Private co to handle Delhi-Mumbai $90 bn corridor

NEW DELHI: The biggest ever infrastructure initiative in India, the $90-bn Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, will be managed by a private company.

The Cabinet has said that DMIC Development Corporation will be a private entity, where the government will hold only 49% equity, allowing private infrastructure companies to participate in 51% equity of the company, sources close to the development told SundayET.

It will be the first such instance in India where such a large infrastructure project will be handled by a private company. According to the plan, the Central government would hold 26% of the equity of the company.

Six state governments, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, through which the corridor will pass, would each hold 3.83% equity amounting to 23% stake in the company.

The rest 51% will now be held by private Indian infrastructure companies. Sources said that execution will be much faster as DMICDC will be constituted as a private entity. “If the government holds 50% equity, all government rules from employing people to going through other regulations need to be adhered to. Taking decisions will be much slower then,” sources said.

In fact, the DMIC steering authority, chaired by finance minister P Chidambaram, will oversee all policy matters regarding the corridor. In addition to representation from commerce, labour, food processing, industry and infrastructure-related ministries, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, will also be a member of the steering authority.