$4.5 billion soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency to boost $100 bn Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project.: Funds from a Japanese government loan will soon be utilised for the first time in the $100 billion, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project. So far, the mega-project was being developed only with the Indian government’s financial assistance. The DMIC spans six States (Uttar Pradesh, Delhi National Capital Region, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra). It uses ‘the 1,500-km-long, high-capacity western Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor (DFC) as the backbone’ and aims to be ‘a global manufacturing and investment destination’. .

Several rail links:- A soft loan (with concessional conditions) to the tune of $4.5 billion to be extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will shortly be utilised to develop two Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS) — one each in Gujarat and Haryana — that will be part of the DMIC, official sources told The Hindu.

The JICA is the Japanese governmental agency in charge of implementation of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) — with the main objective of ‘promoting economic development and welfare in developing countries. The interest rate of the loan (in Japanese Yen) will be kept ‘very low’ (at 0.1%) and have a ‘long’ repayment period (at 40 years, including a 10-year grace period). According to JICA, its “ODA to India started in 1958” and so far around “?2.75 lakh crore in ODA loans have been committed for development across various sectors.” As per JICA, it is “India’s biggest bilateral donor.”

Incidentally, a JICA loan worth ?88,000 crore, on similar terms , will be used to build the ?1.08 lakh crore Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. JICA loans/assistance are being used to facilitate development of Metro rail networks including in Delhi and the Western DFC. The MRTS in Gujarat will be ‘at grade’ (ground level) and link Ahmedabad to the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR). The sources said the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the MRTS was ready and land was being acquired. The MRTS in Haryana will be an ‘elevated’ one and will connect Gurgaon and Bawal (part of the Manesar-Bawal Investment Region in the DMIC).

The land has been acquired and the DPR has been finalised, officials said, adding that the MRTS has been included in the JICA ‘Rolling Plan’ for the ODA loan. The Department of Economic Affairs will soon ask JICA to work on preparatory surveys for the project, they said. The length of these two MRTS projects will be 85 km each. .

Grant-in-aid:- According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry (the nodal body for industrial corridors), the financial assistance for the DMIC project is to be in the form of grant-in-aid worth ?17,500 crore — as a ‘revolving fund’. This, it said, was for the development of ‘trunk infrastructure’ in the proposed seven industrial cities in the DMIC at ?2,500 crore per city on an average, subject to a ceiling of ?3000 crore per city. In September 2011, the Union Cabinet — in addition to giving approval for ?17,500 crore as ‘Project Implementation Fund’ — had also okayed an additional corpus of ?1000 Crore as grant-in-aid to carry out project development activities. The funds are released to the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) formed between the Centre and the respective State Governments. Official sources said, out of all this, the total amount spent till September 2017 was around ?3,500 crore.

As per the ministry, the Japanese government had announced financial support for the DMIC project to an extent of $4.5 billion in the first phase — for projects with Japanese participation through a mix of JICA and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) lending. Also, the JBIC currently holds 26% equity in the DMIC Development Corporation (the SPV which is the DMIC’s project development agency) aggregating to ?26 crore. The Indian government holds 49% equity in the DMICDC, while the remaining is held by HUDCO (19.9%), IIFCL (4.1%) and LIC (1%).

NEW DELHI:: Global investors are expressing keen interest in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) on account of fast progress in the project, a top government official has said. In the annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday, the chairman of DMIC Development Corporation, Ramesh Abhishek, told shareholders that rapid progress is happening in phase I of the project.

Four of the eight industrial zones planned in phase I of DMIC -- Dholera in Gujarat, Shendra-Bidkin in Maharashtra, Vikram Udyogpuri in Madhya Pradesh and IIGNL in Greater Noida -- are in the implementation phase, DMICDC said in a statement quoting Abhishek. "With the finalisation of land allotment policy in all the four smart industrial city projects, land parcels are ready for allotment to anchor tenants. "Trunk infrastructure facilities tied at plot levels are being rapidly developed and various corporate and business houses from different parts of the world have expressed avid interest in the project," he said. He added that many overseas entities have also desired to partner in this project as developers, consultants and PPP concessionaires. .

The DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructureBSE -3.26 % along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor. Japan is giving financial and technical aid for the project, which is developed on either side of a 1,483-km stretch running across seven states.

The development of a logistics hub at Nangal Choudhary in Haryana along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) will likely start towards the end of 2018 but major players like DP World, Merc Logistics and Future Group are already vying for a slice of the project. The development of a logistics hub at Nangal Choudhary in Haryana along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) will likely start towards the end of 2018 but major players like DP World, Merc Logistics and Future Group are already vying for a slice of the project.

Sources told FE that these three companies are exploring opportunities to be partners in the logistics hub project and have held meetings with the authorities concerned. The hub will be set up over an area of 1,100 acres to provide “end-to-end logistics facilities”. The project would cost the governments (both the central and the Haryana governments) Rs 3,500 crore, which includes costs of land and basic infrastructure, said the sources.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts will be awarded in October-November for building basic trunk infrastructure. Once the trunk infrastructure is in place (over a year from now), these logistics companies — if selected — can start developing the projects on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode. But interest shown by them at such an early stage, even when trunk infrastructure isn’t in place, reinforces DMIC’s growing importance, said a source.

DP World alone boasts of a portfolio of 78 operating marine and inland terminals supported by over 50 related businesses in 40 countries. Even the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) under the ministry of railways, has expressed willingness to be a partner in the logistics hub project, added the source.

Usually, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) joins hands with entities of the relevant state governments to form special purpose vehicles (SPVs), which are the anchors of projects in their respective areas. For this project, DMICDC has tied up with Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC). Already, 400-500 acres of land has been acquired by HSIDC for the logistics hub, and the rest of the 1,100 acres required for the project is expected to be acquired soon.

According to the model developed by DMICDC, while states offer land, the funds released by the Centre usually go towards its development. Once the land is developed, it will be allotted to willing investors at a price and with those funds, DMICDC will acquire another chunk of land and start developing it. In case of the logistics hub, a similar model is followed.

When contacted, DMICDC chief executive Alkesh Kumar Sharma said: “The logistics project will be developed on a PPP mode, where the SPV will create trunk infrastructure and then the private players will come to develop the facility.” The logistics hub will have an inland container depot, custom-bonded warehouses, cold-chain facilities, basic product processing facilities, packaging, ICT-enabled labelling etc, he added. The catchment area of the logistics hub will cover Neemrana, Khuskhera, Bhiwadi and Bawal, among others. From there, the material will come for despatch to ports in Mumbai along the DMIC.

With an envisaged investment of $90-100 billion by 2040, the 1504-km DMIC across six states was intended to be developed as a ‘global manufacturing and trading hub’. The Centre has committed $4.5 billion for the first phase of the DMIC projects, including the logistics hub. DMIC is touted as the world’s single-largest infrastructure project. The project was one of the important measures announced by the government to help drive the share of manufacturing in the country’s GDP to 25% by 2022, from roughly 16% now.

Govt earmarks Rs 1,400 cr: for DMIC project in 2016-17 Budget The DMIC project has been planned as a global manufacturing and investment destination around the high speed 1,483 km length of western dedicated freight corridor of the railways as the backbone. | 1 Comments The government has earmarked Rs 1,400 crore for development of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) in the Budget for 2016-17. However, in case of Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) project, a token amount of Rs 3 crore has been set aside by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The DMIC project has been planned as a global manufacturing and investment destination around the high speed 1,483 km length of western dedicated freight corridor of the railways as the backbone.

The project envisaged to provide modern infrastructure through smart futuristic and sustainable industrial cities across six states including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Similarly, the AKIC has been proposed to give a boost to industrial development in the densely populated states of northern and eastern India. Further for the 'Make in India' initiative, the government has alloted Rs 324.35 crore in the Budget 2016-17. As a whole, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the allocation has been raised to Rs 3,026.55 crore from Rs 2,435.75 crore in the revised estimates of 2015-16. According to the Budget document, the Department of Commerce will get Rs 4,362.8 crore next fiscal, marginally higher than Rs 4,338.65 crore in revised estimates for 2015-16.

It has earmaked Rs 725 crore for various export promotion schemes; Rs 1,200 crore towards duty drawback scheme and Rs 1,000 crore for interest subsidy scheme. These allocations assume significance as exports are in negative zone since December 2014. Jaitley in his Budget speech yesterday said that more support will be provided to exporters to give a boost to overseas shipments. Under the duty drawback scheme, the government refunds duties on imported inputs for export items. Exports dipped for the 14th month in a row, down 13.6 percent in January to USD 21 billion due to fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods, although trade deficit showed improvement.

NEW DELHI: Four industrial cities, including Ahmedabad Dholera special investment region in Gujarat, are being implemented under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, Parliament was informed today. The other three projects are Shendra Bidkin industrial park in Maharashtra, integrated industrial township in Madhya Pradesh and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project has been planned as a global manufacturing and investment destination around the high speed 1,483 km length of western dedicated freight corridor of the railways as the backbone. The project envisaged to provide modern infrastructure through smart futuristic and sustainable industrial cities across six states including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. "The government has earmarked an amount of Rs 17,500 crore as project implementation fund and Rs 1,000 crore as project development fund towards the DMIC project," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. She said the four projects of the first phase of DMIC are expected to be completed by 2019.

She said that other industrial projects like Bengaluru Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) project, Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), Amrtisar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) and Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) are under initial stages of planning. The final perspective plan for BMEC has been completed and submitted to Maharashtra and Karnatka. Similarly, draft shareholders agreement and state support agreement have been shared with state governments for CBIC.

NEW DELHI: Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led National Democratice Alliance (NDA) government for favouring corporates and foreign companies at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the country.

She also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, dubbing the Centre’s campaign as ‘Loot in India’. “The recent ordinance passed by the Modi government easing the land acquisition rules comes at the cost of environment and interests of farmers and stake holders,” the founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan movement said at a press conference in Indore. “Through the ordinance, the government has cleared its intention to transfer the country’s natural resources into the hands of a few capitalists.”

Patkar gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call to all farmers, tribals, urban and rural poor to join the mass movement against land acquisition policies of the government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 24. Jan Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare will also take part in the movement, she said. The social activist accused the ruling NDA government of rushing the land acquisition ordinance so that industrialists, Indian and foreign companies and builders can construct industrial corridors, open mines and accumulate real estate profits in the name of building cheap housing for the poor by grabbing the land of farmers.

Government, on the pretext of development, had acquired about 3.90 lakh square hectare of agricultural land from farmers for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, she said. This land was transferred to these vested companies, she added.

NEW DELHI: Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led National Democratice Alliance (NDA) government for favouring corporates and foreign companies at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the country.

She also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, dubbing the Centre’s campaign as ‘Loot in India’. “The recent ordinance passed by the Modi government easing the land acquisition rules comes at the cost of environment and interests of farmers and stake holders,” the founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan movement said at a press conference in Indore. “Through the ordinance, the government has cleared its intention to transfer the country’s natural resources into the hands of a few capitalists.”

Patkar gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call to all farmers, tribals, urban and rural poor to join the mass movement against land acquisition policies of the government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 24. Jan Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare will also take part in the movement, she said. The social activist accused the ruling NDA government of rushing the land acquisition ordinance so that industrialists, Indian and foreign companies and builders can construct industrial corridors, open mines and accumulate real estate profits in the name of building cheap housing for the poor by grabbing the land of farmers.

Government, on the pretext of development, had acquired about 3.90 lakh square hectare of agricultural land from farmers for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, she said. This land was transferred to these vested companies, she added.

NEW DELHI: Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led National Democratice Alliance (NDA) government for favouring corporates and foreign companies at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the country.

She also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, dubbing the Centre’s campaign as ‘Loot in India’. “The recent ordinance passed by the Modi government easing the land acquisition rules comes at the cost of environment and interests of farmers and stake holders,” the founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan movement said at a press conference in Indore. “Through the ordinance, the government has cleared its intention to transfer the country’s natural resources into the hands of a few capitalists.”

Patkar gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call to all farmers, tribals, urban and rural poor to join the mass movement against land acquisition policies of the government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 24. Jan Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare will also take part in the movement, she said. The social activist accused the ruling NDA government of rushing the land acquisition ordinance so that industrialists, Indian and foreign companies and builders can construct industrial corridors, open mines and accumulate real estate profits in the name of building cheap housing for the poor by grabbing the land of farmers.

Government, on the pretext of development, had acquired about 3.90 lakh square hectare of agricultural land from farmers for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, she said. This land was transferred to these vested companies, she added.

NEW DELHI: Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led National Democratice Alliance (NDA) government for favouring corporates and foreign companies at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the country.

She also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, dubbing the Centre’s campaign as ‘Loot in India’. “The recent ordinance passed by the Modi government easing the land acquisition rules comes at the cost of environment and interests of farmers and stake holders,” the founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan movement said at a press conference in Indore. “Through the ordinance, the government has cleared its intention to transfer the country’s natural resources into the hands of a few capitalists.”

Patkar gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call to all farmers, tribals, urban and rural poor to join the mass movement against land acquisition policies of the government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 24. Jan Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare will also take part in the movement, she said. The social activist accused the ruling NDA government of rushing the land acquisition ordinance so that industrialists, Indian and foreign companies and builders can construct industrial corridors, open mines and accumulate real estate profits in the name of building cheap housing for the poor by grabbing the land of farmers.

Government, on the pretext of development, had acquired about 3.90 lakh square hectare of agricultural land from farmers for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, she said. This land was transferred to these vested companies, she added.

NEW DELHI: Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led National Democratice Alliance (NDA) government for favouring corporates and foreign companies at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the country.

She also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, dubbing the Centre’s campaign as ‘Loot in India’. “The recent ordinance passed by the Modi government easing the land acquisition rules comes at the cost of environment and interests of farmers and stake holders,” the founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan movement said at a press conference in Indore. “Through the ordinance, the government has cleared its intention to transfer the country’s natural resources into the hands of a few capitalists.”

Patkar gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call to all farmers, tribals, urban and rural poor to join the mass movement against land acquisition policies of the government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 24. Jan Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare will also take part in the movement, she said. The social activist accused the ruling NDA government of rushing the land acquisition ordinance so that industrialists, Indian and foreign companies and builders can construct industrial corridors, open mines and accumulate real estate profits in the name of building cheap housing for the poor by grabbing the land of farmers.

Government, on the pretext of development, had acquired about 3.90 lakh square hectare of agricultural land from farmers for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, she said. This land was transferred to these vested companies, she added.

NEW DELHI: Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led National Democratice Alliance (NDA) government for favouring corporates and foreign companies at the cost of lakhs of farmers in the country.

She also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, dubbing the Centre’s campaign as ‘Loot in India’. “The recent ordinance passed by the Modi government easing the land acquisition rules comes at the cost of environment and interests of farmers and stake holders,” the founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan movement said at a press conference in Indore. “Through the ordinance, the government has cleared its intention to transfer the country’s natural resources into the hands of a few capitalists.”

Patkar gave a ‘Chalo Dilli’ call to all farmers, tribals, urban and rural poor to join the mass movement against land acquisition policies of the government at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on February 24. Jan Lokpal Bill crusader Anna Hazare will also take part in the movement, she said. The social activist accused the ruling NDA government of rushing the land acquisition ordinance so that industrialists, Indian and foreign companies and builders can construct industrial corridors, open mines and accumulate real estate profits in the name of building cheap housing for the poor by grabbing the land of farmers.

Government, on the pretext of development, had acquired about 3.90 lakh square hectare of agricultural land from farmers for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, she said. This land was transferred to these vested companies, she added.

NEW DELHI: Cisco Systems, the US-based networking major, wants to partner in the Indian government's initiative to build smart cities and is offering to provide the last-mile connectivity at villages under the national broadband project, which is the backbone for the Digital India programme. Speaking to ET, Pankaj Patel, the company's global head for engineering, said Cisco had already undertaken projects to convert more than 80 cities across the world into smart cities.

He pointed that Marathwada is an industrially backward region and efforts have to be made to bring it on the industrial map of the state.

As the government draws out the blueprint of 100 smart cities across the country, India’s first smart city project at Dholera is expected to get a boost at the seventh edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. The Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) is expected to be one of the main investment draws at Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 that is also seeking investments for another smart city in the state –the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City as well as other infrastructure and manufacturing projects in the state along with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

The Dholera smart city, being developed along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has already initiated the tendering process. “We have begun issuing the request for qualifications for building trunk infrastructure. By March, RFQs and RFPs for the initial 22.5 square kilometre area will be issued and we are expecting response from investors across the world,” said Talleen Kumar, CEO of DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced plans to build 100 smart cities across the country to take care of growing needs of urbanisation that would also help bridge the rural-urban divide.

Seeking investments for these projects, the Vibrant Gujarat Summit that kicks off from Sunday is also hosting a seminar on smart cities on January 12 that will be addressed by Union minister for urban development, housing and urban poverty M Venkaiah Naidu. “We will be announcing the blueprint for smart cities very soon. But the actual implementation and financing has to be done by the state governments along with the local bodies,” said a senior official of the ministry of urban development. To be spread on a 920 square kilometre area, the Dholera smart city is located about 110 kilometre from Ahmedabad along the DMIC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat had said the port city of Dholera would be better developed than Delhi and would be six times the size of Shanghai. “There is obviously a lot of .

After many development (Ache din) promises that was made in the 16th Lok Sabha election campaigns, the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Naredra modi has started implementing the development agendas. The direction of development, however was clear from the different policies that government has adopted soon after it took over the office. Huge environmental clearances, decisions taken to soften the provisions in forest rights and conservation acts, suggestions to make amendments in the land acquisition act, huge cuts in in the allocation for public health and education so on have shown the nature and direction of the development that is going to come. Make in India has been one of the flag ship programmes that the new government has initiated now, “Make in India” has been at the center of the new government's development campaigns, it’s a campaign to make India to manufacturing hub attracting the foreign direct investment. Make in India is defined as a “Major new national program designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure. There's never been a better time to Make In India”.

The inauguration of the programme was held in a meeting with 500 business tycoons from across the globe who are looking forward to invest in India. The idea of making in India is to make most out of the manufacturing sector that currently contributes 15% to the GDP and 13.4 % of the labor force is involved in. There are 25 prominent sectors within manufacturing to which government is seeking foreign investments by the programme, automobiles and automobile components, aviation, biotechnology, chemicals, construction, defense manufacturing, electrical machinery and electronic systems, food processing, IT and BPM, leather, media and entertainment, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, oil and railways, renewable energy, roads and highways, space, textiles and garments, thermal power, tourism hospitality and wellness are the broadly defined sectors. Firstly, most or all the above sectors are directly or indirectly open for hundred percent foreign direct investments, including the sectors that are strategic and have national importance.

After many development (Ache din) promises that was made in the 16th Lok Sabha election campaigns, the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Naredra modi has started implementing the development agendas. The direction of development, however was clear from the different policies that government has adopted soon after it took over the office. Huge environmental clearances, decisions taken to soften the provisions in forest rights and conservation acts, suggestions to make amendments in the land acquisition act, huge cuts in in the allocation for public health and education so on have shown the nature and direction of the development that is going to come. Make in India has been one of the flag ship programmes that the new government has initiated now, “Make in India” has been at the center of the new government's development campaigns, it’s a campaign to make India to manufacturing hub attracting the foreign direct investment. Make in India is defined as a “Major new national program designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure. There's never been a better time to Make In India”.

The inauguration of the programme was held in a meeting with 500 business tycoons from across the globe who are looking forward to invest in India. The idea of making in India is to make most out of the manufacturing sector that currently contributes 15% to the GDP and 13.4 % of the labor force is involved in. There are 25 prominent sectors within manufacturing to which government is seeking foreign investments by the programme, automobiles and automobile components, aviation, biotechnology, chemicals, construction, defense manufacturing, electrical machinery and electronic systems, food processing, IT and BPM, leather, media and entertainment, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, oil and railways, renewable energy, roads and highways, space, textiles and garments, thermal power, tourism hospitality and wellness are the broadly defined sectors. Firstly, most or all the above sectors are directly or indirectly open for hundred percent foreign direct investments, including the sectors that are strategic and have national importance.

GANDHINAGAR : The Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra has embraced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Smart City’ concept and is preparing to roll out 134 such projects across the state in coming years.

Earlier, the state Cabinet proposed amendment to the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act under which all ‘special townships’ in the state would be reclassified as ‘integrated townships’ so that they come under the ‘smart city’ category.

“An integrated township will have a minimum of 100 acres of land of which 20 per cent would be reserved for economic activity,” an official of the Urban Development Department said. The government would establish new development control rules for the integrated townships that would be developed by private developers, he said.

Sources said a clutch of integrated townships are planned in and around Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has mooted five regions outside the city — Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi, Greater Kalyan, Greater Panvel and Pen-Alibaug which fall along the proposed 126-km Virar-Alibaug Multi Modal Corridor.

“Development plans for these areas are still being prepared but they will be developed as smart cities,” UPS Madan, CMD, MMRDA said. Within Mumbai itself, the MMRDA is planning to transform Wadala and Oshiwara as integrated townships with components of a smart city.

New integrated townships have also been mooted around half-a-dozen ports that are set to be developed in the coming years. Some of the ports such as Shendre and Bidkin in the Konkan fall along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and would have comparatively larger townships, said sources. The MMRDA is also working on reconfiguring existing townships into smart cities. The Bandra-Kurla Complex in suburban Mumbai will be the first to be reconfigured into a smart city.

GANDHINAGAR : World Bank (WB) is likely to chip in for the key Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project and fund several major infrastructure projects in Gujarat and other parts of the country.

Gujarat government sources said: "We have approached WB in this regard and got a very positive response." WB has funded SHDP (State Highway Development Plan) I project and now funding SHDP-II project too.

"A WB delegation along with its managing director Mulyani Indrawati has confirmed participation in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. WB president Jim Yong Kim may also participate in the summit," said the source.

MUMBAI : After Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inducted 10 Shiv Sena members into his Cabinet on Friday, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was expecting that BJP’s main rival Congress would get the post of Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, instead of the NCP that has just as good a chance. It is a sign of the times to come where Shiv Sena would increasingly try to influence Fadnavis’s decisions..

Fadnavis may have succeeded in bringing the warring Shiv Sena onboard on his terms, but it will be a challenge for him to make the alliance work as the two parties hold different positions on a number of issues. Fadnavis will have a hard time convincing Shiv Sena on three important projects:

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on completing the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) within the stipulated time. The corridor runs through a big portion of the Konkan, western Maharashtra and Marathwada regions. The Shiv Sena has taken a stringent stand against land acquisition in Konkan for this project.

JEDDAH : Indian Consul General BS Mubarak showcased the flagship Indian program “Make in India” on Saturday here and highlighted its purpose and benefits to Saudi business leaders with an aim to increase bilateral trade and seek stronger cooperation between two friendly countries.

He was speaking at Jeddah Diwaniyah about the new initiative, processes and developments since its launch in September to over 50 Saudi businessmen. He also unveiled the initiatives taken by the new Indian government toward facilitating investment in India and making the country a manufacturing hub for the world.

“The Make in India program represents an attitudinal shift in how India relates to investors: not as a permit-issuing authority, but as a true business partner,” Mubarak said while describing the program succinctly.

While highlighting the facilities being provided by the government for setting up industry in India, he recounted the recent reforms in India on simplification of industrial licensing and labor laws, single window processing of applications and automatic approval for setting up industries in India, new initiatives for investment in various sectors.

The availability of a large pool of skilled manpower in India is a great advantage for foreign investors, he added. Mubarak, while emphasizing that time was right to invest in India, stressed the five industrial corridors being built by the government and the smart cities for business and industry along these corridors offered great investment opportunities

AURANGABAD: As part of its initiative started for the development of the region, the various industrial and traders' associations brought together the newly elected people's representatives from Aurangabad district and adjoining places on one platform, at a felicitation programme organised on Wednesday. The aim was to draw their attention towards urgent issues to be addressed.

The newly elected MLAs including Atul Save (BJP), Imtiaz Jaleel (MIM) Satish Chavan (NCP), Prashant Bamb (BJP) said that they will make all efforts to get the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) sanctioned for Aurangabad.

Save said that Aurangabad has been demanding an IIM right from the day the finance minister made the announcement in the budget. "In fact, we including Raosaheb Danve, minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution met Union transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and the HRD minister Smriti Irani and they too expressed their willingness to grant an IIM for Aurangabad."

AURANGABAD: Shendra-Bidkin in Aurangabad finds a place among the first two 'smart cities' for which the Centre proposes to roll out the final plans by the end of the current financial year.

According to government officials, "Seven places will be taken up in the first phase under the proposed '100 smart cities' project. To begin with, the government has identified two places - Dholera in Gujarat and Shendra-Bidkin along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), where the actual ground work will kick off."

Confirming the project, executive engineer Rajendra Gawde said, "The project is moving ahead with a great speed and, by this fiscal year, we can see some tendering happening for infrastructure development at Shendra-Bidkin MIDC area."

The 4,050 sq ft facility is located at Manesar, a leading business hub in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Manesar is one of the six leading business hubs in India and home to leading global manufacturers such as Alcatel, Baxter, Bosch, Cadbury, Honda, Panasonic, Suzuki and Toyota.

Built to green building design specifications, it will house manufacturing for printers and fluids, as well as an integrated warehouse and billing centre. It replaces Domino’s existing facility in India which is currently located in two separate units 25km apart.

The factory, which has taken three years to construct, was opened by Nigel Bond, Domino Group managing director at the end of October. In addition to cutting a ribbon at the opening ceremony, a coconut was cracked,which is an Indian custom to bring health and success.

This development builds on Domino’s success in India to date, where it has been market leader since its entry in 1996. It will also bring operational efficiency and simplification of business processes which will benefit Domino customers, as well as providing capacity for the growing business.

When fully operational at the end of November, the new facility will have a team of 35 Domino employees comprising fluids plant manager, printer plant manager, logistics manager and their teams. Three new roles will also be created.

Bond said: “I am delighted to officially open our new factory in India which underlines our commitment to maintaining our market-leading position here and growing the business.

“The decision to build an environmentally-sustainable factory is in line with our commitment to continually improve our environmental performance. One of the biggest single benefits of the green building design is the significant efficiency improvement in energy consumption.

“It has been specifically designed so that the building will have ample natural light in all work areas and won’t need lights on during the daytime.” The new facility is currently awaiting accreditation by the Indian Green Building Council.

The 4,050 sq ft facility is located at Manesar, a leading business hub in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Manesar is one of the six leading business hubs in India and home to leading global manufacturers such as Alcatel, Baxter, Bosch, Cadbury, Honda, Panasonic, Suzuki and Toyota.

Built to green building design specifications, it will house manufacturing for printers and fluids, as well as an integrated warehouse and billing centre. It replaces Domino’s existing facility in India which is currently located in two separate units 25km apart.

The factory, which has taken three years to construct, was opened by Nigel Bond, Domino Group managing director at the end of October. In addition to cutting a ribbon at the opening ceremony, a coconut was cracked,which is an Indian custom to bring health and success.

This development builds on Domino’s success in India to date, where it has been market leader since its entry in 1996. It will also bring operational efficiency and simplification of business processes which will benefit Domino customers, as well as providing capacity for the growing business.

When fully operational at the end of November, the new facility will have a team of 35 Domino employees comprising fluids plant manager, printer plant manager, logistics manager and their teams. Three new roles will also be created.

Bond said: “I am delighted to officially open our new factory in India which underlines our commitment to maintaining our market-leading position here and growing the business.

“The decision to build an environmentally-sustainable factory is in line with our commitment to continually improve our environmental performance. One of the biggest single benefits of the green building design is the significant efficiency improvement in energy consumption.

“It has been specifically designed so that the building will have ample natural light in all work areas and won’t need lights on during the daytime.” The new facility is currently awaiting accreditation by the Indian Green Building Council.

AURANGABAD : Industrialists from the city lobbied hard in Nagpur to get a ministerial berth for BJP MLA from Aurangabad East Atul Save citing the need to develop the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and various industries in the region.

Members of the delegation of industrialists that went to Nagpur said the industries in Aurangabad have not grown over the past few years and a local leader with the industry portfolio would be able to take appropriate measures to correct the situation.

A member of the delegation said only seven MLAs, including chief minister-designatre Devendra Fadnavis, are likely to take oath on Friday. These include the five members of the state BJP core committee and an MLA each representing Dalit and tribal communities. The other ministers would be appointed later during expansion of the cabinet.

Ratlam : The State Government has received an investment proposal of Rs 1500 crores for setting up a manufacturing unit of plastic sheets, informed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan addressing a programme at the Kalika Mata Temple ground.

He added that in addition to the above mentioned projects, the state has received 16 proposals for setting up industrial units in Ratlam with an investment of Rs. 150 crore. The CM laid down foundation stones of many development projects, which he dedicated to the public, and said that Ratlam will play a prominent role in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor and will be the main centre of revenue for the state.

Singh reached Ratlam today by a state plane at Banjali air strip at 11.10 AM. Chauhan said that mere agricultural activities can not make the people of the state prosperous and economically self reliant. Quoting examples of Japan, South Korea and China and he said that the scenario in these countries changed only when they developed industrially.

Chauhan appealed youths of the state to take advantage of state’s support in setting up own small and cottage units. He said that state government has decided to give bank guarantee for the repayment of the loans taken for the setting up small and cottage industrial units by the state’s entrepreneurs.

JAIPUR : Chief minister Vasundhra Raje on Wednesday invited members of Singapore business community to set up 'Little Singapore' or a smart city in Rajasthan in the vicinity of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

During a meeting with the business community, she urged them to consider Rajasthan as a destination for investment and expansion.

A short film on investment opportunities in Rajasthan was screened and principal secretary (industries), Veenu Gupta made a detailed presentation and displayed the state's commitment to have an extremely investment friendly environment. .

Ujjain : With Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and various departments organizing Global Investors Meet-2014 at Indore not far away from holy city Ujjain, the holy city is once again expecting to regain the status of Commercial hub, which it had been once.

The Ujjain Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN) and District Trade and Industry Center have stepped up to flourish the same dream of the city. AKVN has approved investment of Rs 92 crore for infrastructural development for industry in the division.

The data’s provided by AKVN are giving good signals of increasing government help in Industrialization in the division. According to AKVN, Ujjain is the agro and food processing hub of Madhya Pradesh. The region comes under Agri Export Zone (AEZ) which comes under Delhi- Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). If believed to AKVN sources, work orders of more than Rs 92 crores have been approved for infrastructural development in eight different industrial areas of Ujjain division.

1845 acres of land has been acquired for industrial development till now in eight different areas of Ujjain division. Most important thing of all these industrial areas is that all of them have been dedicated for certain types of industries development, so that a investor does not have to visit different government departments for land acquisition, thanks to single window system. If an investor wants to avails a facility for specific product, he will be guided to certain industrial area. Also with development of proposed 419-hectare wide Knowledge City near village Narwar has drawn attention of many . AKVN is making sure that availability of land is not a constraint when the state government would roll out the red carpet for investors in October this year.

Ujjain : With Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and various departments organizing Global Investors Meet-2014 at Indore not far away from holy city Ujjain, the holy city is once again expecting to regain the status of Commercial hub, which it had been once.

The Ujjain Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN) and District Trade and Industry Center have stepped up to flourish the same dream of the city. AKVN has approved investment of Rs 92 crore for infrastructural development for industry in the division.

The data’s provided by AKVN are giving good signals of increasing government help in Industrialization in the division. According to AKVN, Ujjain is the agro and food processing hub of Madhya Pradesh. The region comes under Agri Export Zone (AEZ) which comes under Delhi- Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). If believed to AKVN sources, work orders of more than Rs 92 crores have been approved for infrastructural development in eight different industrial areas of Ujjain division.

1845 acres of land has been acquired for industrial development till now in eight different areas of Ujjain division. Most important thing of all these industrial areas is that all of them have been dedicated for certain types of industries development, so that a investor does not have to visit different government departments for land acquisition, thanks to single window system. If an investor wants to avails a facility for specific product, he will be guided to certain industrial area. Also with development of proposed 419-hectare wide Knowledge City near village Narwar has drawn attention of many . AKVN is making sure that availability of land is not a constraint when the state government would roll out the red carpet for investors in October this year.

Officials of UAE-based SmartCity, Dubai, will take part in the Global Investors' Summit in Indore and also explore the possibility of developing a smart city in Madhya Pradesh. The state government plans to develop a smart city on 1,000 acres of land at a location between Indore and Bhopal.

"A team of SmartCity, Dubai, will explore the possibilities of developing a smart city like the one in Kochi. A plan and proposed model of the smart city is being prepared," a state government official said. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during his visit to Dubai in August, had met SmartCity chief executive officer Abdullatif Almulla and discussed the proposed smart city project.

Almulla is also the chief business development officer of Dubai Holding, the company which is the main promoter of the Smart City project in Kochi. SmartCity, Dubai, was recently given permissions to construct the first building of Kochi Smart City with an investment of $29 million.

The Kochi Smart City will be the first in India which would be automated township where knowledge-based companies would operate. However, the Kochi Smart City project has been delayed by several years due to protests by opposition parties over concessions on land and other sops. The global recession that started in 2007 also resulted in delays.

Though the Narmada-Kshipra river linking project has been completed within 14 months, its water to industrial town of Pithampur, new industrial areas that are likely to come up in proposed Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIDC) and other residential localities, is likely to take another two-and-a-half years.

"Construction of necessary infrastructure like distribution channels that will supply water to the industrial town and other proposed residential areas and nearby villages will come up only after two-and-a-half years," said a source in state government's industries department.

State government had assured Pithampur industrial areas to receive Narmada water supply by 2013. "As of now the Indore Audyogik KendraVikas Nigam still has to invite bids for appointing a consultant for the purpose and then the consultant will make bid documents. After that tenders will be floated to invite private partner for construction of necessary infrastructure. It will take nearly two-and-a-half year," the source said. The project has allocated a total of 90 MLD (million liter per day) of water of which Pithampur will require approximately 30 MLD of water. As of now the Rs 434-crore project will feed water to Kshipra river for Simhastha 2016 through lifting of water from river to 348 meters from a village Sisiliya.

The project consumes 27 Mw of power during its three stages of lifting. The rest of the water will supply to new industrials areas that are likely to come up in Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow investment region proposed to cover an area of 370 sq km.

In signs of greater economic engagement, Japan will double its direct investments in India to a whopping $35 billion in the next five years. These will include investments in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, and manufacturing facilities in Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridors. Clearly, Tokyo is set to play an increasingly important role in India's economic transformation and development. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced his intention to commit 3.5 trillion yen (roughly Rs 2,10,000 crore) of public and private investment.

Addressing Japanese industrialists, Modi proposed to co-opt two Japanese nominees in the decisionmaking team under the prime minister's office (PMO) to speed up clearances. This novel initiative is being proposed perhaps for the first time in the country to facilitate foreign investment.

"I understand well the importance of coordination between government and industry," Modi told the Japanese businessmen adding, "I have decided a Japan-plus special management team directly under the PMO to facilitate proposals from Japan. I also propose that you nominate two people from Japan who would be made part of a team which looks into business proposals and who can be permanently part of our decision-making."

In signs of greater economic engagement, Japan will double its direct investments in India to a whopping $35 billion in the next five years. These will include investments in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, and manufacturing facilities in Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridors. Clearly, Tokyo is set to play an increasingly important role in India's economic transformation and development. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced his intention to commit 3.5 trillion yen (roughly Rs 2,10,000 crore) of public and private investment.

Addressing Japanese industrialists, Modi proposed to co-opt two Japanese nominees in the decisionmaking team under the prime minister's office (PMO) to speed up clearances. This novel initiative is being proposed perhaps for the first time in the country to facilitate foreign investment.

"I understand well the importance of coordination between government and industry," Modi told the Japanese businessmen adding, "I have decided a Japan-plus special management team directly under the PMO to facilitate proposals from Japan. I also propose that you nominate two people from Japan who would be made part of a team which looks into business proposals and who can be permanently part of our decision-making."

In signs of greater economic engagement, Japan will double its direct investments in India to a whopping $35 billion in the next five years. These will include investments in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, and manufacturing facilities in Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridors. Clearly, Tokyo is set to play an increasingly important role in India's economic transformation and development. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced his intention to commit 3.5 trillion yen (roughly Rs 2,10,000 crore) of public and private investment.

Addressing Japanese industrialists, Modi proposed to co-opt two Japanese nominees in the decisionmaking team under the prime minister's office (PMO) to speed up clearances. This novel initiative is being proposed perhaps for the first time in the country to facilitate foreign investment.

"I understand well the importance of coordination between government and industry," Modi told the Japanese businessmen adding, "I have decided a Japan-plus special management team directly under the PMO to facilitate proposals from Japan. I also propose that you nominate two people from Japan who would be made part of a team which looks into business proposals and who can be permanently part of our decision-making."

The finance minister and his government have two compulsions. One is to generate employment on a war-footing. Given the normal population growth, India needs to create at least 10-15 million jobs annually. The five years of virtually no job creation has left the present government with unemployed hopefuls of at least 50 million.

One way of creating more jobs will be to accelerate the process of setting up manufacturing units. That would take two years. The other way is to focus on infrastructure. If highway construction is taken up, jobs at various levels will be created almost overnight.

NEW DELHI With a new government in Delhi, India’s urban agenda is now focused on the creation of “Smart Cities” in industrial corridors. Such an initiative is driven by the demand of foreign investors to find sanitized spaces in developing countries in which they can operate easily – unhampered by politics.

On 16 May, 2014, the results to the sixteenth general elections were declared, in which the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a clear majority in India’s otherwise fractured Parliament. With the news that Modi was set to become the Prime Minister streaming in, India’s stock markets rose to record heights. After 10 years under the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, culminating in a few years which saw India’s economic growth slide down, investors were thrilled to have Modi at the helm.

Modi had made his economic conservative vision clear when he campaigned with the slogan “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance”. Big business, which had largely backed Modi, was keen to have a ‘strong leader’ who would help private enterprise tackle India’s regulatory regime that is often difficult to navigate. As the Chief Minister of the State of Gujarat for 12 years, Modi had obtained a pro-business image, since he had provided corporate houses with basic resources like land at very low rates. The new urban agenda The urban agenda of the Modi government is inextricably linked to the economic vision of creating centres of investment for private capital. In the Election Manifesto of the BJP, the section urban policy was titled “Urban Areas – High Growth Centres” with an explanatory note which states, “our cities should no longer remain a reflection of poverty and bottlenecks. Rather they should become symbols of efficiency, speed and scale.”

NEW DELHIPithampur (Mhow) Dhar district collector Jayshree Kiyawat enquired about Peethampur industrial area problems from officers and local industrialists in a meeting held at Bridgestone company hall. She reviewed the implementation of MOUs signed in previous four meetings and ordered AKVN to dispatch development report.

AKNV officers informed that during the Global Industrial Meet held in year 2012 total 54 MOUs worth from Rs one crore to Rs 25 crore were signed and 11 MOUs, worth more than Rs 25 crores were signed for Peethampur industrial area. Peethampur Industrial area hosts 68 medium and large level industries and around 1500 micro and small class units.

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor land acquisition project and Narmada-Kshipra link project were also talked in the meeting. The collector ordered to secure water of Sanjay pond only as drinking water with help of police. Land for bus stand, hawkers’ zone establishment, solid waste management, and sewage facility were also discussed. The collector instructed BMO for uplifted facilities at public health center.

Pollution control was main issue and she passed order to point firms creating high pollution. She ordered AKVN and municipality to install of high mask near SEZ-II and Satnala to curb loot incidences with labourers late night. She instructed to get rid of stray animals from road.

After announcing a whopping Rs 7060 crore in the Union Budget on July 10 for developing 100 smart cities across the country, the NDA Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to invite bids for Dholera investment region in Gujarat in the next three months and for integrated industrial townships in Greater Noida and Vikram Udyogpuri in Madhya Pradesh along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) by March next year. This has been said in a report published in the Economic Times.

The report quotes Talleen Kumar, CEO of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation as saying, “We are ready to roll out two projects and an industrial zone. We are progressing very fast. A lot of countries, including Germany, the UK, the US and Korea have shown interest to participate in the industrial townships.”

Bids for another project, Shendra Bidkin industrial zone in Maharashtra, would be invited by mid-2015, Kumar added. It is significant to note that $4.5 billion is being lent by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the report said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to tie up various infrastructure projects for Gujarat when he visits Japan next week on a four-day trip. PM Narendra Modi will visit Japan next week. AFP PM Narendra Modi will visit Japan next week.

AFP According to a report in The Economic Times, Modi will push for opening a branch of the Japanese Mizuho Bank in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The report further said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not approved this move earlier under UPA in 2012 rule when Modi had visited Japan as Gujarat Chief Minister. The move did not receive approval even after the Japanese side had requested RBI approval. Mizuho Bank currently has Indian branches in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Moreover, other projects which would be talked about during Modi's visit would be a desalination project in Dahej, Gujarat as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and opening up of a branch of Japan's sanitaryware firm TOTO, the world's largest toilet manufacturer. Earlier, a delegation comprising members from the Standing Committee on Rules and Administration of the House of Representatives of Japan, led by Ichiro Aisawa, had called on PM Modi and said that Japanese nationals working in India have great expectations from the Prime Minister.

Modi himself had said that the country's strategic and global partnership with Japan is on a high priority. He said that fundamental identity of values, interests and priorities exist between India and Japan.

The government of Uttar Pradesh has signed an agreement with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) Development Corporation for the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will oversee the creation of an integrated industrial township spread over 750 acres in the Greater Noida region. The DMIC spans around 1,500 km and Uttar Pradesh is one of the states involved in the project. The township would be fully developed over 30 years, in six phases of five years each. The master plan for the township is ready and awaiting approval. An official of the UP government said that the township, located at the border of Greater Noida, towards the south east, will have over 50 per cent of land dedicated to industries with an emphasis on IT parks, biotechnology and R&D.; “This is one of the projects which are coming up along the DMIC and is a precursor to a larger investment region, or a smart city, located close to it, called the Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region (DNGIR) which will be developed on similar lines as the township,” the official said. Under the agreement for the township, the state government has allotted land to the DMIC Development Corporation. The DMIC Trust, which is the funding agency for the project, has contributed around Rs 620 crore for the development of the trunk infrastructure. “Since it is a 50:50 partnership between the two agencies, the acquisition value of the land equals around Rs 620 crore and no development charges have been added,” the official added. Sources say that the DNGIR, is only one of the approximately 25 smart cities that have been planned over multiple phases from Dadri to Mumbai within a parallel stretch spanning 300 kms around the DMIC and running along it. The DNGIR will be spread over 50,000 acres.

Bhubaneswar: Keen on setting up the Centre’s proposed National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), the State Government has sought in-principle approval to the project. After identifying land at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district for development of the zone, the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) has submitted the detailed project report (DPR) to the Centre.

IDCO is reported to have identified 5,000 hectares (12,355.26 acres) of contiguous land in Kalinganagar. The State Government has assured the Centre of developing infrastructure including road, power and water supply for the proposed NIMZ. The Ministry of Commerce and Industries had sought certain clarifications from the State Government about the proposed NIMZ which have been complied with, said a senior officer of Industries Department. The Ministry has accorded in-principle approval for 16 NIMZs. Eight NIMZs will be set up in and outside the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Six NIMZs would come up in the first phase in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The rest two NIMZs would be set up later in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

These six States account for 43 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 50 per of industrial production and exports and 40 per cent of total workforce. Apart from 16 NIMZs, the Centre has received four more proposals for setting up NIMZ outside the DMIC from Uttar Pradesh (two), Gujarat (one) and Odisha (one). NIMZs are proposed to be self-governing autonomous bodies to be managed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) headed by Government officials. The Centre will provide financial support for infrastructure while internal infrastructure will be developed on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for which access to Viability Gap Funding (VGF) would be provided, sources said.