India moves to fix the gaps in its ambitious connectivity plan

While a logistics plan has already been made for mass movement of goods like coal and steel, government officials working under the Gati Shakti initiative have been provided a comprehensive SOP for working as well as capacity building. Citing a case study on potential for capacity building, the DPIIT pointed out that entire rail route from Punjab to Assam has a double rail line except for a 95km single rail stretch between Gorakhpur and Valmiki Nagar. If that single rail stretch is converted into double, the capacity will rise up to 15 rakes per day.

Of the 24 layers to be put in uploaded revenue records, all 36 states in process of uploading maps of land revenue are currently at different stages of execution. The DPIIT noted that land acquisition across various states often used to take up to six months as individual clearances were needed from each patwari and tehsildar in the areas where land was being acquired. With the National Master Plan of Gati Shakti up and running, the DPIIT said that land acquisition can now happen in a matter of a few hours if land revenue maps are fully uploaded on the government portal.

The DPIIT pointed out that the detailed project report (DPR) planning time is down from six months to one month due to the initiative, and the time may get optimised to even a few weeks henceforth. A total of 14 lakh anganwadi centres are also being mapped in association with the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development.