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Cabinet approves 12 new industrial parks
The project is part of the NICDP and will have a major positive impact on domestic manufacturing and employment generation.
The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved ₹28,602 crore greenfield industrial smart city projects in 12 locations across states with a combined potential to attract over ₹1.52 lakh crore investments that will create 4 million direct and indirect jobs in the next three years, two ministers said after the cabinet meeting.
Briefing the media, minister of railways, information and broadcasting, electronics & information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said the project is part of the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) and will have a major positive impact on domestic manufacturing and employment generation. The decision is in line with the government’s infrastructure push in the last three months during which it has committed over ₹2 lakh crore investments, providing 1.2 million jobs and creating 106.9 million days of employment.
While explaining the spread of the industrial areas on a map of India, he said: “If you see, in a way, there is a grand necklace around the entire country covering the north, east, south, west and centre as these projects cover all regions.”
Vaishnaw said global manufacturing is shifting to India and these industrial area projects with environment-friendly “plug-and-play” infrastructure will accelerate this shift. Strategically planned along six major corridors, these industrial areas will be located in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. UP has projects in two locations. “I have shown you 11 projects [in nine states]. Total 12 projects have been sanctioned. I’m not naming one because of the Model Code of Conduct,” he said.
The decision is in line with budget announcements. While presenting the Union budget for 2024-25, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Our government will facilitate development of investment-ready ‘plug and play’ industrial parks with complete infrastructure in or near 100 cities, in partnership with the states and private sector, by better using town planning schemes.” Twelve industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme also will be sanctioned, she said in her budget speech on July 23.
Later, speaking to reporters, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that eight such industrial cities are already under different stages of implementation, thus taking the total number to 20. “As land is already acquired for these projects, we expect them to start functioning in the next three years,” he said. Much would depend on the states, as some of them, such as Maharashtra, are making efforts to complete the industrial city project even before three years.
The four earlier projects where trunk infrastructure has been created are Dholera (in Gujarat), Auric (in Maharashtra), Vikram Udyogpuri (in Madhya Pradesh) and Krishnapatnam (in Andhra Pradesh). Four other projects under implementation are Tumakuru (in Karnataka), Krishnapatnam (in Andhra Pradesh), Nangal Chaudhary (in Haryana), and Dadri-Greater Noida (in Uttar Pradesh). Goyal said the initial “inhibitions” of the Karnataka government delayed the Tumakuru project, but now all states are cooperating.
On a specific question on West Bengal, he said: “Initially, West Bengal had also proposed a project, but later they [state government] themselves withdrew the proposal.” Goyal said the Centre will not discriminate against states on the basis of their political affiliations as the purpose is to accelerate growth and development of the entire country. According to officials associated with the projects, the states and the Centre have equity stakes in each project in the proportion of 51:49. “While land value is the equity component of the state in the respective special purpose vehicle (SPV), the Centre provides equity contribution in terms of creating infrastructure. Beyond its equity component, the Centre also gives long-term loans to meet any shortfall and the same is to be repaid by the SPV in 10 years,” one official said.
According to Goyal, these industrial cities have minimum contiguous area of 1,000 acres (with some exceptions) and they are to be developed as greenfield smart cities of global standards, built on the “plug-and-play” and “walk-to-work” concepts. These cities are equipped with advanced infrastructure that supports sustainable and efficient industrial operations with multi-modal connectivity, ensuring seamless movement of people, goods, and services, he said.
