The Union approved Rs 28,602 crore greenfield industrial smart city projects in 12 locations across states with a combined potential to attract over Rs 1.52 lakh crore investments that will create 4 million direct and indirect jobs in the next three years, two ministers said after the cabinet meeting.
These industrial area projects with environment-friendly “plug-and-play” infrastructure will accelerate this shift. Strategically planned along six major corridors, these industrial areas will be located in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. UP has projects in two locations.
The eight such industrial cities are already under different stages of implementation, thus taking the total number to 20. As land is already acquired for these projects, they are expected to start functioning in the next three years. Much would depend on the states, as some of them, such as Maharashtra, are making efforts to complete the industrial city project even before three years.
The four earlier projects where trunk infrastructure has been created are Dholera (in Gujarat), Auric (in Maharashtra), Vikram Udyogpuri (in Madhya Pradesh) and Krishnapatnam (in Andhra Pradesh). Four other projects under implementation are Tumakuru (in Karnataka), Krishnapatnam (in Andhra Pradesh), Nangal Chaudhary (in Haryana), and Dadri-Greater Noida (in Uttar Pradesh). Goyal said the initial “inhibitions” of the Karnataka government delayed the Tumakuru project, but now all states are cooperating.
According to officials, the states and the Centre have equity stakes in each project in the proportion of 51:49. While land value is the equity component of the state in the respective special purpose vehicle (SPV), the Centre provides equity contribution in terms of creating infrastructure. Beyond its equity component, the Centre also gives long-term loans to meet any shortfall and the same is to be repaid by the SPV in 10 years.
These industrial cities have minimum contiguous area of 1,000 acres (with some exceptions) and they are to be developed as greenfield smart cities of global standards, built on the “plug-and-play” and “walk-to-work” concepts. These cities are equipped with advanced infrastructure that supports sustainable and efficient industrial operations with multi-modal connectivity, ensuring seamless movement of people, goods, and services, he said
