The government has approved 12 industrial smart cities across 10 States with an estimated investment of ₹28,602 crore. These zones are likely to be ready in three years, by 2027, and will generate an estimated 10 lakh direct jobs and at least 30 lakh more indirect jobs, per the government.

Basic environment clearance and land acquisition is complete for all 12 projects, and these may attract investments of at least ₹1.5 lakh crore, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said at a media briefing following the CCEA nod to the projects on Wednesday.

Smart cities

“The creation of industrial smart cities will help cover the country like golden quadrilateral. We will consult with State governments to create multi-modal hubs. These projects will be like beads on a necklace,” Goyal noted.

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, and Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan, and one in Haryana.

The Minister said that there would be now a total of 20 industrial smart cities in the country as eight such cities are already under various stages of implementation in the country. These include Dholera (Gujarat), Auric (Maharashtra), Vikram Udyogpuri (Madhya Pradesh) and Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), where trunk infrastructure has already been established.

“These industrial nodes will act as catalysts for achieving $2 trillion in exports by 2030, reflecting the government’s vision of a self-reliant and globally competitive India,” per a statement.

Industrial townships

The Minister said that the industrial townships will be developed as greenfield smart cities of global standards and will be built “ahead of demand” on the ‘plug-n-play’ and ‘walk-to-work’ concepts. This approach ensures that the cities are equipped with advanced infrastructure that supports sustainable and efficient industrial operations.

The industrial projects are coming up on a 50:50 partnership between the Centre and States, with the States contribution mainly in terms of giving land for setting up the townships, an official tracking the matter said.

“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, 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 source explained.

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