M A I N   N E W S

Amritsar-Kolkata corridor must cover 20 cities: IMG
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 18
The Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) set up by the Prime Minister for doing a feasibility study on the Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKDIC) has recommended that the project should cover 20 cities in the seven states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal with a budgetary support of Rs 5,700 crore spread over 15 years.

The Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor will boost industrialisation in the northern and eastern states and is being modeled on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

The IMG was set up to undertake preparatory work on setting up the AKDIC using the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor as a backbone and the structural and financing arrangements that would be required to operationalise it. According to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the group has completed its report and has recommended that the AKDIC be aligned to the EDFC and it passes through 20 cities in the seven states.

The corridor will also leverage the existing highway system on this route and the inland water system. In the first phase of the project, every state could promote at least one cluster of about 10 sq km area to be called integrated manufacturing cluster (IMC), in which 40 per cent area would be earmarked permanently for manufacturing and processing activities. It is proposed that the ADKIC may use both the Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach and non-PPP approach. The IMG has also recommended setting up of an apex monitoring authority headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma for overall guidance, planning and approvals.

The report said the ADKIC should be set up as a corporate entity, on the lines of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMIDC). A dedicated cell under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary or Industrial Development Commissioner was also recommended at the state level. At the cluster level, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) may be set up by the state governments for administration of clusters.

In the first phase, an estimated maximum financial commitment of about Rs 5,749 crore over 15 years may be given for construction of seven IMCs each of 1,000 hectare.