Central Government’s priority is to address 1st and last mile connectivity issues of North India

The challenge of first- and last-mile connectivity faced by most of the Northern States/UTs due to hilly terrain can be addressed by using GatiShakti NMP to plan infrastructure and social sector projects. This will result in benefits related to ease of doing business, ease of living, and ease of service delivery, greatly enhancing business investments and tourism.

During an exclusive meeting with Northern states Special secretary Logistics SumitaDawra urged them to utilize Gati Shakti national master plan for area development. She suggested a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis can be conducted by the States/UTs in North India to identify gaps in social, infrastructure, and logistics for area development planning

The central government has invested at least Rs five lakh crores for dedicated freight corridor from Delhi to Mumbai and from Ludhiana to Kolkata for the benefit of North and Western Indian states. Further the shipping ministry has invested nearly five thousand crores during the last ten years to develop inland water transport centered around Varanasi and Bihar. All these are attempts to tackle problems of transportation in land locked regions of the country.

A review meeting was convened for the North Zone States/UTs, chaired by Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, Ms. SumitaDawra yesterday in virtual mode. The meeting witnessed active participation from States/UTs viz Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttarakhand. She began the meeting by expressing appreciation for the good work done by the States/UTs and requested presentations on use cases that have emerged from them.

She emphasized that the 'Whole of Government' approach which breaks departmental silos will also benefit in developing the ‘Vibrant Village’ of Northern States like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territory of Ladakh

To encourage greater utilization of the Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) amongst the States/UTs, the Logistics Division, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce y organizes weekly meetings. Several meetings are held with North Indian states to promote logistics in the region.These meetings involve discussions with the nodal officers/ representatives from different States and Union Territories (UTs) to assess their advancements in assets mapping and project planning using the National Master Plan.

The Special Secretary said that, in accordance with the guiding principles of the GatiShakti National Master Plan will offer Multimodal connectivity for socio-economicdevelopment, facilitating area development, and first and last-mile connectivity to the remotest area for service delivery.