NEW DELHI: On water and under the ground, two potentially game-changing government projects have sped up after Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally led efforts to break administrative logjams.Senior officials in the government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told ET that the two projects are Sagarmala — the waterways upgrade plan aimed at making water transport a major option for businesses — and the national fibre optic network project that aims to bring Internet to every Indian village. Sagarmala, officials said, was held up mainly because of differences between shipping and rail ministries.Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari ’s many meetings and his interventions with state governments helped speed up things. And it was the PM’s strong intervention that led to the big breakthrough, another official said. Coal Secretary Anil Swarup is the convener of an inter-ministerial secretarial group looking at Sagarmala.Officials said all core details of the project have been finalised, including reducing project cost to Rs 4,000 crore from Rs 6,000 crore. RITES, a government consultancy firm, has been asked to work out final logistics.Sagarmala is a sum of 150 projects under categories like port modernisation, connectivity, port-led industrialisation and coastal community development. Vajpayee government idea mooted first in 2003, it aims to make water transport cheap and effective. "It took four meetings of the secretaries’ group to get all ministries on board,” an official said.“After consultation, it was decided that some part of the existing rail network, instead of building a new line, will be used…that has also brought down the cost of the project. It looks like a win-win for all,” this official said. Railways had wanted existing tracks to be used while shipping had wanted a new track.Officials said in meetings held in PMO in May and April, the PM had taken the lead himself in getting these projects going.“His (the PM’s) intervention made a huge impression. There are ways he points out things. He applauds efforts but wants answers. He keeps telling us, 'Don't work in silos. The government has been elected to deliver. It has to',” a senior bureaucrat familiar with these developments told ET. Another official said the PM had remarked in one meeting that in presentations where behind-schedule projects are marked red, the “colour should be deep red”.“That comment showed the extent of his personal commitment to speeding up crucial projects,” this official said. On the fibre optics project, a senior official familiar with the PM’s views said “problems have been existing since Sam Pitroda ’s time (Pitroda was appointed by various Congress governments earlier)…but the PM wants the targets to be reached soon”. “We need restrategising,” the official said. Telecom department officials said only 500 km of cable had been laid when the Modi government assumed power in May 2014. And that the figure is now over 1,30,000 km. However, only 7,000 gram panchayats have received final connectivity out of 1,00,000 gram panchayats targeted in the first phase. A senior telecom official said questions were raised about connectivity but also that the minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad , was praised by the PM.“This (the fibre-optic project) came up in the meeting with the PM. He applauded the ministry on our progress in fibre-laying efforts but had asked about connecting villages.We told him we had to go for fresh tenders and new electronics are being procured. We have not revised the target as we are confident that after September, once the electronics are in place, the target can be achieved,” the official said. The first phase deadline is March 2017.Telecom officials also said they are working on an expanded strategy of mixing underground cabling with overhead connections and digital hot spots to speed up last-mile connectivity."Also there is constant monitoring not just by the PMO, but by the concerned minister, inter-ministerial groups and Niti Aayog. So there is no escaping giving account of what remains and what has happened,” a senior bureaucrat said.