Patna (Bihar) [India], October 17 (ANI): The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) organised the fourth PM GatiShakti Eastern Zone District Level Capacity Building workshop in Patna on Thursday, according to an official release.
More than 100 officials from central ministries, state governments, and district administrations covering 44 districts from Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal participated in the workshop.
The event was inaugurated by Nitish Mishra, Minister of Industries and Tourism, Government of Bihar. Joint Secretary, DPIIT, E. Srinivas, and Secretary, Department of Industries, Government of Bihar, Bandana Preyashi, also attended the event.
Nitish Mishra stressed the importance of all stakeholders working 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, emphasising 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, aligning with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. Marking three years since its launch by the Prime Minister on October 13, 2021, he noted that the Network Planning Group (NPG) has evaluated 213 projects, with 17 projects–8 from MoRTH, 7 from MoR, 1 from NICDC, and 1 from MoCA–either located in Bihar or passing 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.
According to the release, during the workshop, best practices and use cases of PMGS were showcased by BISAG-N and various infrastructure and social sector ministries and departments such as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Ministry of Railways, the Department of Telecommunications, the Department of School Education and Literacy, and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Additionally, PMGS’s geo-spatial technology and Area Development Approach, along with NITI Aayog’s aspirational districts programme, were presented to facilitate collaboration and better planning.
The workshop also emphasised the utility of the PMGS NMP platform in effective planning of infrastructure, social, and economic facilities, and the role of District Collectors in facilitating comprehensive area-based planning using the District Master Plan (DMP). A beta version of the District Master Plan, launched on 15th October 2024 by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, for 27 aspirational districts, was showcased.
District Collectors highlighted potential areas for infrastructure and social sector development using the portal. Some examples include identifying suitable sites for setting up industrial clusters and multimodal connectivity across existing and upcoming clusters, identifying a suitable land parcel near NH Manihari for the development of Makhana and maize processing units and jute-related products, and planning the development of a food hub in Katihar (Bihar). Further, districts highlighted that mapped data on the PM GatiShakti NMP can be highly valuable for disaster management, enabling district officials to make informed, data-driven decisions during emergencies.
Hands-on training was conducted to familiarise participants with the benefits of PM GatiShakti, including identifying area development use cases fully connected to all-weather roads, power, internet, and drinking water facilities. The workshop served as an effective platform for bringing together relevant stakeholders of the PM GatiShakti NMP for extensive deliberations and cross-learning between districts, states, union territories, and central ministries and departments.
Looking ahead, Joint Secretary, DPIIT, mentioned that with the support of BISAG-N, efforts will be made to create individual district-level portals (District Master Plan), provide login credentials to District Nodal Officers, enrich NMP/SMP with district-level data layers, and offer training and capacity building. These efforts will be coordinated through the relevant State PM GatiShakti units and the Industries Departments. The District Master Plan portal is expected to facilitate district-level project planning by addressing isolated planning issues, supported by the vast data layers from central and state ministries and departments, thus promoting an integrated and holistic approach to planning.
District-level outreach is expected to strengthen Area Development Planning for both economic and social infrastructure at the field level across the country. Previous workshops were held in the Central, Western, and Southern zones, in Bhopal on January 18, Pune on February 9, and Thiruvananthapuram on August 13, respectively.
PM GatiShakti (PMGS) National Master Plan (NMP) was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on October 13, 2021, to facilitate integrated multimodal connectivity using indigenous technology. The framework includes an inter-ministerial mechanism at both central 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 infrastructure and social sector ministries, departments, states, and union territories, 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 key to verifying data and implementing the PMGS framework at the district level.
In an effort to extend PMGS to the district and local levels, the 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. (ANI)
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