The Maharashtra government Monday signed the state support agreement and shareholders' agreement for the first phase of the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor which aims to create around 3.80 million jobs in the state.
The mega-infrastructure project, which will generate industrial output by Rs.20 lakh crore by 2042, will cover 26 percent of the state's population in eight districts - Thane, Raigad, Pune, Dhule, Nandurbar, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.
Giving details, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that four major industrial clusters in engineering, food parks, textile, printing and construction will come up with provisions for regional-level roads, open spaces, public utilities, etc, which have the potential to make Maharashtra a world leader in manufacturing.
Aimed to be developed in two phases, the mega-infrastructure project's first phase will focus on development of the Shendre-Bidkin Industrial City and an exhibition-cum-convention centre in Aurangabad, a Multi-Modal Logistics Park at Karmad and a water supply scheme in Shendre.
The Shendre-Bidkin Industrial area will be spread over 84 square km of which 32 square km will be developed in Phase I with the projected industrial activities to create around 500,000 jobs and an investment of Rs.17,319 crore.
In the second phase, Chavan said that projects will include the Dighi Port Industrial area, Dhule Mega Industrial Park, Nashik-Sinnar-Igatpuri Investment Region and a Multi-Modal Logistics Park.
"Maharashtra's contribution would be in the form of providing land for the projects with 51 percent stake, while the centre's contribution would be to the tune of Rs.3,000 crore for each of the township projects. The rest will come from a tie-up with Japan International Cooperation Agency," Chavan told media persons after the signing ceremony.
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The state government and the DMIC Trust have formed the joint venture for developing all these projects over the next nearly three decades, envisaged under the National Manufacturing Policy-2013 which aims to enhance the share of manufacturing sector in DGP growth from 16 percent to 25 percent in a decade and create 100 million new jobs.
Besides DMIC, the central government has already announced Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor project with the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor as its backbone, the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and the Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor.
Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and state Industry Minister Narayan Rane were also present at the signing Monday.