DMIC project: Centre, Maharashtra agree on rehabilitation package

The Centre and the Maharashtra government have agreed to provide 15 per cent of the land developed in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) to project-affected persons (PAPs).

“The Centre has accepted the Maharashtra government’s proposal, in line with the state government’s rehabilitation policy,” a senior government official, who did want to be named, told Business Standard.

The understanding between the two was reached at a meeting on April 12.

The official said the Centre and the state were yet to arrive at an agreement on the provisions of the State Support Agreement and Shareholders’ Agreement.  

“The Maharashtra government is insisting on 51 per cent equity for itself and 49 per cent to be held by the Centre in the proposed special purpose vehicle being envisaged for the DMIC project,” the official informed.

The official said the state government was of the view that the development commissioner of the DMIC project should have a limited role. “However, the Maharashtra government will have a major say in the project implementation and thereafter,” the official added.

The agreement is significant as PAPs, several parties and non-governmental organisations are opposing the acquisition of 25,500 hectares for the project.

Nationalist Congress Party minister Sunil Tatkare, who hails from the Raigad district where the DMIC project is being envisaged, had last week at the cabinet meeting, demanded a stay on the acquisition till the government declared a final policy in this regard. Tatkare had demanded that PAPs be paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh an acre and 15 per cent developed land.   

The DMIC is expected to cover an overall length of 1,483 km between Delhi and Mumbai.

About 17 per cent of its project influence area is in Maharashtra, covering about 20 per cent of the area and 26 per cent of the population of the state. A band of 150 km on either side of the freight corridor has been identified as the influence region for industrial development. The major districts include Mumbai Suburban, Mumbai City, Thane, Nashik, Pune, Aurangabad, Ahmadnagar, Dhule, Nandurbar and Raigad.