Last fortnight, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) celebrated the eighth anniversary of four national industrial corridor developments. These corridors span Amritsar-Kolkata, Chennai-Bengaluru, Bengaluru-Mumbai, and the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC). The latter includes ports such as Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Chennai, Paradeep, and Kolkata, which support logistics, packaging, and other services vital to production clusters and distribution centres for export companies. The Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor has been designated as the first phase of the ECEC.
These industrial corridor initiatives are part of a larger plan to establish a dozen or so such corridors crisscrossing India, akin to the Golden Quadrilateral roadway project. The corridors are intended to usher in a quiet revolution in the manufacturing sector by ensuring planned industrial development across the country, reminiscent of the planning during the Five-Year Plans of the 1960s. Unlike earlier efforts to issue licences for industries in backward regions, these corridors aim to accelerate the growth of industrial towns and cities along their routes, generating employment and income.
The National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC), a joint venture involving the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, HUDCO, LIC, and the Government of India, has been entrusted with the task of overseeing project development activities. As a development and knowledge partner, NICDC is responsible for activities such as drafting master plans, feasibility reports, and detailed project reports, as well as serving as an intermediary for establishing infrastructure projects.
The concept of building industrial corridors is commendable and draws inspiration from Japan’s multiple industrial corridors, which transformed it into a manufacturing powerhouse. However, 8 years is a relatively short time to assess the success of such projects. Japan, much smaller geographically, took nearly three decades to realise the full potential of its corridors. Given India’s ambition of becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047, it does not have the luxury of such a timeline. Rapid and multi-pronged efforts are essential to swiftly populate these corridors with industrial units.
Among the various industrial corridors under development, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) stands out as India’s first and most visible. Planned in January 2008, it spans Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra – states that were already relatively developed. The DMIC was expected to further accelerate growth in these states while promoting industrialisation in less-developed regions such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. New projects have emerged, such as the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area near Aurangabad in Maharashtra and the Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat. Tata Solar recently became an anchor investor in Dholera, with plans to establish a 300 MW solar plant. Additionally, several multi-modal logistics hubs have been established, and integrated townships have been developed in Greater Noida and Vikram Udyogpuri near Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Many plots have already been occupied, with manufacturing underway by companies such as PepsiCo India, Ashirvad Pipes, Karnataka Antibiotics, and Yashoda Linen, among others.
States along the corridors are providing further incentives to attract investments, as these translate into higher employment and future tax revenues. Earlier this year, the government proposed an additional boost to the National Industrial Corridors by planning world-class greenfield industrial smart cities. These cities, designed with ‘plug-and-play’ and ‘walk-to-work’ concepts, are to be established ahead of demand. Ten smart cities have been proposed across six major corridors, including locations such as Khurpia (Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand), Rajpura-Patiala (Punjab), Dighi (Maharashtra), Gaya (Bihar), Zaheerabad (Telangana), Orvakal and Kopparthy (Andhra Pradesh), and Jodhpur-Pali (Rajasthan). An initial allocation of R28,602 crore has been made for these projects. These smart cities will feature advanced infrastructure to support the needs of industrial units and their employees.
While the planning of such mega projects is praiseworthy, execution remains critical. The government must establish additional subsidiaries of NICDC, each focused on preparing detailed reports and facilitating rapid clearances to ensure that businesses setting up in these industrial nodes can avoid unnecessary delays. Specific cluster development ideas must also be promoted in collaboration with state governments, which play a vital role as ambassadors for their regions.