MIDC no to Nashik

With no new plots available in Nashik, industries may move to nearby Sinnar.

Industrialists in Nashik have a peculiar problem - they want to set up more units but the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is not giving them the land. The two industrial estates in the city, Ambad and Satpur, are fully occupied with no space for new comers.

Industry associations here, the Nashik Industries and Manufacturers' Association, Ambad Industries and Manufacturers' Associations, Nashik Industrial Co-operative Estate and Laghu Udyog Bharati, have been clamouring for additional land for the last couple of years. But seven months after the state industries minister Ashok Chavan's directive, MIDC has not found additional land in Nashik.

Associations had also urged the state government to acquire 1,000 acres of land, owned by an agricultural trust near Ambad and convert it into an industrial estate. The trust, however, does not want to give up its land.

Given this scenario, where will the new industries will go, ask local entrepreneurs. "We have taken initiative to attract large investment here, but there is no land available in Satpur and Ambad. Where will industries set up their plants if they want to come to Nashik?" asks Dhananjay Bele, president, Ambad Industries and Manufacturers' Association.

Said a senior industrialist, "Nashik ideal for big industries given its pleasant climate, good education facilities and skilled man power pool and availability of power, besides affordable land prices. It is also close to Mumbai and Pune compared to Nagpur or Aurangabad. Hence, additional industrial land is urgently needed in Nashik. Otherwise, the city's development will be stunted."

In this scenario, Sinnar with its 182 vacant plots is emerging as a strong alternative.

MIDC CEO, Rajiv Jalota, said, "We have identified 1,300 hectares in Sinnar, 30 km from Nashik, and we are planning to acquire this land as part of our expansion activities in the state."