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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is soon expected to unveil a national masterplan for providing multimodal connectivity across various industrial hubs to bolster economic growth.
A senior government official said a mega launch was planned at the end of March.
“However, it is now being pushed to another date due to elections in states such as Assam and West Bengal,” the official told Business Standard.
“The final date is still being discussed. Chief ministers from key states as well as rail, road, shipping, civil aviation and other key infrastructure ministers will also be a part of the mega launch,” the official added. As many as 11 industrial corridors, comprising various projects will be developed in four phases till 2024-25, as a part of the national masterplan. Infrastructure projects worth Rs 22,000 crore, approved by the government, are under different stages of implementation, the official said.
It will include industrial hubs such as Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, Andhra-Kolkata industrial corridor, Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor, Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor and Hyderabad-Warangal industrial corridor, among others.
The bigger idea is to cut logistics cost, travel time and enhance competitiveness of domestic manufacturing. This comes at a time when the Union government has been taking a slew of measures to become Aatmanirbhar or self reliant. “Companies exiting China (in the aftermath of Covid-19) can also come and invest in these industrial hubs,” said the official.
Earlier, department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra had said that key infrastructure ministries will be given a timeline under this masterplan. This is to ensure multimodal connectivity at various production centres over the next four years.
This would include infrastructure ministries, including key transportation departments — rail, roads and waterways — for improving connectivity. The masterplan is being spearheaded by the DPIIT.
Industry has been complaining that steep logistics costs in India are impacting the competitiveness of domestic goods in the international market. Over the next five years, the government aims to reduce the logistics cost from 13 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 8 per cent. This will, in turn, boost domestic manufacturing.
Last year, Modi, in his Independence Day speech, had said there is a need to develop India’s infrastructure by integrating key modes of transportation — road, rail, air and waterways. “It should be complementary to each other. Rail should be complementary to road, road to sea port and sea port to airport. We are moving towards a multi-modal connectivity infrastructure for the new century,” the Prime Minister had then said.
