DPIIT and GatiShakti Vishwavidyalaya sign MoU to advance PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, teamed up with GatiShakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) in a collaborative effort to elevate India's infrastructure and logistics sectors. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) solidifies GSV's role as the central agency across India responsible for designing, developing, and implementing courses and curriculum aligned with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan and National Logistics Policy at various centers in different states.

In the presence of distinguished Ministers such as Piyush Goyal and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles, Piyush Goyal emphasized that PM GatiShakti is poised to become a global planning tool. He commended the pivotal role of GSV in facilitating skill development and capacity building within the logistics sector, subsequently fostering formalization and efficiency. The collaborative effort of more than 16 Central Ministries, including NITI Aayog and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), marks the culmination of a comprehensive approach, encompassing smarter planning and implementation, structured specialized development, and capacity building.

Goyal further underscored the positive impact of this initiative, highlighting its potential to lower logistics costs, streamline operations, and nurture a competitive business environment, thereby contributing to the holistic growth envisioned by the concept of Amrit Kaal. This MoU signifies the commencement of a new chapter in India's logistics and infrastructure narrative, propelling the comprehensive development of the logistics sector and reinforcing India's journey towards becoming a global leader.

During the event, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, and the Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, emphasized the university's significance in offering industry-focused and innovation-driven programs, particularly in the fields of railways, metro, and high-speed railways. He highlighted the development of specialized programs tailored to specific industries or sectors, such as the five courses dedicated to railway studies covering areas like track technology, rail-wheel interaction, thermodynamics, and signaling systems. The specialized courses offered at GSV aim to prepare students for the demands of the future workforce, with plans to train 15,000 students at GSV, ensuring their placement in the aviation industry. GSV's core objective is to align India's skill development needs with global standards.

The MoU was officially signed by the Vice-Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, Prof. Dr. Manoj Choudhary, and the Joint Secretary of the Logistics Division at DPIIT, E. Srinivas, in the presence of the respective Ministers, Sh. Piyush Goyal and Sh. Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Ms. Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary at DPIIT, emphasized the significance of India's progression in enhancing its logistics performance to meet global benchmarks by 2030. The transformative reforms initiated by the Government of India in multimodal infrastructure development, aimed at facilitating ease of doing business, improving quality of life, and supporting EXIM trade-related logistics, were highlighted. The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, a flagship initiative launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 13th October 2021, aims to build next-generation infrastructure and cultivate a globally competitive logistics ecosystem.

GatiShakti Vishwavidyalaya, conceptualized and envisioned by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, was established to leverage existing infrastructure and resources, augmenting them to create professional courses catering to the logistics industry. Serving as India’s first Railway University and the third of its kind worldwide, after Russia and China, GSV was dedicated to the nation in December 2018.

The PM Gati Shakti Master Plan serves as a critical tool, integrating economic and infrastructural planning with socio-economic development. Over the past two years, notable progress has been achieved, including the development of the digital platform (NMP) and individual portals, efficient data management on these platforms, the integration of various ministries and states, and extensive training and capacity building initiatives.

As of now, 1463 data layers from Central Ministries and States/UTs have been uploaded onto the GIS-data based National Master Plan portal. Additionally, 39 individual portals for line Ministries and 36 State/UT portals have been developed and integrated. Notably, 22 out of the 39-line Ministries onboarded onto the PM GatiShakti are Social Sector Ministries, demonstrating the initiative's comprehensive approach toward holistic socio-economic development across the country.

To complement the PM GatiShakti NMP, the National Logistics Policy (NLP) was launched on 17th September 2022 by Hon’ble PM, focusing on the development of soft infrastructure and the logistics sector, including process reforms, improvement of logistics services, digitization, human resource development, and skill enhancement. The NLP aims to drive economic growth and enhance business competitiveness through the establishment of an integrated, efficient, reliable, green, sustainable, and cost-effective logistics network, ultimately reducing logistics costs and improving overall performance.

Under the Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan (CLAP), the National Logistics Policy advocates the creation of a Logistics Human Resources Development & Capacity Building Strategy, which involves the development of competency frameworks for formalizing logistics professionals and the integration of logistics and supply chain courses into various academic curricula across institutions.

GSV is expected to collaborate with the Logistics Division to establish "knowledge centers" of PM GatiShakti in different states and institutions, acting as repositories for the best practices of the PM GatiShakti approach, as well as logistics-related research and innovation. Following the "hub and spoke" model and leveraging the infrastructure of Central Training Institutes and State Administrative Training Institutes, GSV will work with the Logistics Division to build a repository of resource persons from both the public and private sectors, offering extensive practical experience in logistics policy and the sector.

Established in 2022, Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara operates as a Central University, mandated to produce top-tier talent and professionals for the entire transportation and logistics sectors. Sponsored by the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, GSV is designed to operate across various domains, including railways, shipping, ports, highways, roads, waterways, and aviation, among others.

Driven by a demand-centric curriculum and leveraging the cutting-edge infrastructure of all Centralized Training Institutes of Indian Railways, GSV aims to cultivate a pool of professionals specializing in technology, economics, management, and policy through a multifaceted educational approach encompassing undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and executive training programs, as well as research initiatives. Additionally, GSV is committed to providing training for Indian Railways probationers and serving officers, emphasizing its industry-driven and innovation-focused approach by fostering collaborations with leading global institutions and industries.

The ongoing implementation of PM GatiShakti NMP by Ministries and States/ UTs over the past two years highlights the diversity and scale of the initiative in facilitating infrastructure planning. The dissemination of the benefits of utilizing PM GatiShakti NMP among various stakeholders is crucial, with institutions like GSV poised to play a pivotal role in sharing these learnings.

Moreover, GSV's potential as a knowledge hub for GatiShakti and logistics infrastructure planning provides an excellent opportunity to extend the international interest surrounding PM GatiShakti, facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange at a global level.