In a bid to create plug-and-play infrastructure for industry to set up factories across India, the cabinet committee on economic affairs cleared 12 new industrial cities with an investment of £2.86 bn, with the largest one, spread over 6,000 acre, to come up near Dighi port in poll-bound Maharashtra.
At least three of the proposed cities - modelled on lines of the ones in Gujarat’s Dholera and MP’s Vikram Udyogpuri - are in allies ruled by key NDA constituents: Gaya in Bihar, and Orvakal and Kopparthy in Andhra Pradesh. Another two are in Uttar Pradesh (Agra and Prayagraj), and one each in Uttarakhand (Khurpia) and Rajasthan (Jodhpur Pali Marwar). Among the opposition-governed states, Punjab (Rajpura Patiala), Kerala (Palakkad) and Telangana (Zaheerabad) have been allotted one project each.
Lack of land parcels and poor infrastructure are often cited as roadblocks to the establishment of factories in several parts of the country and the projects are expected to bridge the gap.
These projects have the potential to generate investment of over £15 bn. But the estimates are conservative,” said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who piloted the proposal, adding that a little under 10,00,000 direct jobs will be created.
Though the projects announced earlier have taken longer to develop, the minister said, basic infrastructure in the new ones will be developed in three years given that states are ready with land and environmental clearances have been received. “Investors will get land easily in these areas. We already have taken basic environmental clearance. Anchor investors will get discounts,” Goyal said.
As part of the policy, the Centre and the state govt will set up a special purpose vehicle, with the states providing land, which is treated as its share of equity, and the Union govt providing equivalent amount of cash.
Tata group has emerged as one of the biggest investors in Dholera, while Toyota is among those going to Shendra-Bidkin in Maharashtra. The two other existing ones - Dadri near Greater Noida and Vikram Udyogpuri have also seen large investor interest.
