A dozen industrial smart cities recently approved by the Union Cabinet with an investment of ₹28,602 crore will witness focus development in specific sectors such as EVs and Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) at Agra and Prayagraj, autos in Bidkin and medicinal botanicals in Palakkad, sources have said.

The government hopes to appoint master contractors for the industrial cities by March next year and float tenders by this year-end, sources in the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) said.

“All the paper work related to the projects including RFP and DPR is done. After master contractors are on boarded by March next year, it will  take about three years to construct,” the official tracking the development told businessline.

Since the industrial parks are focussed on specified sectors, the master planning has been done accordingly. Environmental clearance and infrastructure construction are also sector-specific. “Various details have been kept in mind. For instance, for a chemical industry, there has to be bigger effluent treatment plants with more investments,” the official said.

The 12 industrial areas, under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP), are planned along six major corridors and will come up in Khurpia in Uttarakhand, Rajpura-Patiala in Punjab, Dighi in Maharashtra, Palakkad in Kerala, Agra and Prayagraj in UP, Gaya in Bihar, Zaheerabad in Telangana, Orvakal and Kopparthy in AP, Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan and one in Haryana.

“The industrial parks in Dighi and Krishnapatnam will be good examples of port-led industrialisation and industry led urbanisation. Dighi would help in decongesting Mumbai. It will also promote eco tourism as there are wildlife sanctuaries in the area,” the official said.

The industrial park coming up in Palakkad will focus on botanicals and medicines derived from plants, the official added.

Upcoming auto hub

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bidkin Industrial Area in  Maharashtra. “Bidkin, on its own, is becoming an auto hub. It got ₹55,000 crore investment in July. Toyota Kirloskar, Jindal EV and Ather’s second plant are all in Bidkin. The Maharashtra government itself is nudging the auto industry to spread from Pune to Bidkin,” the official said.

The industrial projects are coming up on a 50:50 partnership between the Centre and States, with the States’ contribution lies mainly in terms of giving land for setting up the parks.

“While equity contribution for the project, estimated at about ₹12,000 crore, will come from the Centre, the land cost of projects, of an estimated ₹11,000 crore, will be provided by States. If the infrastructure cost of the projects overshoot estimates, then States can borrow from the Centre and the estimated debt component for the projects is around ₹2,000 crore. The remaining would be internal accrual of special purpose vehicles that will implement the projects,” the official explained.

Debt will be provided based on the needs of the SPV at g-sec rates (ten years average rate) with a ten years moratorium, the official added.