India proposes Japan to set up $9 bn fund for DMIC project

India today proposed to Japan setting up of a $9 billion fund for implementation of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, envisaging a whopping investment of $100 billion.

The proposal was made by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma when he called on Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Tokyo.

Sharma proposed the establishment of revolving fund with matching contribution from both the countries.

A revolving fund is a fund or account whose income remains available to finance its continuing operations without any fiscal year limitation.

"Japanese Prime Minister agreed to enhance the financial contribution of Japan and was positively receptive to the suggestion," a Commerce Ministry statement said here.

The DMIC project planned in 2006 comprising six states -- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh -- is being developed in collaboration with Japan as a manufacturing and trading hub.

The government had also signed Memorandums of Understanding with major Japanese consultants for feasibility studies to set up the first set of smart cities in Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The cities would come up along Delhi-Mumbai Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Sharma also sought Japanese investment in India's infrastructure sector and capital goods equipment, including power equipment.

The minister is in Tokyo to sign the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that is aimed at freeing trade in goods and services.

The CEPA will be signed tomorrow in Tokyo.