State moots special purpose vehicle for industrial corridor project

With the buzz about Gujarat being the biggest beneficiary of the grand US $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) getting louder, the Maharashtra government, scrambling to not be left behind, on Thursday got it’s act together and mooted a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project.

With the buzz about Gujarat being the biggest beneficiary of the grand US $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) getting louder, the Maharashtra government, scrambling to not be left behind, on Thursday got it’s act together and mooted a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project.

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The SPV has been created with a 50:50 stake between the Centre and the state, to quicken the proposed creation of industrial nodes in the state. The announcement was made by Union commerce minister Anand Sharma, who was in Mumbai for a discussion on project status.

If all goes as planned, the state will have two new mega industrial cities — Dighi maritime city in Raigad, and Shendra near Aurangabad — by 2019.

These townships will require initial investment of Rs 5,967 crore and Rs 2,790 crore respectively, to create world-class infrastructure. They’re being touted as generation next cities, with the best transit and civic amenities.

“Extensive work has gone into the project. Feasibility studies have been done and acquisition is going on. The SPV will lead to better coordination and more focus,” said K Shivaji, principal secretary for industries.

Hinting at where Maharashtra has lagged behind, the Union minister said: “The state government will have to work on land acquisition and revenue generation on an immediate basis.”

The slow progress on land acquisition has threatened to derail the project.

For the first phase of creating Dighi maritime city, the state needs to acquire 5,400 hectares of land, of which only 721 hectares have been acquired, and 4,549 notified. For regular review of the project, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has formed a committee under chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad.