Akhilesh launches Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Sunday launched the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project that will help agricultural and industrial produce reach ports in less than a day.

Accompanied by union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, the chief minister also laid the foundation stone of the Integrated Industrial Township at Greater Noida, which with Noida falls in Uttar Pradesh.

A shareholders' agreement between the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) and the DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC) was signed for the development of the integrated township.

Yadav thanked the union government for its cooperation, and said his government's priority was to expedite the DMIC and also develop an industrial corridor along the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Anand Sharma said that with the completion of the DMIC in 2017, the abundant agricultural and industrial produce from Uttar Pradesh will reach ports in 14 hours instead of the present 14 days.

He lauded the state government for speeding up the DMIC project, and said that according to the World Bank, it was one of the biggest infrastructure development projects in the world.

"Once completed, our target of increasing the share of manufacturing sector in GDP from the current 16 percent to 25 percent could be realized," he said.

More than 12 percent of the DMIC's influence area, measuring 36,068 sq km, lies across 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) meet at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, providing the state added benefits.

Two development regions - Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment region and the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar Industrial area - have been envisaged in Uttar Pradesh on the 1,483-km DMIC.

The Integrated Industrial Township at Greater Noida, Multi-modal Transport Hub at Bodaki and Multi-modal Logistics Hub at Dadri have been proposed under this project, an official told IANS.