A case study by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, published in December 2024 and supported by the Gates Foundation, has highlighted India’s PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) platform as a transformative force in the country’s digital governance landscape.
Titled “From Gridlock to Growth: How Leadership Enables India’s PRAGATI Ecosystem to Power Progress,” the study found that PRAGATI has helped accelerate more than 340 critical infrastructure and social development projects worth an estimated $205 billion since its launch in March 2015. The report underscores the platform’s pivotal role in overcoming implementation bottlenecks and expediting decision-making across sectors.
The Oxford study points to the Bogibeel Bridge as an example of how top-level leadership supported by PRAGATI has enabled progress on major infrastructure. According to the report, the Prime Minister’s active oversight of PRAGATI reviews has lent urgency and accountability to stalled initiatives, rallying resources, galvanising implementing teams and motivating workers on the ground.
The case study details several mechanisms through which PRAGATI has influenced project outcomes. One key element is the setting of enforceable deadlines. Large infrastructure projects — including roads, railways, power plants and bridges — involve complex logistics and inter-agency coordination. Without clear timelines, such projects can languish. The Oxford report cites the Pakri-Barwadih coal mine in Jharkhand as a case in point. Approved in 2006, the project saw little progress until it was reviewed under PRAGATI in 2016. The Prime Minister asked the state government to resolve compensation issues and maintain law and order at the site within two months. Although not the only bottleneck, this directive set progress in motion and the mine was completed in 2019.
The study also notes that PRAGATI has helped streamline processes within government ministries. In 2017, delays in the Ministry of Railways over approval of general arrangement drawings — essential for construction to begin — were identified as a key hold-up. The Prime Minister encouraged an integrated and accelerated approach, urging the ministry to adopt technology solutions. This led to the launch of an electronic drawing approval system in 2020, which digitised drawing submission, review and approval, significantly shortening approval timelines.
Facilitating collaboration across states and ministries is another feature of PRAGATI cited in the Oxford analysis. The Ennore-Thiruvallur-Bengaluru-Puducherry-Nagapattinam-Madurai-Tuticorin gas pipeline project — spanning three states and impacting 400 villages — was completed in January 2024 after coordinated action to resolve right-of-way issues. The Prime Minister, drawing on administrative experience, directed the governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in 2018 to authorise a single implementing agency to negotiate with landowners, simplifying dispute resolution.
Policy analysts say the Oxford study reinforces the view that leadership-led review mechanisms such as PRAGATI can play a decisive role in moving complex infrastructure projects forward. By combining real-time monitoring with top-level oversight, the platform has helped break bureaucratic inertia and aligns implementation with clearly defined timelines.
The Oxford report concludes that PRAGATI’s model of digital governance — anchored in leadership engagement and collaborative problem-solving — offers valuable lessons for countries looking to transform infrastructure execution and improve development outcomes.
