Network Planning Group under PM Gati to work with state governments to identify delays in execution of infra projects

The Economic Survey 2023 noted that the infrastructure expansion has come at a time of crisis when the capital expenditure by the private sector has been subdued. (Representative Image)

Network Planning Group (NPG), the empowered group under the PM Gati Shakti scheme, will start working along with state governments in order to identify reasons for delays in the execution of infra projects, multiple government officials said.

"Some infra projects of national importance that are being executed by state governments face delays due to a variety of reasons and miscommunication or lack of coordination between central ministries, and state governments," a government official said.

He added that the NPG will flag reasons for delays of both, projects being run by state governments and central government, in the upcoming meetings of the NPG.

Another official said that for projects that have been delayed by more than 12 months, a special task force will be created comprising members from the NPG to evaluate and suggest ways to expedite the project.

The initiative by the NPG comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week flagged the issue of cost overruns and delays in completing infra projects in India.

Last week, Modi asked all agencies concerned to complete pre-construction activities, such as shifting of utilities and expeditious resolution of land acquisition well in advance for faster completion of works.

The PM's comments come after he chaired the meeting of Pragati after a gap of nine months. Modi reviewed the progress of nine projects entailing a total investment of Rs 41,500 crore and the flagship Amrit Sarovar scheme, which aims to conserve water and recharge groundwater.

The Pragati is an ICT-based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, involving Centre and State governments. In the meetings, so far 328 projects having a total cost of Rs 15.82 lakh crore have been reviewed.

Last week, the NPG also recommended 63 infrastructure projects on the principles of PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan.

The identified projects are worth around Rs 4.53 lakh crore which aims to boost urban connectivity, support manufacturing and logistics. These projects will now be taken under the oversight of the PM Gati Shakti NMP.

The identified projects by the NPG include development of key multimodal projects, including several expressways, road networks, rapid rail, metro rail, railway projects and petroleum pipelines, spread across regions.

These projects are expected to be expedited with the backing of the NPG through faster approvals and implementation.

In all, 23 projects fall under the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways at a cumulative cost of Rs 299,476 crore. This includes the Pune-Bengaluru Expressway, being the most capital intensive at an estimated cost of Rs 49,241 crore.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has eight identified projects, including the 107-km stretch of the Delhi-Gurugram-SNB (Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behrod) Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor, which is part of the Delhi-Alwar RRTS, with a capital of Rs 37,987 crore.

The other listed projects are under the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.

The NPG consists of heads of the network planning wings of respective infrastructure ministries and will assist the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS), which is headed by the cabinet secretary. The NPG is chaired by the Special Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

The PM Gati Shakti NMP was launched in October 2021 with the objectives of holistically integrating the interventions of various ministries and departments, and addressing the gaps to ensure seamless movement of people, goods and services.