Big ticket infra projects worth Rs 18.66 lakh crore okayed under PM Gati Shakti

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) As many as 396 infrastructure projects with a total estimated cost of about Rs 18.66 lakh crore have been evaluated through the Network Planning Group (NPG) mechanism of the PM Gati Shakti initiative, and out of these, 256 projects have been sanctioned, and 198 projects are under implementation, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The projects span across sectors such as highways, railways, power, ports, civil aviation, and telecommunications.

PM GatiShakti provides an integrated planning framework based on a “Whole of Government” approach to bring together various Central Ministries as well as states and UTs to ensure integrated planning and coordinated execution of infrastructure projects.

The government carries out assessments of its initiatives from time to time through various studies, surveys, etc. Apart from these, there are several studies by universities and research scholars in this respect. As per these assessments, the integrated planning initiatives like, PM GatiShakti, National Logistics Policy, PRAGATI, Sagarmala, development of connectivity infrastructure (expressways/ national highways/ dedicated rail freight corridors and rail tracks, industrial corridors/hubs), etc. have shaped the vision of connected and competitive India and have improved logistics efficiency, turn-around time, ease of doing business, industrial growth and reduced logistics cost in country.

An assessment of logistics cost has been carried out by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in 2025 in collaboration with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). As per the assessment, the logistics cost in India is estimated at 7.9 per cent of the GDP, which is at par with the advanced economies in the world. The Economic Survey 2023-24 highlighted that these measures have improved domestic manufacturing and export competitiveness. A study by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, on the impact of the development of National Highway projects underlines that every rupee expenditure in National Highways development leads to a Rs 3.2 increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

So far, 58 Central Ministries and all 36 states and UTs have been onboarded on the PMGS NMP, covering all infrastructure sectors like road, rail, ports & waterways, power, petroleum & natural gas, civil aviation, telecommunications, industrial corridors, etc. Further, the PM GatiShakti public platform was launched in September 2025, which provides access to PM GatiShakti data analytics to private entities and the general public. Public and private entities are able to plan their projects by obtaining data analytics reports from the PMGS-NMP Portal through a simple query-based mechanism, according to the statement.

The states have been encouraged to expand the use of PM GatiShakti for district-level planning. About 1,800 data layers have been integrated, and over 65 software modules and more than 100 mobile applications have been developed and integrated on the platform for the use of stakeholders.

–IANS

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