NEW DELHI : Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: The central government is prepared to soon provide corporate investors access to the database of the government’s national master plan for multi-modal connectivity – PM Gati Shakti to help plan their investments related to the initiative, said Amrit Lal Meena, Special Secretary of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Amrit Lal was addressing a virtual event hosted by industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Amrit Lal informed that registered businesses also, apart from investors, will get access to the information on the portal. The Gati Shakti portal has over 400 layers of database including the information about the forest land and industrial estate available to set up new units. The access will aid businesses to prepare a roadmap for shipments and remove bottlenecks, he noted.
On the other hand, the government is also planning to provide one-time password-based registrations to businesses and industry bodies to convey their issues for the government to address, he added.
Launched in October last year, according to a statement by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Gati Shakti will integrate 24 ‘digital systems’ of six ministries through Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) – a single-window platform set-up by the government to enhance efficiency by reducing the cost of logistics in India and offer real-time information to all stakeholders.
The master plan for multi-modal connectivity has brought 16 ministries including civil aviation, roadways, MEITY, shipping, petroleum, etc., together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. The plan incorporates government schemes such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, and UDAN, and covers economic zones to make Indian businesses more competitive.
The master plan intends to achieve this by using a geographic information system (GIS)-enabled digital platform that would enable government agencies and other stakeholders to upload master plans. It would also allow tracking and aligning of their projects with ongoing inter-related projects implemented by other agencies.
According to Amrit Lal, small businesses can benefit with the information available on the portal and take informed decisions to scale their business.
In order to attract investors to bet on Make in India initiative of the government with schemes such as production-linked incentive, Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman in her union budget speech earlier this year had announced the extension of the concessional corporate tax rate of 15 per cent by one more year — till March 2024 from March 2023 for newly incorporated manufacturing companies
