Private access, public good

Gati Shakti data should not be limited

The Union government, as reported by this newspaper, is considering limited sharing of information from the Gati Shakti National Masterplan with the private sector. It would do well to consider the proposal favourably.

This three-year-old digital platform, which aimed to bring ministries together to enable coordinated planning and implementation of multimodal connectivity projects, was set up to address the key weaknesses of project execution in India. The lack of harmonised integration between ministries involved in megaprojects and the haphazard data have long been the source of faulty planning and consequent delays.

Gati Shakti incorporates most of the Centre's and the states' megaprojects such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, UDAN, defence corridors, and myriad economic zones. Till October, 208 big-ticket infrastructure projects, worth ₹15.39 trillion, of various ministries have been assessed in consonance with broad Gati Shakti principles designed to improve the ease of doing business.