With an aim to develop infrastructure in the country, the Indian government has launched a Rs 100 trillion national master plan for multi-modal connectivity which will reduce the logistic costs and boost the economy. This is the Gati Shakti National Master Plan. As per the government, Gati Shakti targets to cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity and reduce the turnaround time.
According to Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), the Gati Shakti National Master Plan will amplify the Robust Digital Infrastructure. The plan is highly relevant to the telecom sector including unified portal for approvals of infrastructure projects, cross-sector collaboration with utilities like water, gas, electricity, broadcasting, railways, etc., for sharing infrastructure such as common ducts, uniform policy at all states/UTs & central ministries/departments, for Telecom Right of Way (RoW) permissions (uniform timelines, fees, documentation etc.), availability of land/properties of other Ministries/Departments for deploying telecom infrastructure and sharing of telecom infrastructure with other utilities by enhancing the scope of telecom infrastructure providers.
The government of India has also been proactively taking various timely initiatives to improve the digital infrastructure in the country. These initiatives extend beyond physical infrastructure and also address software and security of infrastructure as all the three aspects are required in tandem to ensure a robust and secure state-of-the-art telecommunication infrastructure.
Commenting on the development, T.R. Dua, director-general, Digital Infrastructure Providers Association, said, “PM Modi’s Gati Shakti Master Plan is a major boost to develop a robust telecom infrastructure in our country which will play a key role in seamless connectivity, and is the essence of true “Digitization.” It is imperative to develop ‘state-of-the-art’ network architecture just like other infrastructure facilities such as water, sewage, railway, roads and transportation etc. as telecommunication services nowadays have become an integral and essential necessity of our daily lives.”
