States asked to fast track land allotment under industrial corridor plan

The Centre Friday asked states to fast track allotment of land under National Industrial Corridor Development project, failing which it will be forced to shut down projects and offer them to other states.

“Eighteen states are being urged to do their decision making very quickly, offer the land, otherwise we will be forced to foreclose those projects and maybe offer them to other states who maybe willing to speed up the investment,” said Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, addressing the Investor Round Table Conference on National Industrial Corridor Development Programme here.

The minister, however, warned there should be no land squatting but units must be set up soon that would lead to absorption of new technologies and creation of jobs.

“Ultimately the nation’s assets have to be put to good use. As we say in business management terminology, ‘Let’s sweat our assets as much as we can, let’s put to use whatever infrastructure or facilities that are created wherever to the maximum possible use,” he said.

National Industrial Corridor Corporation (NICDC) is implementing 11 corridors comprising 32 projects in four phases.

Goyal said several states were offering incentives under NICDC projects. CEO, Greater NOIDA has committed to allotment of land in 20 days and CEO, Dholera has offered 50 per cent discount on land cost to the first anchors for the first 30 per cent of plots available, he said.

Stating that the NICDC will be dovetailed with PM GatiShakti, Goyal said Invest India will set up offices in the first four townships coming up under the NICDC project.

NICDC is the country's flagship Infrastructure programme, \developing new industrial cities as 'Smart cities’ through convergence of next-generation technologies, creating benchmarks and competition with best manufacturing/investment destinations in the world.

The NICDC was approved by the government in December, 2020 for development of 11 industrial corridors with 32 state-of-the-art projects to be developed in 4 phases by 2026-27.

A combined investment of Rs 16,760 crore has been already done in the four cities for the 173 allotted plots. The four ‘Smart’ industrial cities are emerging at Dholera (Gujarat), Shendra Bidkin (Maharashtra), Vikram Udhogpuri (MP) and Integrated Industrial Township in Greater Noida (UP).

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