Three corridors chosen for development

Extending the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor development concept within the state, the government of Gujarat has identified three corridors, for which separate development and growth strategies will be implemented in the coming years.

With gas being made available to user industries in the near future and ports coming up in a big way along the 1600-km coastline, the government has decided to prepare three different development modules for separate belts of the state.

The first corridor identified for special treatment is the Umargam-Hazira-Dahej-Bhavnagar corridor, which runs along the western coast of the state.

The second corridor identified is the Mundra-Morbi-Surendranagar-Porbander-Jamnagar corridor, that covers both the coastal area as well as the hinterland.

The third corridor identified for development is the Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Mehsana-Patan corridor.

"The government has decided to commission three separate studies to draw up a separate development plan for each corridor. The detailed study will look into all aspects of requirements that the industries in each corridor will require to grow. Of course, in all these studies, the gas distribution network will play a major role," D Rajagopalan, principal secretary, industries and mines, said on Wednesday.

When asked if any firm had been approached for completing the detailed study, the official said, "We have not identified that as yet, but it will be done soon."

He said while industries being set up along the coastline have an altogether different set of requirements as they will be port based, those in the interior regions will require a different approach.

"An attempt will also be made to see how setting up of industries along the coast can help those in the hinterland, even in adjoining states. In all the earlier policies, providing incentives was the criterion for attracting investments and persuading industrialists from setting up units. Now with the new industrial, mining and tourism policies, the focus is on providing the right atmosphere for industries to work in," Rajagopalan said.

With industrial entrepreneurs memorandum (IEMs) worth over Rs 11,000 crore already been filed in October alone, just after the Vibrant Gujarat summit, it appears that the government has identified these three corridors where a majority of this proposed investment will flow in.

Quoting a December 2003 CMIE report, Rajagopalan said contrary to what is being perceived, Gujarat accounted for 15.89 per cent of the total investment in the country.

Industries secretary Amarjit Singh said most of the Rs 16,000 crore proposed investment is in the power, oil and gas and tourism sectors.

Minister Anil Patel said the entire 66,000 crore worth of MoUs signed during the Vibrant Gujarat summit will not materialise into investments, but the percentage of MoUs signed being converted to actual investments will be high.