Investment regions policy to hasten formation of Delhi-Mumbai corridor

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New Delhi, May 18: The government is likely to link the proposed manufacturing investment regions (MIR) policy with the planned Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.

This will help to expedite the project by attracting massive foreign investment, particularly from Japan.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has sought an early approval of the MIR policy for establishing such regions along the corridor. The DIPP said following the Prime Minister’s nod for the policy, it would identify 4-5 regions along the DMIC as MIRs.

Last month, India and Japan said the DMIC project—to be launched in 2008 and completed by 2015—would entail an investment of $45-50 billion.

The MIR policy, on the lines of the recently approved Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) Policy, envisages connectivity to such regions using roads, railways and ports, uninterrupted power supply, logistic parks and knowledge hubs with training centers. “The units located in the MIRs will not feel the disadvantage of being in a far-flung area,” he said.

While PCPIR policy is targeted at the petrochemical sector, MIR policy would focus on manufacturing intensive sectors like automobiles, engineering etc. However, there would not be any additional fiscal or financial incentives via tax sops as the Centre has already taken up the responsibility of providing world-class infrastrcuture in such manufacturing regions, the official said.

The DIPP has been pressing hard for an early approval of the MIR policy as commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath during his May 23-25 visit to Japan would cite these initiatives to the Japanese government and corporates to seek their investment in such regions.

“The Japanese could then look at each MIR for detailed planning,” the official said. Nath and DIPP Secretary Ajay Dua would be holding talks with corporates like Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Itochu and Suzuki. During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo last year, Japan was made a partner in the DMIC project.

Currently Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are vying with each other to get MIRs allocated to them, while a preliminary study has identified 18 centres of growth along the corridor. The focus of the DMIC project would be on developing the 1483-km long Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor (DFC). The manufacturing units would come up on 150 km distance on either side of the DFC.