Centre agrees on feasibility study for Mumbai-Bangalore industrial corridor

The government has agreed in-principle for carrying out a feasibility study of the proposed 1,000-km Mumbai-Bangalore industrial corridor, commerce minister Anand Sharma said today.

Sharma also said the centre has accepted Karnataka's request to extend the proposed Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor to Chitradurga.

He was speaking to media persons after discussions with Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar on infrastructure projects.

Sharma said the fast progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project has improved the prospects of a new such projects, including the Mumbai-Nagpur industrial corridor.

He said the 2013-14 budget announced by finance minister P Chidambaram has provided for the Bangalore-Chennai and Bangalore-Mumbai industrial corridors.

He said the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are preparing a comprehensive plan for the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor.

Industrialists welcomed the proposals, calling them a big move for the industry. This, they said, would help clear confusion in the minds of investors – both within and outside.

It may be noted that British Prime Minister David Cameron on his visit to Mumbai last month had offered to participate in the Mombai-Bangalore corridor project, which could generate investments in projects worth up to $25 billion.

Besides industrial projects the industrial corridors would involve investment in physical infrastructure, such as transport networks, telecommunications and power generation as also social infrastructure such as welfare and education.

The government is accelerating the development of industrial corridors to accelerate the pace of manufacturing activity, which lags behind the IT and services industry.

The government also plans to build 24 new industrial cities along a 1,483 km railway route between New Delhi and Mumbai with Japanese funding.