PM GATI SHAKTI (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: India recently showcased PM Gatishakti National Master Plan at the ‘2023 Regional Cooperation and Integration Conference: Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Integration through Economic Corridor Development (ECD)’, organized by Asian Development Bank (ADB) at Tbilisi, Georgia. 

PM Gati Shakti

• Launched: October 2021.
• Aim: It is the first National Infrastructure Masterplan. The National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries includes Railways and Roadways and others.

o To boost economic growth (Shakti) through infrastructure building.

o To improve the productivity of industries and employment opportunities. 

o It is considered to be the government's integrated approach to developing modern railways, roadways, waterways and airways.

• Method: It breaks the inter-ministerial silos and to integrate the planning of infrastructure projects related to road, rail, air and waterways etc.
• Integration: It incorporates the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN etc.
• Pillars of PM Gati Shakti: Comprehensiveness, Prioritization, Optimization, Synchronization, Analytical, Dynamic.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• Formation: 1966.
• Objective: It envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
• Headquarter: Manila, Philippines.
• Members: 68 members including India, China and Pakistan. The bank admits the members of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE), and non-regional developed countries