Japan to fund mass rapid transit systems for DMIC Nodes in Gujarat, Haryana
SEPTEMBER 23, 2017 21:46 IST
$4.5 billion soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency to boost $100 bn Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project.
Funds from a Japanese government loan will soon be utilised for the first time in the $100 billion, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project. So far, the mega-project was being developed only with the Indian government’s financial assistance.
The DMIC spans six States (Uttar Pradesh, Delhi National Capital Region, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra). It uses ‘the 1,500-km-long, high-capacity western Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor (DFC) as the backbone’ and aims to be ‘a global manufacturing and investment destination’.
Several rail links
A soft loan (with concessional conditions) to the tune of $4.5 billion to be extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will shortly be utilised to develop two Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS) — one each in Gujarat and Haryana — that will be part of the DMIC, official sources told
The Hindu.
The JICA is the Japanese governmental agency in charge of implementation of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) — with the main objective of ‘promoting economic development and welfare in developing countries. The interest rate of the loan (in Japanese Yen) will be kept ‘very low’ (at 0.1%) and have a ‘long’ repayment period (at 40 years, including a 10-year grace period).
Incidentally, a JICA loan worth ₹88,000 crore, on similar terms , will be used to build the ₹1.08 lakh crore Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. JICA loans/assistance are being used to facilitate development of Metro rail networks including in Delhi and the Western DFC.
The MRTS in Gujarat will be ‘at grade’ (ground level) and link Ahmedabad to the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR).
The sources said the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the MRTS was ready and land was being acquired.
The MRTS in Haryana will be an ‘elevated’ one and will connect Gurgaon and Bawal (part of the Manesar-Bawal Investment Region in the DMIC).
The land has been acquired and the DPR has been finalised, officials said, adding that the MRTS has been included in the JICA ‘Rolling Plan’ for the ODA loan. The Department of Economic Affairs will soon ask JICA to work on preparatory surveys for the project, they said. The length of these two MRTS projects will be 85 km each.
Grant-in-aid
According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry (the nodal body for industrial corridors), the financial assistance for the DMIC project is to be in the form of grant-in-aid worth ₹17,500 crore — as a ‘revolving fund’.
This, it said, was for the development of ‘trunk infrastructure’ in the proposed seven industrial cities in the DMIC at ₹2,500 crore per city on an average, subject to a ceiling of ₹3000 crore per city.
In September 2011, the Union Cabinet — in addition to giving approval for ₹17,500 crore as ‘Project Implementation Fund’ — had also okayed an additional corpus of ₹1000 Crore as grant-in-aid to carry out project development activities. The funds are released to the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) formed between the Centre and the respective State Governments. Official sources said, out of all this, the total amount spent till September 2017 was around ₹3,500 crore.
As per the ministry, the Japanese government had announced financial support for the DMIC project to an extent of $4.5 billion in the first phase — for projects with Japanese participation through a mix of JICA and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) lending. Also, the JBIC currently holds 26% equity in the DMIC Development Corporation (the SPV which is the DMIC’s project development agency) aggregating to ₹26 crore. The Indian government holds 49% equity in the DMICDC, while the remaining is held by HUDCO (19.9%), IIFCL (4.1%) and LIC (1%).
Land allocation for DMIC project to begin in October
September 26, 2016
The $100-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, one of India's most ambitious infrastructure projects, will kick off land allotments next month and those eyeing plots are said to include big global investors such as Ikea, Kia Motors and China Railway Construction Corp.
The allocations will mark a significant step forward in a project that was approved by cabinet in 2011. Other potential investors include German wind turbine manufacturer Senvion, Korean Land & Housing Corp. and Chinese real estate company Country Garden, said a person with knowledge of the matter. The land will be fully developed with world-class infrastructure, a big attraction for investors ready to pay a premium for clean titles in four brand new industrial cities being developed as part of the project.
The project will be implemented in three phases, with the first expected to be completed by 2025 and the second by 2032. Work on trunk infrastructure is on in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and is expected to be completed by 2019.
The corporation has finalised its land use plan and is now in the process of finalising its land policy after which it will start allocations. The policy will determine whether land will be allotted through auction or on a first-come-first-served basis.
DMIDC is looking for big anchor investors, especially in the manufacturing sector, that will infuse large amounts of capital and in turn attract others, turning into employment-generation hubs.
Kia Motors is said to have enquired about acquiring a large parcel of land, it is learnt, but this could not be independently verified.
The government will extend concessions to anchor investor in terms of price or tax benefits.
The four industrial cities under the project are Dholera Special Investment Region (Gujarat), Shendra Bidkin Industrial Park & Dighi Port Industrial Area (Maharashtra), Integrated Industrial Township (Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh) and Vikram Udyogpuri (Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh).
Industrial Plots Ready for Possession in DMIC’s Biggest Node Dholera
October 13, 2017
Dholera, the biggest industrial node on the upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, today formally opened its door to global investors and businesses, offering land parcels to a multitude of industries with the goal of starting commercial production in the zone by 2019.
Dholera is one of the eight smart city industrial zones being developed in the first phase of DMIC, and with a total footprint of over 920 sq. km, it is the largest among them. Infrastructure implementation in Dholera SIR is taking place in a phased manner with an activation area of 22.5 sq. km (roughly 5,600 acres) developed in the first stage.
