Maharashtra gets Rs18,500crore boost to regain industrial glory

The state is all set to restore its fading industrial status.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has embarked on mission Maharashtra through an ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project worth Rs18,500 crore.

The project will be a joint venture of the Centre and the state.
Adopting the public-private partnership model, the project will give a major boost to Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Dhule and Nandurbar.

The DMIC has plans to upgrade two-tier cities in the state and give it an overall growth.

While Nashik and Dhule will become the new industrial centres of state, Dighi will have international status port and Pune a world-class cargo hub.

The Dighi port and Shendra (Aurangabad) will emerge as industrial townships complete with world-class infrastructure. The DMIC project was approved at a meeting between Chavan and Union commerce minister Anand Sharma. The top bureaucracy of the state and the Centre was present in the meeting.

“We will construct a world-class industrial township in Dighi and Aurangabad in the first phase of the DMIC project. The projects will start immediately will be completed in 2019,” said Chavan.
Two major power projects will also be undertaken with the projects to meet the demand and supply which will rise with the industrial growth.

The development in Shendra (Aurangabad) will require Rs2,790 crore for industrial development and Dighi international port and infrastructure development will require Rs5,967 crore.

The Shendra township will cover 8,340 hectares and Dighi port will take up 25,000 hectares. Roads, drinking water, power, schools, hospitals, market centres, gardens, sewerage, storm water drainage will be built.

The state-Centre joint project will be one of the biggest in Asian countries. The state chief secretary will monitor the project’s progress to ensure it meets the deadline.

The chief minister said the DMIC is part of the national development policy with a specific objective to attract major investments and growth in manufacturing sector. Apart from restoring the leading industrial status of Maharashtra, the project will also spill over its benefits to six states passing through the corridors. It will generate employment opportunities to 225 million people in the country.