The government will promote an industrial corridor alongside the proposed Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor on the golden quadrilateral route.
"We have proposed to leverage the freight corridor and the golden quadrilateral national highway from Delhi to Mumbai by promoting an industrial corridor comprising large number of units," said Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on the sidelines of a meeting organised by the CII.
Commerce minister Kamal Nath and Akira Amari, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the industrial corridor along with the Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor with Japanese participation, during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Japan..
The corridor will have several supporting infrastructure projects such as power facilities, rail connectivity to ports en-route, besides covering development of ports on India's west coast. Along this corridor several industrial estates and industrial clusters with high quality infrastructure will be built attracting investments, including several ones from Japan.
A task force headed by the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Japan's Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will further develop the concept and the components of the project.
Chidambaram said on Wednesday that a committee headed by HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh would examine critical issues concerning private investment in infrastructure.
{{/usCountry}}Chidambaram said on Wednesday that a committee headed by HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh would examine critical issues concerning private investment in infrastructure.
{{/usCountry}}The committee will submit its report in six weeks.
“Public-private-partnerships (PPP) are the key to raising resources for investment in Indian infrastructure. They marry the skills of the private sector with the public interest,” said Chidambaram.
The Planning Commission has set a target of $350 billion of investment in infrastructure during the 11th Five Year plan, the Minister said. “There is no room for wasteful expenditure for high sounding programmes, which do not deliver results.”
Chidambaram said that the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) would soon be entering the market to raise funds. "We have guaranteed them (IIFCL) to the extent of Rs 10,000 crore that the company will raise in the debt market," he said.