By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 18, 2024: DEPARTMENT for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) organized the fourth PM GatiShakti Eastern Zone District Level Capacity Building workshop in Patna today. More than 100 officials from Central Ministries, State Governments and District Administration covering 44 districts from Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & West Bengal participated in the Workshop.

The event was inaugurated by Minister of Industries & Tourism, Government of Bihar, Nitish Mishra. Joint Secretary, DPIIT, E. Srinivas, Secretary, Department of Industries, Government of Bihar, Smt. Bandana Preyashi and other dignitaries also attended the event.

Nitish Mishra emphasized that all the stakeholders should collectively work together to achieve the Viksit Bharat vision of 2047. He urged officers from various State Departments and Districts to leverage the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for project planning and data-driven decision making, emphasizing that this approach will help attract investments.

E. Srinivas highlighted that the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan has become the cornerstone of the nation's growth, perfectly aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. Marking three years since its launch by the Prime Minister on 13th October 2021, he shared that Network Planning Group (NPG) has evaluated 213 projects; 17 projects-8 from MoRTH, 7 from MoR, 1 from NICDC, and 1 from MoCA-will either be located in Bihar or pass through the state. Additionally, the "Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) at Gaya" under the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) Project has been evaluated, which is expected to significantly contribute to Gaya's development.

During the workshop, best practices and use cases of PMGS were showcased by BISAG-N and various Infrastructure and Social Sector Ministries/Departments [such as M/o Road, Highway and Transport, M/o Railways, D/0 Telecom, D/o School Education and Literacy and M/o Tribal Affairs]. Also, PMGS's geo-spatial technology and Area Development Approach, with NITI Aayog's aspirational districts program, to facilitate collaboration and better planning was presented.

Further, utility of PMGS NMP platform in effective planning of infra, social and economic facilities and the role of District Collectors in facilitating comprehensive area-based planning using District Master Plan (DMP) was emphasised.  At the workshop, beta version of the District Master Plan launched on 15th October 2024 by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal for 27 aspirational districts was also showcased.

Further, District collectors highlighted potential areas for infrastructure and social sector development using the portal. Some examples of potential use cases include a) identifying suitable sites for setting industrial clusters and multi modal connectivity across existing and upcoming industrial clusters, identification of suitable land parcel near NH Manihari for development of Makhana and maize processing unit and jute related products and planning development of Food hub  in Katihar (Bihar) b) gap analysis of infrastructure facilities around Khurpia farm & medical facilities (20 km buffer/ 30 min time) in Uddhamsingh Nagar (Uttarakhand). Further districts highlighted that mapped data on the PM GatiShakti NMP can be extremely valuable for disaster management. This data will enable district officials to make informed, data-driven decisions during emergencies.

Hands on training was also held to sensitize the participants about the benefits of PM GatiShakti including identification of area development use cases fully connected to all-weather roads, facilities of power, internet, drinking water, etc.  The workshop served as an effective means for bringing together relevant stakeholders of the PM GatiShakti NMP for extensive deliberations and cross-learnings between Districts, States/ UTs and Central Ministries/ Departments. 

As a way forward to further enhance the impact of PM GatiShakti's adoption at district level, Joint Secretary, DPIIT added that with the support of BISAG-N, creation of individual district-level portals (District Master Plan), login credentials of District Nodal Officers, and enrichment of NMP/SMP with district level data layers, training and capacity building, development of tools, use cases, would be undertaken through the relevant State PM GatiShakti units and the Industries Departments. District Master Plan portal would facilitate district-level project planning by addressing isolated planning issues, and the availability of huge data layers of Central and state ministries/Departments, promoting an integrated and holistic approach in planning.

District level outreach is expected to give vigour to Area Development Planning for both economic and social infrastructure at field level in the country. Earlier the workshops were also held in Central, Western and Southern zones at Bhopal (18th January 2024), Pune (09th February 2024) and Thiruvananthapuram (13th August 2024) respectively.

PM GatiShakti (PMGS) National Master Plan (NMP) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 13, 2021, to facilitate integrated multimodal connectivity using indigenous technology. Its framework includes an inter-ministerial mechanism at both the Centre and State levels, along with a GIS-based decision support system, enhancing infrastructure planning and development across the country.

Since its launch, PMGS NMP has seen successful use cases from various Infra and Social sector Ministries/ Departments and States/UTs, leading to the adoption of an ‘Area Development Approach' for holistic planning. Effective economic and social infrastructure planning requires extensive information at the State, UT, and district levels. District Collectors, with their deep understanding of local challenges and priorities, are essential for verifying data and implementing the PMGS framework at the district level.

In the endeavour to take PMGS to the district/local level, Logistics Division with the technical support of BISAG-N is organising a series of six pan-India district-level workshops, covering more than 100 districts.