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In a bid to transform India into a global manufacturing hub, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project was launched by the Union government in 2006. The corridor project, being developed in co-operation with the government of Japan, is one of the largest infrastructure projects planned in India, aiming to develop new industrial cities as "Smart Cities" along the corridor across the states.
The DMIC runs across the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Majority of the projects which are part of DMIC are envisaged to be implemented through public private partnership (PPP).
The DMIC is being implemented by the DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC) which was incorporated in January 2008. As of now, the DMIC trust has approved nine projects Rs 1.2 lakh crore including the Model Solar Power Project Neemrana, Water Desalination Project at Dahej, Vikram Udyogpuri project in Ujjain and the Integrated Industrial Township project in Greater Noida.
In March 2014, the Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh state governments launched the DMIC projects in the respective states. Maharashtra government signed the state support agreement and shareholders' agreement for the first phase of the DMIC project in the state. The project will cover eight districts - Thane, Raigad, Pune, Dhule, Nandurbar, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad within the state.
In the first phase of the DMIC project in Maharashtra, the focus will be on development of the Shendre-Bidkin Industrial City and an exhibition-cum-convention centre in Aurangabad, a multi-modal logistics park at Karmad, and a water supply scheme in Shendre. In the second phase, the state intends to take up the Dighi Port Industrial area, Dhule Mega Industrial Park, Nashik-Sinnar-Igatpuri Investment Region and a multi-modal logistics park.
In Uttar Pradesh, the foundation stone of the Integrated Industrial Township at Greater Noida was laid on 2 March 2014. A shareholders' agreement between the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) and DMICDC was signed for the development of an integrated township.
Two development regions - Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment region and the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar Industrial area - have been envisaged in Uttar Pradesh on the 1,483 km long DMIC. Other than the Integrated Industrial Township at Greater Noida, projects like Multi-modal Transport Hub at Bodaki and Multi-modal Logistics Hub at Dadri have also been proposed as part of the corridor development.
Besides DMIC, the Union Government has announced three other Industrial Corridor projects - Chennai-Bangalore, Bangalore-Mumbai, and Amritsar-Kolkata – which are under various stages of planning. Here is a snapshot of these three industrial corridors:
Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor
The Union Cabinet gave approval for setting up the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) and formation of the AKIC Development Corporation (AKICDC) in January 2014. An Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) was set up to do preparatory work for the AKIC.
As per the IMG, AKIC will be developed in a band of 150-200 km on either side of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) in a phased manner. AKIC will be spread across a belt of at least 5.5 lakh sq km comprising 20 cities in seven states -- Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
In the Phase-I of the AKIC project, each state is encouraged to promote at least one cluster of about 10 sq km area to be called Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC), in which 40 per cent area would be earmarked permanently for manufacturing and processing activities. For the development of the seven IMCs, an estimated maximum financial commitment of about Rs 5,749 crore, extended over 15 years, by way of budgetary support by the Central government, is proposed. The IMCs envisaged under the project would be entitled to all the benefits available under the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) 2011.
AKICDC will use both, the PPP approach and non-PPP approach.
Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor
India and the United Kingdom joined hands in February 2013 to develop the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) project. The decision to cooperate in developing the projected 1,000 km corridor was taken to enable increased investments in manufacturing and industrial activity in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The project aims to create linkages that will provide quick access to manufacturing units in a way that will reduce transportation time, costs of logistics and inventory.
The corridor will start from Bengaluru, passing through Tumkur, Chitradurga, Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum (in Karnataka), Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Karad and Pune, and end in Mumbai (in Maharashtra).
The BMEC will be developed on the model of the DMIC. The Union government has appointed the DMICDC as the nodal agency on the Indian side for the project. The ToRs (Terms of Reference) for the feasibility study have been finalised in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs, the UK side and DMICDC, and the tendering process has been initiated for selection of a consultant for the BMEC.
Actual work on the project is expected to commence in 2015.
Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor
The Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) project was initiated in December 2011 by the respective governments of India and Japan, to improve the infrastructure in Chennai and Bengaluru. The 560 km corridor between Chennai – Bengaluru – Chitradurga will have an Influence area spread across the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
CBIC, like the DMIC project, is also being funded partly by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). As DMIC was a greenfield project, it ran into several hurdles, especially land acquisition issues. So with the experience gained from the execution of the DMIC project, CBIC is expected to move at a much faster and smoother pace.
JICA submitted its first interim report on the Master Plan (2013-2033) for CBIC in December 2013. The Master Plan study was in continuation to the preliminary study submitted by JICA in December 2012. The report has identified 26 priority projects across various sectors along with various infrastructure and policy impediments that affect investments in the region.
Phase-I of the corridor will extend up to Bengaluru from Chennai and it will later be extended to Andhra Pradesh.
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