We learnt lessons from Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor: JICA

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a governmental agency of Japan, has said that the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor (DMIC) was a good lesson for the Agency and said it will not adopt the same strategy for other corridors, especially on Chennai-Bengaluru-Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

Ichiguchi Tomohide, senior representative (deputy chief representative) at JICA's  India Office said that “there are lessons learnt from DMIC, since the entire project is greenfield it took long time, faced land acquisitions. Unlike DMIC, the CBIC will not be a total greenfield project,” he said. Of the $10 billion DMIC project, so far JICA's contribution is around Rs 13,000-14,000 crore. This will be largest project for JICA in the World.

In December 2013, Jica submitted its first interim report on the Master Plan (2013-2033) for Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC). The Master Plan study covers the corridor between Chennai-Bengaluru-Chitradurga (560 km) spread across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The study includes perspective planning for the corridor and detailed planning for selected industrial-nodes.

The Master Plan study is in continuation of the preliminary study (May 2012-October 2012) prepared by the Jica that identified various infrastructure and policy impediments that affect investments in the region.

gWe are now identifying node points for potential industrial hubs in each of these states,” said Tomohide. He said the focus will be manufacturing and Japanese companies will be the engine for the CBIC.

Around 5,000-10,000 acres of land would be required to set up these industrial hubs, he added.

Earlier JICA said about 26 prioritised projects were identified, whose progress is monitored by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on a monthly basis in the presence of secretaries from ministries like ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Indian Railways, including representatives from the state governments concerned.

According to officials, Phase-I of the the corridor will extend up to Bangalore from Chennai and it would later be extended to Andhra Pradesh. The project would help smoothen the movement of goods.

Around 400 Japanese companies are operating near Chennai.

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