India on Thursday sought the participation of Belgian companies in the proposed National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZs), especially in the fields of training and research.
On its part, Belgium has offered its expertise in water treatment, waste disposal and in the energy sector in NMIZs, an official statement said.
This development follows a bilateral meeting between the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs Didier Reynders and the Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, here.
Last month, Sharma had, in a meeting with the British Foreign Secretary William Hague, in London, invited British participation in at least one NMIZ as a partner. The response was positive and Hague had asked his office to examine the opportunities in Indian NMIZs.
In February, India had invited Italy to be a partner in an NMIZ.
The zones will be set up under the National Manufacturing Policy, which aims to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent from the current 16 per cent and generate 100 million jobs by 2020.
The minimum land area of each zone – or greenfield integrated industrial townships with the modern infrastructure – is to be 5,000 hectares.
According to the norms, no cultivable, agricultural and forest land will be allowed to be acquired. The first phase will be established along the proposed 1,500-km, $90-billion Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
The DMIC project, spanning seven States (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh), had recently won ‘global recognition’ when consultancy firm KPMG named it among the “100 most innovative and inspiring urban infrastructure projects in the world”.
The DMIC, coming up in partnership with the Japanese Government, has attracted interest from countries such as Singapore, the US and Korea.
Sharma had said in June that seven NMIZs had already been notified and another five would be notified by August-end. In July, he had announced the ninth NMIZ, and a third for Maharashtra, in Nagpur, over an area of 6,280 hectares.
The other NMIZs are: Ahmedabad-Dholera (Gujarat - 900 sq km); Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Park city near Aurangabad, Maharashtra (84 sq km); Manesar-Bawal (Haryana - 380 sq km); Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana (Rajasthan - 150 sq km); Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow (Madhya Pradesh - 370 sq km); Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh - 250 sq km); Dighi Port Industrial Area (Maharashtra - 230 sq km) and Jodhpur-Pali.