Key infrastructure-gap projects to get big Budget push

The Centre will give a big push to critical infrastructure-gap projects that have been identified using the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan in the upcoming budget. It may also provide additional funding support to states for executing these.

Government officials said priority projects include rail, port, road, and other last-mile infrastructure linkages for agriculture, food, steel, and coal sectors among others. Railway lines that need to be doubled or roads that require widening over a short distance to free up blockages are the kinds of projects that will receive priority attention, said a senior government official. The government has already identified 197 such critical infrastructure-gap projects. “These would get an additional allocation and focus under the Gati Shakti,” a senior government official told ET. “Bottlenecks that slow down movement of goods will be targeted.”