Industrial Corridor Projects of India

The Government of India has approved the development of five industrial corridor projects with the intent to stimulate industrial growth. Industrial corridor offers effective integration between industry and infrastructure, leading to overall economic and social development. Manufacturing is a crucial commercial driver in each of these projects.

Aim of Industrial Corridor Projects of India

The principal objective of the Industrial Corridor Projects of India is to enhance competitiveness in manufacturing through the creation of world-class infrastructures and reduced organisation costs. The primary focus of the Industrial Corridor Projects of India is economic development. Accordingly, the project goals are as follows:

Triple industrial output in nine years
Quadruple exports from the region in eigh to none years

Type of Industrial Corridors Projects of India

The government of India has approved the development of the following five industrial corridor projects.

Sl.No	Industrial Corridor	States
1	Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)	Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra
2	Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)	Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh West Bengal
3	Chennai Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC)	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
4	East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) with Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC)	West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
5	Bangalore Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC)	Karnataka, Maharashtra

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor is also known as DMIC. It is a planned project between the political capital, Delhi, and the business capital, Mumbai, and it is one of the most significant infrastructure projects. It has an estimated investment of $90 billion, and this project is a high tech project across six different states. Furthermore, the project includes two international airports, eight smart cities, 24 industrial region, five power projects, and many more. The project is contributed equally to Japan and India.

Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)

The AKIC is a proposed project between the cities of Delhi, Amritsar, and Kolkata. This ambitious project of the GOI aims at improving the industrial zone across the seven states. Also, it will help more than 20 cities in these states. Furthermore, the project is aiming to bring about the significant expansion of the industry and the infrastructure. The population for the region covered under the project is 40% of India's population. Thus, it makes the project in one of the most densely populated areas of the world.

Chennai Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC)

CBIC is another upcoming mega industrial project of the government of India, and this corridor plans to boost trade between East Asia and southern India. It will be helpful in the quicker movement of goods from different places to Ennore and Chennai. The project is planning to complete in 3 different nodes. Furthermore, the Karnataka government has intended to extend the project to Mangalore. Also, under this new proposal, the corridor is expected to have two seaports and three international airports and also planned to have manufacturing industries between these projects.

East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) with Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC)

Visakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) is a vital part of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) and India's first coastal corridor. VCIC project is aligned with the Golden Quadrilateral and playing a critical role in driving Make in India campaign and India's Act East Policy. The nearly 800-kilometer VCIC corridor links India with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East Asian economies that form the base of the global manufacturing economy. The corridor project traverses nine districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh. VCIC supports the Government of India (GOI) 's strategy to develop industrial corridors of international standard for expanding the manufacturing and services sectors and creating modern urban centres.

Bangalore Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC)

The Bangalore Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC) is a project proposed between Bengaluru and Mumbai and spread across the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. This project will cover an area of 143,000 km², and the overall length is more than 1000 km. The BMIC project is undertaken by the governments of the UK and India. Under this project, the government has planned to boost the manufacturing units of at least four cities.

Prescribed Authority

Industrial Corridor Projects of India are implemented through the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT). The NICDIT is an apex body under the administrative control of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The function of NICDIT is as follows:

Unified institutional framework for the overall planning, funding, development, implementation, supervision, operation, and monitoring of industrial corridor project
Smooth and effective coordination with the various stakeholders including the partner States and concerned Ministries
Development of mandatory expertise for appraisal and approval of the project
Expert handling of complex technical, financial, institutional and project structuring requirements associated with Industrial Corridors
Integrated forecast and allocation of resource in terms of funding, human resources, etc., required for the implementation of the various projects

Industrial Corridors and its Benefit

Industrial corridors of India offer effective integration between industry and infrastructure, leading to overall economic and social development. Industrial corridors constitute the following:

High-speed transportation network – rail and road
Ports with state-of-the-art cargo handling equipment
Modern airports
Particular economic regions or industrial areas
Logistic parks or transhipment hubs
Knowledge park focused on catering to industrial needs
Complementary infrastructure such as townships estate
Urban infrastructure along with enabling policy framework

Significance of Industrial Corridors in India

Avenues for Exports

Industrial Corridors project of India is likely to lower the cost of logistics, hence increasing the efficiency of industrial production structure. Such efficiency reduces the cost of production, which makes the Indian made products more competitive in international markets. The creation of the export surplus would generate employment opportunities and raise per capita incomes.

Industrial Benefits

These corridors will provide the necessary logistics infrastructure needed to reap economies of scale, thus enabling industries to focus on their areas of core competence. The industrial corridor offers opportunities for private sector investment in the provision of various infrastructure projects associated with the exploitation of industrial opportunity. Apart from the development of infrastructure, long-term benefits to trade and industry such as smooth access to the industrial production units, decreased communications costs and transportation, improved delivery time, and reduction in inventory cost.

Job Opportunities

The development of Industrial Corridors will attract investments for the development of Industries, which is likely to create more jobs in the market. Moreover, people can find job opportunities close to their homes and would not have to migrate to far-off places. The industrial corridor will prevent distress migration.

Socio-Economic Significance

The cascading effect of industrial corridors projects in socio-economic terms are many such as setting up an industrial township, educational institution, hospital. Projects will further raise the standards of human development.

Environmental Significance

The establishment of Industrial Units in along the industrial corridor across the length of the state will prevent the concentration of industries in one particular location, which exploited the environment beyond its carrying capacity and caused environmental degradation. The availability of jobs locally will help in preserving the family as an institution. The industrial corridor project will also increase social integration in the country.