Ponneri Smart City could emerge as the engine of growth for the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) as its proposed area is the largest - 21,966 acres - when compared to the three other nodes being developed along the CBIC. In contrast, the Tumkur node size is 13,293 acres and Krishnapatnam 12,274 acres.
No wonder,the size of investment in Ponneri Smart city has been pegged at Rs 32,713 crore - way over Tumkur (Rs 13,716 crore) and Krishnapatnam (Rs 18,548 crore).
Since the developer, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has predicted that Ponneri Smart City would cater to a workforce of 8.8 lakh, the master plan has taken into account external connectivity for swift movement of workers and goods.
The master plan has taken into account the widening of the Northern Port Access Road (linking Ennore Port to Tacchur) to six lanes besides the 62 km Outer Ring Road (Vandalur to Minjur) and 129 km Chennai Peripheral Ring Road (Mamallapuram to Ennore).
The rail link from Avadi to Guduvancherry via Sriperumbudur and Oragadam to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,295 crore is also on the master plan, besides the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated road to boost connectivity of Ponneri.
The Nemelli and Perur desalination plants are to provide adequate water supply to the smart city.
There are also plans to enhance the capacity of Kamarajar Port in Ennore. This include development of container terminal as well as additional multi-cargo terminal development at a cost of Rs 1,410 crore. They are under construction.
Of the Rs 32,000 crore required for the project, it is believed that 41 per cent of the total funds (Rs 13,509 crore) will be spent on land acquisition. The remaining 19 per cent (Rs 6,175 crore) will be spent on water and effluent treatment, 17 per cent (Rs 5,633 crore) on land development and nine per cent (Rs 2,933 crore) on creating power infrastructure.
TN would have to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which would come under the State nodal agency - Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. The SPV will have on board the National Industrial Corridor Development Authority (NICDA), which would be an apex authority of Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor development.