The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved setting up 12 industrial smart cities with an outlay of 28,602 crore, with an in- vestment potential of 1.5 lakh crore and employment potential of 1 million direct jobs and up to 3 million indirect jobs.
“The industrial parks will forma golden quadrilateral…there are 20 industrial smart cities and townships of which 12 will start soon,” said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal.
These 12 cities are in addition to the existing ones in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Dholera in Gujarat to boost domestic manufacturing. These cities will span across 10 states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, and Telangana and six major industrial corridors, and would come up by 2027, and are aimed at driving “balanced” regional development.
These industrial cities will function more like industrial cities, where residential and commercial setups would co-exist. These would have plug and play infrastructure with potable drinking water, 24 hours electricity, and will be based on the ‘walk-to-work’ concept. “We hope investors get
land in India easily. We have given environmental clearance for all these 12 projects which makes it easier for investors,” he said, adding that the single window clearance will help in the process.
To be set up under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP), this grand necklace of industrial smart ci- ties on the backbone of Golden Quadrilateral, according to a statement issued by the commerce and industry ministry.
In her Budget speech last month, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced 12 industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP).
“Anchor investors will get land at discounted rates with flexible and tailor-made payment terms. The plot sizes are also tailor- made,” Goyal said. Singapore and Switzerland have shown interest in having dedicated industrial space. The government plans to tie up with Invest India for the marketing of these projects. Kushal Kumar Singh, Partner, Deloitte India, said the announ cement indicates the determination of the government to give big thrust to the manufacturing eco- system in the country and represents a progressive approach to wards attracting investments. He said that the industrial cities that “offer world-class infrastructure
