Digital platform for offshore development
Aiming to strengthen India’s Blue Economy and support the nation’s transition toward green energy and sustainable coastal growth, India has launched a ‘PM GatiShakti – Offshore’, a pioneering initiative under the successful four-year-old PM GatiShakti Programme.
The new initiative is developed as a digital platform for the integrated planning and management of offshore development which provides a unified geospatial interface that consolidates critical datasets from multiple government ministries and departments to enable data-driven decision-making for projects such as offshore wind farms, marine resource exploration, and coastal infrastructure development.
The platform embodies a Whole-of-Government approach by integrating datasets from key Ministries and Departments, including the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Power, and Department of Telecommunications.
“This seamless inter-ministerial integration facilitates holistic planning and efficient utilization of India’s vast offshore potential,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 13 Oct.
The Logistics Division, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) launched “PM GatiShakti – Offshore” during the commemorative event celebrating four years of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) at New Delhi.
The event was chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.
The portal hosts an extensive repository of geospatial layers categorized under domains such as Energy and Resources, Environment and Ecology, Infrastructure and Logistics, and Oceanic and Hazard Data.
These include detailed datasets on offshore wind, solar, tidal, wave, and ocean thermal energy potential; oil and gas fields and pipelines; bathymetry and sedimentary basins; coastal regulation zones; coral reefs, mangroves, and marine mammal areas; ports, airports, power infrastructure, and fish landing centres; along with oceanographic and hazard indicators such as surface currents, wave heights, and earthquake risk zones. Collectively, these layers provide planners, regulators, and investors with critical insights for sustainable and technically sound decision-making.
The platform offers significant advantages for diverse stakeholders involved in offshore development. It enhances visibility of potential infrastructure overlaps and regulatory hurdles in coastal regions during the planning stage, thereby minimizing project delays and risks. It enables a holistic, data-driven approach to offshore area management and resource allocation, streamlines environmental assessment and clearance processes, and serves as a centralized repository of authentic geospatial data from verified government sources.
For example, while planning offshore power transmission routes, the platform can integrate datasets from multiple ministries, including the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Department of Telecommunications.
In the case of a proposed High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea link connecting the Indian mainland with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, bathymetry data can be analyzed to identify optimal seabed depths for cost-effective cable laying, while ecological layers such as coral reefs, mangroves, and turtle nesting zones can help avoid environmentally sensitive areas. Similarly, overlays of hydrocarbon exploration blocks, optical fibre routes, and marine traffic corridors can guide the selection of technically feasible and environmentally compliant alignments.
By enabling such multi-layered analysis and visualization, PM GatiShakti – Offshore ensures precision, transparency, and sustainability in national offshore planning. The platform stands as a testament to India’s growing capability in leveraging geospatial intelligence for strategic infrastructure development, promoting balanced growth of the Blue Economy, and advancing the national vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047, said the Ministry. Fiinews.com
