As nations grapple with how to implement ambitious infrastructure agendas amid rising costs and complex regulatory environments, India has quietly pioneered an innovative solution. While much recent attention has focused on the country’s technological advances in digital payments and identity systems, another digital transformation has been revolutionising how India manages its massive infrastructure projects.
This week, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, launched a case study examining India’s PRAGATI platform — a digital initiative that has helped accelerate more than 340 major infrastructure projects worth some $205 billion. The study, released at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore earlier this week, reveals how digital governance under the highest level of political leadership can help nations overcome traditional bottlenecks in infrastructure development.
PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) was launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and combines leadership with video conferencing, drone feeds, and data management to enable oversight of critical infrastructure. The platform’s impact has helped complete long-delayed projects like segments of National Highway 8 in Maharashtra, the Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, which is now the world’s highest rail bridge, and the Bogibeel Bridge in Assam, which had languished for more than a decade before being completed within three years of coming under review in PRAGATI.
What makes PRAGATI noteworthy is the way it leverages the impact of active leadership from the top. Based on SWAGAT, a digital platform started by then Chief Minister Modi in Gujarat to address people’s grievances, PRAGATI has enabled the prime minister to take a consistent, direct role in overseeing complex infrastructure projects. In PRAGATI meetings, he is joined by senior aides, the cabinet secretary, all chief secretaries of states, and secretaries of the central ministries in dedicated video conference links. At these gatherings, the prime minister asks detailed questions about problems and delays, sets specific deadlines, and proposes solutions.
The value of this high-level involvement can’t be overstated. In a large country with a complex federal structure, it communicates the importance of infrastructure development as a top national priority and injects a sense of urgency and accountability into the bureaucratic process. When officials know their decisions are trackable, they are much more motivated to move quickly to resolve bottlenecks. Top-level leadership also inspires new enthusiasm for collaboration among stakeholders. Bridging the political divide, PRAGATI has proven equally valuable in accelerating complex infrastructure projects in all states, whether governed by the same political party in charge at the national level or by another political party in a particular state.
Consider the construction of the Bogibeel Bridge that runs across the wide Brahmaputra River, once viewed as “unbridgeable”. When the project entered the PRAGATI system in 2015, a decade had passed with minimal construction. Weather challenges, worker attrition, and land procurement issues had all stymied progress. The platform’s intervention prompted regular site visits by both state and central ministry officials and catalysed unprecedented cooperation between central and state agencies, leading to acceleration of work on what is now a lifeline for the remote region of Dhemaji.
PRAGATI’s success has inspired the creation of complementary digital platforms. PM Gati Shakti, launched in 2021, provides sophisticated geospatial planning tools that help optimise infrastructure design and reduce adverse environmental impact. PARIVESH has streamlined environmental clearances, leading to greater transparency and also reducing approval times, at times from 600 days earlier to just 70-75 days now. Together, these platforms form a digital ecosystem that is transforming how India approaches infrastructure development.
The impact extends beyond physical infrastructure. PRAGATI has also accelerated social development programmes, from rural electrification to providing tap water connections to millions of households.
This digital transformation in infrastructure governance offers valuable lessons for other nations seeking to build sustainable infrastructure for the future, particularly in the developing world. First, technology alone isn’t enough — success requires sustained leadership from the top to drive implementation. Second, digital platforms must be designed to facilitate collaboration across different levels of government while respecting local autonomy. Third, combining various technological tools — from video conferencing to drone monitoring — creates powerful synergies for project oversight.
The results speak for themselves. Studies by the Reserve Bank of India estimate that for every rupee spent on infrastructure, the country sees a 2.5 to 3.5-rupee gain in GDP. With JP Morgan predicting India will become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, the country’s digital approach to infrastructure governance could serve as a model for other emerging economies.
The challenge now is to build on this foundation. As India works toward its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047, platforms like PRAGATI will need to evolve to handle increasingly complex projects. But the core principle — using the right combination of technology and leadership to dramatically accelerate infrastructure development by driving collaboration, accountability, and transparency — offers a powerful template for nations seeking to transform their approach to infrastructure development.
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The platform’s approach could be particularly valuable for initiatives like the African Union’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), which aims to close the continent’s infrastructure gap through cross-border projects. PRAGATI’s accomplishments in managing complex multi-state infrastructure developments
offer a time-tested template for handling such collaborations.
As countries across the Global South work to modernise their infrastructure and support rapidly growing populations and urbanisation, PRAGATI’s combination of digital innovation and high-level coordination provides a valuable model for accelerating development while ensuring accountability and effective resource utilisation.
Dutta is Dean and Professor of Management at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Iyer is India’s Executive Director at the World Bank. Views are personal
