Nashik awaits additional land for industrial development

Exactly six months after the directive of the industry minister Ashok Chavan, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has still not been able to identify new land for additional industrial area near Nashik.

As a result, Nashik's industrial development is restricted. No plot is available for mega industries wanting to set base in the MIDC areas of Nashik.

As the Satpur and Ambad MIDC areas of Nashik are almost fully occupied, there are no plots available. The state government, which is promoting industry and making attempts to attract large investment in the state - particularly in the Mumbai-Pune-Nashik golden triangle, has ignored the ground reality.

After pressure from industry associations like the Nashik Industries and Manufacturers' Association (NIMA), Ambad Industries and Manufacturers' Association (AIMA) and the Laghu Udyog Bharati, during a visit to Nashik in September last year, the industry minister Ashok Chavan had instructed MIDC and the Nashik collectorate to identify new land for additional industrial area near Nashik. But the issue has not been solved till date.

Speaking to Business Standard, a senior MIDC official said, "We are looking for new land for additional industrial area near Nashik, but there is no land available. So, we have sent the proposal of 1,000-acre land, owned by an agricultural trust near the Ambad MIDC area of Nashik, to the state industry department.

The trust has strongly refused to give its land for industrial purposes. Actually, people themselves should cooperate for the industrial development of Nashik city by donating land. Moreover, we have proposed new land near the Malegaon MIDC (Sinnar), 30 km from Nashik and are planning to acquire this land at the earliest."

The two industrial estates Satpur and Ambad (developed later as an additional industrial estate), in Nashik, had been developed by MIDC between 1968 and 1980.