The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) was initiated by the Centre for making it a flagship programme, with the aim to considerably increase India’s competitiveness in manufacturing through the creation of world class infrastructure and decreased logistics costs.
The idea of the project emerged from China’s preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which necessitated a diversion of India’s iron ore exports from Japan to China. This inspired the then Japanese Ambassador to India to adopt the idea of building an efficient freight corridor along the lines of the Tokyo – Osaka corridor.
The project was planned and designed to create smart, sustainable industrial cities by enhancing the high speed, high capacity connectivity offered by the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) in six states to reduce logistic costs within supporting policy framework commencing at Dadri at Uttar Pradesh and terminating at Mumbai. There are as many as 24 industrial nodes and industrial regions to be developed on both sides of the corridor.
The idea is to provide impetus to the Make in India initiative, supported by Startup India and Standup India schemes. Logistic parks, hubs, solar power generation along the DMIC corridor of 1,500 km are being developed. At many places, work is on at good pace. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are involved in the project, which has got financial help from Japan.
The primary objective is to enlarge India’s manufacturing and services base and develop the DMIC as a ‘Global Manufacturing and Trading Hub’. Apart from boosting high tech industrial development, it will facilitate a major impetus to planned urbanization with manufacturing as the key driver. Efforts are on for the development of infrastructure linkages such as power plants, water supply, high capacity transportation and logistics facilities as well as softer interventions like skill development programme for employment of the local populace.
Currently, the eight investment regions or nodes — being developed in Phase I of the DMIC — are Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad (UP), Manesar-Bawal (Haryana), Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana and Jodhpur-Pali-Marwar (Rajasthan), Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow (MP), Ahmedabad-Dholera Special Investment Region (Gujarat), and the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Park and Dighi Port Industrial Area (Maharashtra). Additionally, there will be eight smart cities, two international airports, five power projects, two mass rapid transit systems, and two logistical hubs.
For promoting and facilitating development of the DMIC project, the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd. (DMICDC), a special purpose company, was created. Various project development activities like preparation of master plans, feasibility reports, DPRs are being undertaken by the DMICDC.
The dedicated freight corridor is expected to be completed by December 2019. Three million jobs are likely to be generated, largely in manufacturing with a large requirement of labour force approximately 50 million in the immediate influence zone and over 250 million across the DMIC states.
This project is being funded through private–public partnership and foreign investment. A direct investment worth US$100 billion is contemplated in this project, excluding investment in other associated schemes.
A total amount of $4.5 billion is already funded by the Japanese government as a loan for a period of 40 years at a nominal interest of 0.1%. Recently, Russia has shown an interest to invest on this project in the area of smart cities, public transportation and railways among others.
Under transportation, the MRTS project from Gurugram to Bawal and Dholera and Ahmedabad have been planned. Once complete, the DMIC will be one of the shortest multimodal transportation routes to join with Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf via Iran to Russia and North Europe.