The flagship Gati Shakti Mission, in its first six months of implementation has thrown up over 130 critical projects where ‘infrastructure gaps’ have been noted and flagged off to the concerned ministries.
The Ministry of Shipping, Ports and Waterways has identified 80 projects, the Ministry of Steel has named 38, and the Ministry of Coal has highlighted 13 infrastructure gaps that other ministries must address. For instance, on ports-road linkages to Machilipatnam port, Mundra and Dahej ports, Sachana ship recycling yard, Keni-Belekeri port, connectivity to Kundapur and Bhatkal ports, besides links to Malpe, Hangarkatta and Padubidri are required. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) and the National Highways Authority of India are the implementing agencies that are now holding discussions with the Network Planning Group (NPG) under Gati Shakti to expedite the projects.
Similarly, in the Uttara Kannada district, integrated development of Tadadi-Aghanshini waterway, upgradation of the road link to Dighi port, Sangegaon jetty project, Cochin port and the six-lane connectivity to Deendayal port trust besides better linkage to Diamond Harbor are on the list to be taken up by the Project Monitoring Group of Gati Shakti. There are also 38 projects flagged by the ministry of steel. These involve infrastructure gaps mainly related to railway line tripling to link iron mines and coastal areas.
