NPG Evaluates 6 Infra Projects Worth Rs 52,000 Cr Under PM Gati Shakti
Six project proposals, comprising four from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and two from the Ministry of Railways (MoR), totaling around Rs 52,000 crore, were evaluated at the 56th Network Planning Group meeting held under PM Gati Shakti.
The discussions during the meeting focused on the advantages of using the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) portal for project planning and how, according to experience, the NMP site was efficient in terms of time and cost savings.
It was discussed at the meeting how planning through digital surveys is transforming the infrastructure planning process by speeding up the DPR preparation process and making it simple to see where the planned project intersects with forests, economic zones, archaeological sites, and other social nodes, among other things.
It was noted that it also helps in route and alignment optimisation and effective last/first mile connectivity planning to major social as well as economic zones in the project areas.
The MoRTH proved devotion to the Gati Shakti principles by presenting NPG with four road projects valued at approximately Rs 45,000 crore. The first project is a greenfield road between Gujarat and Maharashtra that will help both the area's agricultural industry and the industrial belts in the Navsari, Nashik, and Ahmednagar districts.
By facilitating simple and convenient connectivity, the project is anticipated to help the general socioeconomic development of tribal districts like Navsari, Valsad, and Nashik. It will also connect aspirational districts like Osmanabad and boost the local tourism industry.
The second greenfield road project is also located in Gujarat, which runs through Banaskantha, Patan, Mahesana, Gandhinagar, and Ahmedabad districts. It will connect the Amritsar-Jamnagar economic corridor with Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
Bihar's third road project would entail widening the Patna-Arrah-Sasaram corridor to four lanes as part of the Bharatmala Pariyojna. Additionally, it will offer smooth connection for traffic travelling from UP to Jharkhand and Patna via the Purvanchal Motorway.
The meeting's fourth road project, in Uttar Pradesh, aims to increase interstate connection between Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Additionally evaluated were two railway project proposals with a combined project cost of around Rs 6,700 crore. In Odisha, a project to build a brand-new railway line runs through the districts of Ganjam, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Boudh, Sambalpur, and Angul. It will connect the industrial and mineral clusters of western Odisha with the east coast ports.
Additionally, the industrial clusters in eastern Chhattisgarh will also get a shorter port connectivity in the east coast.
