Govt ready to provide more funds for DMIC

The government today said that "if required" it will allocate more funds during the next financial year for the development of world class industrial cities proposed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.

"In order to dispel any doubt about funding, I wish to make it clear that we shall provide, if required, additional funds during 2013-14 within the share of the Government of India in the overall outlay for the project," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in his Budget 2013-2014 speech.

The government's ambitious $90 billion DMIC project has made rapid progress, he said.

He said that plans for seven new cities have been finalised and work on two new smart industrial cities at Dholera, Gujarat and Shendra Bidkin, Maharashtra will start during 2013-14.

The government had earlier approved an expenditure of Rs 18,500 crore on development of infrastructure for the project.

The 1,500-km long DMIC would run across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Acknowledging the support of the Japanese government, Chidambaram said the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are currently preparing a comprehensive plan for the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

"The corridor will be developed in collaboration with the governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka," he said, adding that the next corridor will be the Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor on which preparatory work has started.