AIR Discussions (October 2nd Week)
25th October, 2021
AIR SPOTLIGHT- PM GATI SHAKTI: MISSION FOR A CHANGE
Context: Recently, the government of India has launched the ambitious Gati Shakti scheme or National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity plan, with the aim of coordinated planning and execution of infrastructure projects to bring down logistics costs.
Need for Integrated Infrastructure Development:
- Infrastructure creation in India had suffered for decades from multiple issues.
- There was lack of coordination between different Departments, for example, once a road was constructed, other agencies dug up the constructed road again for activities like laying of underground cables, gas pipelines etc.
- This not only caused great inconvenience but was also a wasteful expenditure.
- Infrastructure has often been the back on which countries have transformed themselves- USA, Japan, South Korea, China.
- A critical enabler in the success of these countries was a multi-modal transport network, that significantly reduced the cost of logistics, boosting export competitiveness.
- However, our infrastructure has often been cited as a binding constraint in raising the potential growth rate of our country.
- In economics parlance, multiplier effects accrue to the economy through infrastructure spending.
- Goods & people will move faster between destinatio
- The cost of logistics comes down. This means, for every rupee spent by the government in creating infrastructure, GDP gains worth Rs. 2.5-3.5 accrue.
- However, while India has tried to achieve the same, an end-to-end seamless, multi-modal transportation network is some way away. For instance, roads dominate the share of traffic.
- Furthermore, while many economic zones, industrial parks, logistics hubs and ports were planned, they often suffered owing to inefficient multi-modal connectivity, and also due to their small size.
- A lack of scale in manufacturing and an inefficient logistics network hampered our global competitiveness.
About:
- PM GatiShakti will address the past issues through institutionalizing holistic planning for stakeholders for major infrastructure projects.
- Instead of planning & designing separately in silos, the projects will be designed and executed with a common vision.
- It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN etc.
- Economic Zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, agri zones will be covered to improve connectivity & make Indian businesses more competitive.
- It will also leverage technology extensively including spatial planning tools with ISRO imagery developed by BiSAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics).
Pillars:
- Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralized portal. Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning & execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.
- Prioritization: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross–sectoral interactions.
- Optimization: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after identification of critical gaps. For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.
- Synchronization: Individual Ministries and Departments often work in silos. There is lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
- Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
- Dynamic: All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically and progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.
Aim:
- To ensure integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure projects in the next four years, with focus on expediting works on the ground, saving costs and creating jobs.
- The Gati Shakti scheme will subsume the Rs 110 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline that was launched in 2019.
- Besides cutting logistics costs, the scheme is also aimed at increasing cargo handling capacity and reducing the turnaround time at ports to boost trade.
- It also aims to have 11 industrial corridors and two new defence corridors - one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar Pradesh.
- Extending 4G connectivity to all villages is another aim.
- Adding 17,000 kms to the gas pipeline network is being planned.
- It will help in fulfilling the ambitious targets set by the government for 2024-25, including expanding the length of the national highway network to 2 lakh kms, creation of more than 200 new airports, heliports and water aerodromes.
- It intends to bring together 16 infrastructure related Ministries.
- Gati Shakti Digital Platform: It involves the creation of a common umbrella platform through which infrastructure projects can be planned and implemented in an efficacious manner by way of coordination between various ministries/departments on a real-time basis.
Benefits:
- The scheme will help mapping the existing and proposed connectivity projects.
- Also, there will be immense clarity on how different regions and industrial hubs in the country are linked, particularly for last mile connectivity.
- A holistic and integrated transport connectivity strategy will greatly support Make in India and integrate different modes of transport.
- It will help India become the business capital of the world.
- It will lead to Next Generation Infrastructure which improves Ease of Living as well as Ease of Doing Business.
- The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another.
- It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people.
- PM GatiShakti will provide the public and business community information regarding the upcoming connectivity projects, other business hubs, industrial areas and surrounding environment.
- This will enable the investors to plan their businesses at suitable locations leading to enhanced synergies.
- It will create multiple employment opportunities and give a boost to the economy.
- It will improve the global competitiveness of local products by cutting down the logistics costs and improving the supply chains, and also ensure proper linkages for local industry & consumers.
Concerns:
- Although the government had taken up ‘strong’ banking sector reforms and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code had yielded about Rs. 2.4 lakh crore of recoveries on bad loans, there are concerns about declining credit offtake trends.
- In the post-Covid-19 scenario, there is a lack of private demand and investment demand.
- Due to land acquisition delays and litigation issues, the rate of implementation of projects is very slow on global standards.
- Getting approvals is very difficult in terms of land access, environmental clearances; also impending litigation in court delays the infrastructure projects.
Way Forward
- PM Gati Shakti is a step in the right direction. However, it needs to address structural and macroeconomic stability concerns, emanating from high public expenditure.
- Thus, it is imperative that this initiative is underpinned by a stable and predictable regulatory and institutional framework.
https://www.niti.gov.in/speeding-gati-shakti
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1763638
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1763307
NEWS IN BRIEF: PRELIMS SPECIAL
World Postal Day
- World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9th of October to mark the anniversary of establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874.
- The purpose of World Postal Day is to create awareness about the role of the postal sector in the lives of people and businesses as well as contribution to the socio-economic development of countries.
- The Day was first declared by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1969.
- The theme for this year’s World Postal Day is ‘Innovate to recover’.
- India celebrates ‘National Postal Week’ from 9 to 15 October.
Exercise Malabar 2021
- The second phase of Ex Malabar 2021 was held in the Bay of Bengal.
- The Indian Navy participated along with the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF), Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the United States Navy (USN).
- The first phase of Ex Malabar 2021 was conducted in the Philippines Sea in August 2021.
World Mental Health Day
- October 10 is observed as World Mental Health Day across the globe every year.
- This day is meant to raise awareness on mental health issues and garner support on initiatives related to mental health and well-being.
- The theme for the World Mental Health Day 2021 is ‘mental health in an unequal world.’
- About 50 million individuals in India suffer from depressive disorders and an equal number of people suffer from anxiety disorders.
Indian Space Association
- Indian Space Association (ISpA) launched.
- The Indian Space Association is an industry body representing the various stakeholders in the Indian space domain with members comprising the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Bharti Airtel, OneWeb, Tata Group’s Nelco, L&T, MapMyIndia among others.
- Founder members are: ISRO, Larson & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Walchandnagar Industries, Ananth Technology Limited and Mapmyindia.
- The Indian Space Association will be headed by retired Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, who will be its Director General.
- The ISpA will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain. It will also engage with the government and all its agencies.
- It is expected to make India technologically advanced, self-reliant and a leading player in the space sector.
- Its tagline is “Bhumandal Se Brahmaand Tak”, meaning from “Earth to the Universe”.
https://newsonair.com/2021/10/11/watch-live-pm-modi-to-launch-indian-space-association/
International Day of the Girl Child
- International Day of the Girl Child is observed annually on October 11.
- Declared by the United Nations, it was first observed in 2012. The day is dedicated to raising awareness on gender equality while assuring rights and improving opportunities for girls.
- The theme this year is “Digital generation. Our generation.”
https://newsonair.com/2021/10/11/international-day-of-girl-child-being-observed-today/
Vision Plan (2021-2031) for Indian Zoos
- Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the Vision Plan (2021-2031) for Indian Zoos.
- The vision plan is aimed at upgrading Indian zoos and strengthening the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).
- The vision document is committed to making CZA and Indian zoos a greater force for conservation by providing unparalleled animal care, cutting edge research, and immersive visitor experiences that strike meaningful chords with people of all ages.
- The exhaustive 10 years’ vision plan has been arrived at after a very stringent data mining and stakeholder consultive process and is expected to give a direction towards ex-situ conservation approaches in India.
G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan
- PM participated in G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan.
- The Meeting was convened by Italy, which currently holds the G20
- Issues under consideration at the meeting related to the humanitarian situation; concerns relating to terrorism; and human rights in Afghanistan.
- The PM in his remarks talked about India’s contribution to promoting socio-economic development and capacity building of youth and women in Afghanistan.
- He emphasized the need for the international community to ensure that Afghanistan has immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance.
- The Prime Minister also underlined the need to ensure that Afghan territory does not become a source of radicalization and terrorism, regionally or globally.
- He stressed the need to fight jointly against the nexus of radicalization, terrorism and the smuggling of drugs and arms in the region.
https://newsonair.com/2021/10/12/g20-extraordinary-leaders-summit-on-afghanistan/
CRISP-M Tool for MGNREGS launched
- Union Minister has launched the CRISM-M tool for the integration of climate information in Geographic Information System (GIS) based watershed planning under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
- The CRISP-M tool will help embed climate information in the GIS based planning and implementation of MGNREGA.
- This tool will be used in seven states wherein the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Government of UK and the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India are jointly working towards climate resilience. The states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
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