The 10^th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, with the theme “Gateway to Future” a strategic global platform for knowledge sharing, networking, and strategic partnerships, is ongoing in Gujarat from 10-12 Jan 2024. The Summit inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, had over 1000 participants from partner countries and organisations, several pioneering leaders from industry, international financial institutions and media. In his address the Hon’ble Prime Minister highlighted that strengthening of India’s infrastructure and logistics ecosystem, along with plans to develop the regional India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEEC), are opening up several investment opportunities for industry and global partners.    

During the seminar on "PM GatiShakti: Informed Decision-Making for Holistic Development", focused discussions on how PM GatiShakti is revolutionising integrated infrastructure development at National and State level, took place. A compendium on best practices adopted by the State of Gujarat under its PM GatiShakti Gujarat initiative, was launched by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles, Sh. Piyush Goyal and Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh. Bhupendra Bhai Patel.

Sh. Piyush Goyal in his address mentioned how PM GatiShakti programme is transforming infrastructure planning landscape, through use of cutting edge technology, that has contributed in terms of significant reduction in time and cost overruns in infrastructure projects. While congratulating the Hon’ble Chief Minister and Government of Gujarat on the successful adoption of PM GatiShakti, he emphasised that Gujarat’s pro-active approach has set an example for other States to follow. The high utility and simple fundamentals of the PM GatiShakti programme, has enabled easy adoption by States/UTs and is contributing to the vision of a double-engine growth that is rooted in the cooperative federalism principles. He ascertained that PM GatiShakti will not only remain a planning tool for India, but it will be adopted as a planning tool by the entire world.

Sh. Bhupendra Bhai Patel, during his address, emphasised that it is important to align Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to make Amrit Kaal a golden era for India’s economy with effective planning and implementation of sound infrastructure development projects. PM GatiShakti National Master Plan is conceptualised covering citizen services, industries, businesses, manufacturers, agriculture and farmers and rural systems. The GIS platform facilitates seamless coordination, physical and financial monitoring, and timely completion of projects. Thus, it can be concluded that through PM GatiShakti (PMGS), a comprehensive vision from integrated infrastructure planning to implementation, can be achieved.

While setting the context in this session, Smt. Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary, Logistics Division, MoCI, showcased the contribution of the PM GatiShakti programme towards integrated planning and creation of Next Generation Infrastructure, and promoting people-centric development. She used this opportunity to showcase some of the best use cases of PM GatiShakti in sectors including telecom, petroleum and natural gas, renewable energy, area based planning, etc. These benefits also resonated with the success stories shared by other panellists from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and State of Gujarat.

A Panel Discussion on “Resilient Supply Chains and Smart Logistics” laid out a plethora of opportunities and developments in the logistics ecosystem, that are attracting cross-sectoral investments. Useful insights on port-led development model, convergence approach for good governance, infrastructure as a facilitator of trade, positive impact of Atal Setu – Mumbai trans-harbor link on logistics movement in the surrounding area, domestic innovations like GST, ULIP, Logistics Data Bank, Digital Twin, and AI in logistics, in facilitating collaboration among various stakeholders in the logistics ecosystem, were discussed by the panellists. Demand driven planning on PMGS, and need for standardisation for easier cross-border flows, are among the few parameters that are forming a part of the road map for 2030, using technology for efficient logistics ecosystem.

The pro-active approach of Government of India (GoI) in respect of (i) G20 Delhi declaration on global value chains (ii) supply chain arrangements under Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) 2021, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC), are all aimed at strengthening partnerships for resilient and sustainable supply chains. Further, GoI’s reforms and schemes such as PLI, Make In India, PMGS, Bharatmala, Sagarmala, liberalisation of FDI regime, Free trade Agreements, etc. are strengthening investment flows and manufacturing to progressively integrate supply chains in the country and make them more resilient.

Recognizing the crucial role of PM GatiShakti in driving progress in various sectors, this seminar brought key stakeholders together to explore strategies and foster a culture of informed, data-driven decision-making for comprehensive and sustainable growth. It aided in generating valuable insights and recommendations to maximize the impact of this transformative initiative, improving Ease of Living as well as Ease of Doing Business.

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