Twenty companies begin operations from Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor cities

Inox Air Products, Haier Appliances and Torrent Power are among the 20-odd companies that have launched manufacturing operations from four smart industrial townships being developed under the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) managing director Rajat Kumar Saini said the four industrial smart cities are coming up on 2,500-3,000 acres of industrial land. He said 65% of the land is occupied where 274 companies have set up or are in the process of setting up their units. The four cities are Dholera (Gujarat), Greater Noida (UP), Vikram Udyogpuri (MP) and Shendra-Bidkin (Maharashtra).

"We are targeting hi-tech and new-age electronics in Dholera. We are rationing the applications and focussing on hi-tech sectors only," Saini said, adding that Shendra-Bidkin is the most occupied project with almost all plots occupied while less than 40 acres are left in Vikram Udyogpuri. These greenfield smart industrial cities are offering plug and play infrastructure, 24 hours power supply, effluent treatment plants, multi-modal connectivity and single-window clearances, including environmental approvals.

India has 11 such industrial and economic corridors, and the aim is to have 32 smart industrial cities. At present, there are four fully developed smart cities.

"Four more cities are coming up. It takes a long time for such cities to come up," Saini said. Three Chinese companies-including Haier Appliances and Chenfeng-have invested in these fully-developed industrial cities till now.

The investments were made before 2020 when the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) made prior government approval mandatory for foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing a land border with India, irrespective of sectoral caps, through Press Note 3. The industry could get land 25-30% cheaper in such corridors as agriculture isn't cross-subsidised.