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Delhi-Mumbai corridor to attract $90 bn

July 03, 2007 12:28 IST
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which will run parallel to the dedicated railway freight corridor, is expected to see investments of $90 billion. The earlier estimate was $50 billion.

"The amount will be used to create world-class infrastructure along the proposed industrial corridor, which will cover six states and an area of 450,000 sq km," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said at a CII function in New Delhi.

According to him, a part of the money needed could be raised through equity, with the governments of Japan and India also chipping in.

The proposed industrial corridor is 1,483-km-long and 300-km-wide and will have the Delhi-Mumbai railway freight corridor at the centre.

Nath insisted the project should also cover his home state of Madhya Pradesh. "The route alignment is incorrect because it does not include Madhya Pradesh. It has to be rectified and refined. The project can succeed only if the route alignment is changed," he said.

According to Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akira Amari, Japanese companies are very much interested in the project. "The India corridor will help Japanese companies assess markets in Europe and Africa," he said.

A joint task force, which is preparing a concept paper on the project has identified 10 industrial areas, to be called nodes, which will be developed in the project's first phase, between January 2008 and December 2012.

These areas have been categorised into investment regions, covering a minimum area of 200 sq km and industrial areas, with a minimum area of 11 sq km. These areas will have quality infrastructure and connectivity to the hinterland, the railway freight corridor and special economic zones.

The five investment regions shortlisted are Dadri-Noida- Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Manesar-Bawal in Haryana, Khushkhera-Bhiwandi-Neemrana in Rajasthan, Ahmedabad-Dholera in Gujarat and Igatpuri-Nasik-Sinnar in Maharashtra.

The industrial areas that have been identified are Meerut-Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Faridabad-Palwal in Haryana, Jaipur-Dausa in Rajasthan, Vadodara-Ankleshwar in Gujarat and Alewadi/Dighi port in Maharashtra.

"We have decided to go for brownfield projects rather than greenfield projects for cost effectiveness," said Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ajay Dua.

BS Reporter in New Delhi
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