India is a sizable and mature infrastructure market. India’s growing and briskly urbanising population, coupled with the government’s commitment to improving living standards, have resulted in rapidly growing demand for infrastructure. As per the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), the ministry of finance estimates that the country plans to invest about US$ 200 billion in infrastructure development annually. We have longstanding central government ministries that focus on planning and executing a multitude of projects in core transport segments of roads, railways, ports & waterways, and airports. State governments also have established departments that are responsible for infrastructure development. However, there is substantial scope to enhance efficiency of infrastructure projects development. According to a July 2022 assessment by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors large infrastructure projects - of the assessed 1,505 projects, 386 reported cost overruns and 661 were delayed. One of the critical gaps that has been felt by infrastructure developers and logistics operators is harmonisation of development initiatives among the different ministries/states. We see that the central objective of the Gati Shakti initiative is to address this gap, through developing a digital information sharing platform and creating a governance framework that shall ensure coordinated planning of large infrastructure projects. National Investment & Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) has interests in several vital areas of the Indian economy, importantly in infrastructure. Through its Master Fund, NIIFL co-owns and actively manages portfolio companies that invest in core transport assets (roads and ports), as well as a large logistics platform that owns and operates a seamless and integrated freight business. As part of the ports and logistics platforms we invest in and operate inland logistics terminals, container trains, a network of container port terminals and freight stations, cold chain operations and an express logistics business. We believe that given NIIFL’s substantial interests in the transport and logistics space we stand to reap significant efficiency gains from the Gati Shakti initiative. One of the issues that industry players sometimes face while considering investments in large projects such as ports, multi-modal logistics parks, industrial zones, power generation etc. is uncertainty around timely development of linkage infrastructure. For instance, while an MMLP initiative may be spearheaded by a state government, rail and highway connectivity would have to be led by the central railway or the roads ministries respectively; similarly in case of a renewable energy project there would be dependence on timely development of transmission links for evacuation of power. An important pillar of the Gati Shakti initiative is to constitute a governance mechanism through which representatives from 16 ministries now work together for planning and implementation of core infrastructure projects. The identified 16 ministries form part of a Network Planning Group, and now any project with an estimated value of over Rs.5 billion is deliberated and approved at this forum. This mechanism of coordinated planning brilliantly complements the otherwise robust project execution capabilities of individual infrastructure ministries and states. We assess that this coordinated development shall have three key benefits for the logistics sector: Linkage infrastructure requirements for projects shall be identified early and their development shall be monitored as well along with the core project; missing link infrastructure projects can be identified and executed, this can enhance capacity utilisation and efficiency at existing assets; and joint planning can ensure that duplicative projects are avoided, this shall reduce instances where different infrastructure departments may announce plans to develop projects that shall serve overlapping markets and could lead to unintended competition. Undoubtedly the most ground-breaking feature of Gati Shakti is development of a digital master planning facility that at present combines close to 900 layers of information on a GIS platform. We understand that this platform is already being used for scientific planning of projects in a manner that execution hurdles like requirements for special approvals, interface issues, and requirement of utilities shifting are minimised. It is envisaged that for new projects this digital platform shall also be used to apply for clearances as well as to monitor progress. As an infrastructure investor, we can say that the investing community is greatly enthused by this initiative since it further paves the way for efficiently planned projects to be brought to market, where uncertainties pertaining to approvals and last mile land acquisition are minimised. Finally, we understand that the above discussed GIS based planning interface, which is presently available only to government ministries/departments, shall eventually be opened for access to all. The Gati Shakti GIS interface shall therefore, for the first time, allow investors to have a bird’s eye view of where there may be infrastructure service gaps and further where new assets may be created considering available land parcels and easy availability of complementing infrastructure. Such easily available, updated, and digitised information on existing infrastructure, economic nodes, revenue maps, and planned projects shall be a powerful planning tool for private investors. In conclusion, the Gati Shakti initiative is a significant step forward for harmonisation of efforts across government agencies and shall be a tool to drive investments and operational efficiencies in the transport & logistics and overall infrastructure space. Improved coordination among stakeholders and enhanced transparency in project execution is likely to further boost the confidence of global investors in increasing allocations to our country. By: Sujoy Bose, MD & CEO, National Investment & Infrastructure Fund Limited