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How India's PRAGATI digital platform has accelerated its infrastructure revolution - a Saïd Business School-Gates Foundation case study

Published

Delivery of India's infrastructure projects has been transformed with PRAGATI, shows case study.

A unique digital governance platform in India, personally led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has transformed the delivery of the country’s infrastructure projects, a study by Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and the Gates Foundation has found.

Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) has driven accountability at the most senior level, and supported unprecedented federal and regional collaboration, accelerating 340 projects across the country, worth $205bn, and cutting through decades of delays. It has also enabled Indian Prime Minister Modi, personally to hold key infrastructure projects to account, challenging decision making and slashing red tape bureaucracy.

Titled ‘From gridlock to growth: how leadership enables India’s PRAGATI ecosystem to power progress’, the case study notes many of the 340 projects were anywhere from three to 20 years overdue. For some, most of the physical work had been completed and the project needed help closing out. Others had seen no construction at all. The study highlights the ways in which PRAGATI, which features a digital dashboard for real-time project monitoring and supports video conference review meetings chaired by PM Modi, has helped cut project delays from decades to months.

Building on PRAGATI’s experiences, other developing countries have a valuable opportunity also to revolutionise their approach to infrastructure development.

Soumitra Dutta

Peter Moores Dean and Professor of Management at Oxford Saïd

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Soumitra Dutta, Peter Moores Dean and Professor of Management at Oxford Saïd, said: 'PRAGATI shows us it is essential for nations to cultivate an environment where top leadership is using technology to drive cross-collaboration and regular accountability reviews. This is particularly valuable for countries aiming to make infrastructure development a pillar of economic growth. The transition towards such systems may require initial investment and cultural shifts, but the long-term benefits of more reliable infrastructure and public trust are immeasurable, delivering a ripple effect of efficiency and success in their development agenda.’

The findings were released today at a symposium hosted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bengaluru, which brought together leaders from academia and the public and private sectors to discuss how digital governance can transform infrastructure development.

Parameswaran Iyer, Executive Director at the World Bank representing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka, set the context for the case study, with Dean Dutta, presenting key insights. Dr Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank, who wrote the introduction to the case study, also joined the symposium by video conference from Washington DC in the US.

The event featured a panel discussion with S N Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director of Larsen and Toubro, and Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of the Capacity Building Commission in India. Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director of IIM Bengaluru, moderated the panel. Hari Menon, Director of the India office for the Gates Foundation, which funded the case study, made concluding remarks.

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The case study highlights some of the projects PRAGATI has helped fast track, including:   

  • The Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, now the world’s highest rail bridge. Stalled for a decade before coming under review in PRAGATI, the bridge is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link that connects Kashmir with the rest of India by train, providing a vital social, political and economic link.
  • The Bogibeel Bridge over the Brahmaputra River in Assam, which has provided a lifeline for people living in the remote region of Dhemaji. This project had also languished for more than a decade before entering the PRAGATI system in 2015. 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 the bridge’s completion in 2018.
  • The Jal Jeevan Mission, an ambitious programme to provide indoor tap water connections to every rural household in India. PRAGATI reviews have helped accelerate progress on this initiative by facilitating better coordination between the central Ministry of Jal Shakti and state-level implementing agencies. A review in 2021, for instance, led to a 20% increase in the rate of new tap connections in water-scarce regions over a six-month period. In 2019, just 17% of all Indian households had running water; as of November 2024, 79% do.
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The report found PRAGATI’s ability to drive infrastructure and social development projects forward is rooted in two key elements:

  1. A top-level, hands-on monitoring and review process. PM Modi typically chairs regular video-conference meeting that zooms in on several large infrastructure projects and at least one social development programme. He receives updates, asks questions, proposes solutions, and sets deadlines. It is not uncommon for government leaders to throw their weight behind important initiatives. It is less common, for leaders to sustain their support and drive execution over years.
  2. New levels of collaboration across centre-state and bureaucratic divides. By bringing the chief secretary of every Indian state and the secretaries of each of the country’s many central ministries together at the prime minister’s regular review meetings, PRAGATI has inspired a 'Team India' mindset and encouraged greater levels of cooperation in pursuit of shared national development goals.

As countries around the globe, particularly merging economies, pursue development goals through large infrastructure projects and social initiatives, the case study provides several key learnings from India’s experience with the PRAGATI platform.

Download the case study