Modi outlines master plan to boost India's infrastructure development

New Delhi

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (Oct 13) outlined a master plan to dismantle silos within the government to enable India to seamlessly build infrastructure projects and improve ease of doing business.

The government will map all new projects spanning road, rail, air transport apart from gas and other utilities on a single platform to remove disruptions to planning, monitoring and implementation under the so-called "PM GatiShakti National Master Plan".

It will allow various ministries to periodically update data and lead to greater coordination.

"Every department makes its own plans and typically the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing," Modi said, citing the example of how new roads were laid only to be dug up later by the water pipes or the telecom department.

"These silos result in wastage of budgetary resources and India can no longer afford these bottlenecks," he added.

The initiative comes as India targets spending US$1.5 trillion in roads, railways, ports and gas pipelines, which are key for attracting investments and creating jobs in Asia's third-largest economy as it recovers from a pandemic-induced downturn.

The master plan aims to nearly double the network of highways to over 200,000km and the number of airports to 220 by March 2025, and double the length of gas pipelines to 34,500km, among others, during that period.

The International Monetary Fund sees India's gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 9.5 per cent in the year to March 2022, after contracting 7.3 per cent last year.

While the forecast is for the economy to grow 8.5 per cent next year, the outlook depends on the nation's ability to create jobs and boost consumption, which accounts for some 60 per cent of GDP. For that, India needs investments and infrastructure to attract businesses. BLOOMBERG