DMIC: Govt clears Rs 4,318 cr to build trunk infrastructure

NEW DELHI, May 30: The government today approved Rs 4,318.28 crore for constructing roads and basic amenities at two industrial regions in Gujarat and Maharashtra under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project. The Cabinet Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of trunk infrastructure components of Phase-1 of the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) in Gujarat and Phase-1 of the Shendra Bidkin Industrial Area (SBIA) in Maharashtra under the DMIC Project, which are likely to be completed in three to four years. The total cost of the DSIR project is estimated to be about Rs 2,784.83 crore, which will be invested by DMIC Trust as equity in the city/node Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), an official statement said. For this region, the trunk infrastructure components are - roads and services; ABCD building complex, water and sewage treatment plant and common effluent treatment plant. The total cost of the SBIA project is 1,533.45 crore and the trunk infrastructure components under this project include road and utility services, rail over bridges, sewage and common effluent treatment plant, solid waste management and district administrative building for SBIA. According to the statement for the DSIR project, as per the institutional and financial structure approved by the government, the land for the project will be contributed by the state government as their equity. "...while the contribution of DMIC Trust by way of equity and debt will be made in form of cash for implementing various trunk infrastructure components subject to a ceiling of Rs 3,000 crore," it added. The value of land bought by the state government would be the equity contribution of the state government. "Trunk Infrastructure development is proposed to commence in FY 2015-16 for the above mentioned infrastructure projects and is likely to be completed by FY 2018-19 after all necessary approvals," it said. The development of trunk infrastructure in Phase-1 of SBIA is proposed to commence in 2015-16 and is likely to be completed by 2017-18. The primary objective of developing the activation area is to trigger developmental activities in DSIR and attract local and global investments, said the statement. This activation area has been selected due to maximum concentration of government land, which will facilitate the early take off of various infrastructure components in DSIR, it added. The region has been planned over an extensive area 920 sq km encompassing 22 villages of Dhandhuka and Barwala Taluka in Ahmedabad District. "This node is strategically located near the industrial cities of Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Bhavnagar urban agglomerations," it said. DMIC Development Corporation, with the support and partnership of the Government of Gujarat, plans to create an economically and socially balanced new-age city with world class infrastructure, high quality-of-life standards and sustainability in the urban form. This area shall also help in building confidence in market bringing the effort of the past half-a-decade to fruition. About the SBIA project, it said a node and city level SPV has been formed as a joint venture between central and Maharashtra government under the name 'Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd'. The share of centre through DMIC Trust is 49 percent and the remaining 51 percent is held by Maharashtra through Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. "The SBIA master-plan area of 84.17 sq km is further split into two parts...Investment in the development of trunk infrastructure is essential for the creation of a greenfield smart industrial city," it said. It added that development of the SBIA as a manufacturing hub will generate a series of direct and indirect benefits through enhancement of GDP, establishment of manufacturing industries and generation of significant employment. India's ambitious $90 billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is giving financial and technical aid for the project, which will cover six states totalling 1,483 km. The project is being implemented jointly by central government and respective state governments. Eight investment areas or industrial regions have been identified for development in the first phase of DMIC across six states of Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.