NIMZ project in state clouded by delay

The National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), proposed to be set up at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district, is likely to be delayed with the state government yet to prepare the detailed project report (DPR).

After identifying Kalinganagar for development of the zone in September last year, Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) was to prepare the DPR for submission to the Centre.

Raising the issue in the state assembly, BJD MLA Pritiranjan Ghadai said, "The NIMZ project is getting delayed as he DPR is not yet ready. The estimated project cost is also not known."

Damodar Rout, minister for MSMEs (micro, small & medium enterprises) said, "The state government will prepare a feasibility study for the NIMZ project. The study will be undertaken by Idco. If needed, the best of consultants will be engaged."

NIMZ needed 5,000 hectares (or 12355.26 acres) of contiguous land and has been identified as one of the key instruments of Centre's National Manufacturing Policy to step up share of manufacturing in GDP.

In July 2012, Union minister for commerce & industry Anand Sharma had written to state chief minister Naveen Patnaik on the NIMZ project. Sharma had urged the Odisha government to identify suitable land with appropriate power, road and transport linkages for establishment of an NIMZ.

"While these zones are an important instrumentality, forward looking provisions of the policy are applicable across the country wherever industry is able to organize itself into clusters and adopt a model of self-regulation. I am sure that you will recognize the intrinsic merit of this policy which holds enormous promise for industrial development and employment generation," Sharma had written to the Odisha chief minister.

The NIMZs are proposed to be self-governing and autonomous bodies under Article 243 (Q-c) of the constitution and managed by a special purpose vehicle headed by government officials. The Centre will provide financial support for trunk infrastructure while internal infrastructure will be developed on a PPP (public private partnership) mode for which access to viability gap funding would be provided. The first seven NIMZs have been notified and they will be set up in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh along the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.

Together, these six states account for 43 per cent of the country's GDP (gross domestic product), 50 per of industrial production and exports and 40 per cent of total workforce.

The NIMZs would be a combination of production units, public utilities, logistics, environmental protection mechanism, residential areas and administrative services. It would have a processing area where the manufacturing facilities along with associated logistics and other services as well as required infrastructure will be located.

The processing area may include one or more Special Economic Zones (SEZs), industrial parks and warehousing zones and export oriented units.

Besides, there will be a non-processing area to include residential, commercial and other social and institutional infrastructure.