Gati Shakti is helping country's telecom infrastructure to be more stable: DIPA

PM Modi proposed a Rs 100 trillion national master plan for multi-modal connectivity to cut logistic costs and improve the economy with the goal of developing infrastructure in the country. PM Modi stated during the unveiling of the programme that  Gati Shakti aims to lower logistic costs, enhance cargo handling capacity, and shorten turnaround time.

The National Master Plan, according to the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA), has given a major boost to robust digital infrastructure and has a lot of relevance to the telecom sector, including a Unified Portal for Approvals of Infrastructure Projects, cross-sector collaboration with other utilities such as water, gas, electricity, broadcasting, railways among others for sharing infrastructure- common ducts, and uniform policy at all levels.

The 'GatiShakti Sanchar' Portal for Right of way (RoW) approvals, which was recently launched by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, is a central collaborative platform between all stakeholders, including  Central and State/UT Governments(s), Local bodies, and service providers , to facilitate faster RoW deployment to boost digital infrastructure in the country.

DIPA had previously praised Ashwini Vaishnaw, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and National Broadband Mission Directorate for establishing the long-awaited centralized RoW Portal, praising them for taking a step ahead in achieving "Ease of Business" by providing openness, accountability and responsiveness to all telecom stakeholders while the application is being processed. Providing a solid framework to achieve the "Broadband to All" aim  of the National Digital Communication Policy-2018.

The telecom industry has noticed a significant reduction in the time it takes to get permissions for the installation of telecom towers and the laying of optical fiber  cables across all states since the portal's inception . Since the portal's introduction, above 30,925 RoW pending applications have been approved across India, improving telecom connectivity. Out of 30,925 RoW applications 23000 have been approved online and almost 7000 have been approved offline, both of which will be reflected on the Gati Shakti Portal shortly.

TR Dua, Director-General, Digital Infrastructure Providers Association, stated: " PM Modi's GatiShakti Master Plan is a major boost to developing a robust telecom infrastructure in our country, and it is imperative to develop 'state-of-art' network architecture just like other infrastructure facilities such as water, sewage, railway, roads and transportation, and so on, as telecommunication services have become an integral and essential  necessity of our daily lives. The advent of Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal has proven to be a game changer in terms of getting long-awaited RoW  applications approved quickly and efficiently."