DPIIT seeks comments from relevant ministries to grant limited access of Gati Shakti portal to private sector

With an eye on national security and data privacy, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has finalised a draft framework for sharing the Gati Shakti national master plan data with the private sector.

The framework will entail details of the extent of “viewing rights”, as well as access rights to social and economic infrastructure-related data with a private entity.

Currently, only state and central government ministries and departments can access the portal for detailed planning and implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects in a time-bound manner.

“While we want to share the data with the private sector, we need to be cautious regarding the extent of data that will be shared. The wealth of data in the national master plan should not be misused. A draft framework has already been developed,” a senior government official said. The framework will be rolled out after getting comments and views from relevant ministries.

As of now, more than 1,450 layers of information have been uploaded on the national masterplan, including information related to railway and port connectivity, gas pipelines, optic fibre across the country, land records, which may include personal data, as well. Of this, 585 data layers have been uploaded by 36 central ministries and departments and 872 have been uploaded by states and Union Territories.

“Apart from national security concerns, the government will also have to take care of privacy concerns since a data set may pertain to an individual, as well,” said the official cited above.

The idea behind giving access to the national masterplan data to private players is to help them in the execution of infrastructure projects. However, preparing protocols for private users’ access shall be crucial, considering security concerns. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also been consulted in connection with the draft framework.

The Gati Shakti national master plan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over one and a half years ago. The master plan is a comprehensive database of ongoing and future infrastructure projects of various ministries, with the larger idea to bring down logistics costs by addressing the issue of missing connectivity gaps, as well as support data-based decision-making.

All the existing and proposed economic zones have been mapped in a portal, carrying the details of multimodal connectivity infrastructure. Apart from central government departments, all states and Union Territories have already uploaded data on the national masterplan, government officials said.

The masterplan is also being used to plan social infrastructure needs of the country, such as building hospitals and schools. Business Standard