India is targeting to be a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. As per a study by Oxford Economics, the country would need to spend $4.51 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 to realise the vision of a $5 trillion economy by 2025, and to continue an escalated trajectory until 2030. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) aims at investing over Rs 111 trillion into several infrastructure projects between 2019 and 2025.National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDC) is also playing a key role in development of the infrastructure backbone. The theme of the event this year resonated well with the current focus of the industry – PM Gati Shakti: Can it help the national infrastructure pipeline achieve its target? What’s more, the event successfully enhanced cooperation and exchange of information between decision-makers and industry leaders from the industry discussing the impact of the PM Gati Shakti on various infrastructure sectors including Metros, Ports, Railways, and Roads. An ultimate platform for exchanging views and opportunities, it opened new channels of communication and planning, with over 150 delegates who were decision-makers from inter-governmental agencies, project owners, contractors, developers and builders, contracting agencies, and financiers. Experts discussed how mega projects like Navi Mumbai International Airport, Sagarmala, Coastal Road, Mumbai Trans-harbour Link, Noida International Airport among others are likely to witness economic benefits with the implementation of Gati Shakti as timelines for DPRs and land acquisition have been shortened. Highlighting the Ministry of Statistics &Programme Implementation Report, Pratap Padode, President, FIRST Construction Council,raised the need for a tool tosynchronise the plans of multiple ministries by highlighting the gross waste of resources due to delays. “We are wasting nearly Rs 5 billion a day due to project delays,” he informed in his welcome address. Speaker insights Sharing a global perspective, Ronald Bisio, Sr Vice President, TRIMBLE Inc, emphasised on how the importance of technology in construction was growing in India, which was evident from the growth of Trimble’s operation in the country. The event went on to unveil a discussion on Gati Shakti empowerment: Way forward to reach $5 trillion economy. In this session,industry bigwigs explained how Gati Shakti will enable them to achieve their targets and mission. Moderated by Pratap Padode, eminent speakers included Capt. BVJK Sharma, CEO, Navi Mumbai International Airport; SV Desai, Director & Sr Vice President – Infrastructure, L&T; Shailesh Pathak, Director, Indian School of Public Policy; MK Gupta, Former Member Engineering, Railway Board; Ramnath Sonawane, Secretary, Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority; and RajanAiyer, Managing Director, Trimble India.Sharing his experiences, Captain BVJK Sharma, CEO,Navi Mumbai International Airport, said, “We expect to complete the airport by December 2024 and cater to both domestic and international passengers.Moreover, the passenger handling capacity will escalate from 60 million to 90 million annually.” SV Desai, Director & Sr Vice President (Civil Infrastructure), L&T, affirmed that Gati Shakti would indeed catalyse the goal of turning India into a $5 trillion economy. He went on to elucidate on the pace at which Mumbai-based projects were being executed by L&T. He asserted that all the current projects are moving ahead at the right pace including the Mumbai Metro project. In case of Mumbai Metro, he added, apart from connectivity to the depot, most of the work was almost complete. He further informed, “The Coastal Road is likely to be completed by December 2023.” The conclave also included a power packed discussion on ‘Implementation, Operations and Maintenance: Challenges and Technological solutions’. Moderated by VN Heggade, Design & Construction Consultant, DECon Complete Solutions; eminent speakers on the panel included Dr Nalin Gupta, Managing Director, J Kumar Infraprojects; Vinod Agrawal, Director-System & Operation, MAHA Metro; Umakant Mahapatra, Dy Project Director, AYESA ING; Harsh Pareek, Regional Sales Director, Trimble; and Vrajesh Lad, Manager-Steel Projects, Telge Projects, Pune. In yet another interesting discussion, Ajay Singh, Vice President-Supply Chain Management, Hindustan Platinum, moderated the session on Last Mile Connectivity and strengthening Supply Chain. Eminent speakers on this panel included Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Managing Director, ATC Global Logistics; Devdatta Bose, Marketing and Business Strategy - Ports and Maritime, Tata Consulting Engineers; Ashish Jhagarawat, Director & CEO, Moon SEZ Consultants; and AmjaliBhide, Executive Committee Member, AMTOI. The knowledge-filled conclave also presented several case studies. To highlight the plans of Noida International Airport and share his thoughts on building regional lower capacity airports in India, Nicolas Schenk, Chief Development Officer, Noida International Airport, made a case study presentation. He said, “Noida International Airport will have a capacity for over 12 million annual passengers when it opens in 2024, which will grow to over 70 million annual passengers.” Maritime Vision (MIV) 2030 accelerates the growth of the maritime sector over the next decade. Rajiv Jalota, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, elaborated on how MIV 2030 will put India on the global maritime map. He emphasized, “Major ports need to under¬take 423 MTPA capacity additions. A total invest¬ment of over Rs 334.29 billion has been en¬visaged for this capacity expansion. Out of this, approximately 95 per cent capacity expansion is likely to be planned under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or Captive mode by major ports.” With focus on modernisation in Indian railways, Abhilash Bhure, SrManager, Monarch, made his presentation on tech intervention in Indian Rail System. At a time when metros are practically changing the skyline of our cities, Akanksh Kashyap, CMO, Telge Projects, Pune, presented a case study on Mangalwar Peth Metro Station in Pune. A perfect exchange of thoughts In discussing the key concern areas in infrastructure building as also the status of ongoing projects, the conclave infused a new wave of symbiosis. A symbiosis between all the industry stakeholders who came together to brainstorm and enlighten the audience. The Infrastructure Conclave 2022 was a precise reaffirmation of the fact that corporates and government bodies are all set to script a new chapterby catalysinggrowth in India. And the journeyto realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of turning India into a $5 trillion economy hasindeed begun. While the INFRATSUCTURE TODAY conclave concluded in great success, this triumph have been achieved in robust partnerships. The event was co-hosted by Swarajya and supported by Principal Partner: Trimble; Silver Partner: J Kumar Infraprojects; Associate Partner: SBI Capital Market; Association Partners: US – India Importers Council and Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India; Other Partners: Fuji Silvertech, CONSTRUCTION WORLD, EQUIPMENT INDIA.