The government has given more details of the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor or DMIC, and the first phase will be complete by 2018, it said.
The DMIC is India’s attempt to catch up with China in industrial development, especially manufacturing. The seven built-from-scratch are being developed with the co-operation and investment of global giants like Mitsubishi, and are expected to be more eco-friendly and technologically advanced that other Indian cities.
Actively developed with the Japanese government and corporations, details and a time table had been sketchy so far.
The new roadmap, however, confirms that work is indeed progressing.
According to the new details released by the ministry of commerce and industry, sees the first phase getting over by 2018. In addition, the roadmap also says that the first phase will consist of ‘townships’.
Unlike special economic zones or SEZs, these cities will be designed to accommodate lakhs of people in each, and provide for their residential and entertainment needs besides employment.
The initial townships will range from 25 to 50 sq km — or about 6 to 8 km in length. The total area demarcated as the DMIC zone is about 5,000 sq km. At the completion of the first phase, the total industrial output of the DMIC region is expected to double, the ministry said.
Government will invest about Rs 17,500 crore ($3.5 billion) in the next five years, primarily to get the ball rolling.
Overall investment in these seven cities is expected to be $90-100 billion dollars over a period of 30 years, the ministry of commerce and industry said.
The biggest one, in Dholera in Gujarat, will be spread over 903 square kilometers, making it comparable to Delhi and Mumbai in size and bigger than all other cities at present. The ultra-modern city will be built along the Gulf of Khambat — the crevice between Gujarat and the Indian peninsula and will swallow up 22 existing villages with a population of 37,000.
The others are located in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana etc..
