reduce time taken and bring in efficiency due to an increase in average speed by 50%. Through this tunnel, travel distance and time between Phaibawk and Sairang, is expected to reduce by 39% and 60%, respectively.

Two capacity augmentation projects in State of Maharashtra, important from the perspective of connectivity to economic centres, religious and tourist places, industrial clusters and defence assets, were evaluated. Both projects- Nashik Phata to Khed alignment and Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi Marg, planned using NMP Portal with focus on key principles of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan are envisaged to improve connectivity to 10 Economic Nodes and 12 Social Nodes, enhanced multi-modality with integrated infrastructure development and improved utility network. Land acquisition and other clearances are being optimised, through identification of clearance / approval requirements on NMP Portal.

The proposed project on construction for mitigation measures of 20 nos. landslides, 11 nos. sinking zones and 2 nos. of bridges in the State of Uttarakhand will ensure all year-round connectivity between various parts of Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, industrial locations such as Karnprayag and Gaucher, helipads located at Gaucher and are critical from disaster management perspective.

Greenfield project of construction of 6-lanning bypass/ring roads around Kanpur city under Bharatmala is likely to reduce travel distance and time and fuel consumption. The project will be useful for decongestion of Kanpur City and provide direct connectivity between Lucknow Kanpur Expressway, NH-19 and further towards Chakeri Airport.

Discussion on the Ministry of Steel (MoS) proposal to include slurry pipeline projects within GatiShakti framework and Network Planning Group evaluation process was also held.

NPG members from M/o Road Transport and Highways, M/o Railways, M/o Ports, Shipping and Waterways, M/o Civil Aviation, M/o Power, M/o Petroleum and Natural Gas, Department of Telecommunication (DoT), M/o New and Renewable Energy and NITI Aayog participated in the 51st NPG meeting, along with representatives from concerned States.

Launched on October 13th, 2021, the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) adopts a ‘whole of government’ approach to infrastructure planning and implementation. Two key elements for operationalizing the PM GatiShakti (PMGS) include: (i) GIS data based digital platform and (ii) institutional framework.

The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) has been developed on a dynamic Geographic Information System (GIS) platform wherein data on economic and social infrastructure, trunk and utility network, multimodal connectivity, tourist spots, land revenue maps, forest boundaries, etc. needed for project planning and implementation have been mapped on the NMP. The NMP has been further developed as a data-based decision support system with project planning tools, dynamic dashboards, MIS report generation, etc., to support line Ministries/Depts and States/UTs in infrastructure planning and implementation.

So far, 39 line Ministries/Departments including 8 infrastructure, 13 economic and 18 social sector Ministries/Departments, and 36 States/UTs have been onboarded on PM GatiShakti NMP.

The institutional framework comprising of an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), a Network Planning Group (NPG) and a Technical Support Unit (TSU), is fully functional at the Central level. As per the approved CCEA note, the Logistics Division operationalized the NPG and has been acting as Secretariat to the EGoS, since November 2021. A similar institutional framework required to be set up in each State/UT, has been completed and is fully operational.

During the NPG meetings held every fortnight under the chairpersonship of Special Secretary (Logistics) DPIIT, project proposals of different Ministries/Depts are evaluated PM GatiShakti principles including intersection with assets of other Ministries / forest/wildlife date layers; suitability of alignment to minimize dislocation of habitation; utilisation of existing government land to the extent possible; comprehensive socio-economic development of the influence area, etc. The aim is to minimize disruption, explore complementarities, promote optimized and holistic planning for multimodal connectivity, and improve last mile connectivity and logistics efficiency.