New Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor Plan Takes Shape
Posted on: 13/May/2014 10:37:50 AM
Advisor to the Prime Minister T K A Nair, reviewed the work on the Chennai-Bangalore Expressway and held discussions with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) about funding for three industrial hubs in each State.The sources said that Ponneri could be one of the likely nodes. The State has zeroed in on two nodes — Ponneri and Hosur — but has yet to commit to any one of them.Two other nodes are planned at Vasant Narasapur at Tumkur in Karnataka and Krishnapatnam near Nellore, in Andhra Pradesh.
The meeting was attended by top officials, including the State industries secretary, officials from the National Highways Authority of India and various stakeholders.
Senior representative of JICA Ichiguchi Tomohide told that the meeting would give a final shape to the prospective plan and would soon be released. He refused to give any time but sources said it could be released by June this year.He said the draft was nearly ready with comments from States, and relevant ministries. The meeting was held to get further comments from the stakeholders before updating the plan.
The preparation of the master plan began in October last year. Tomohide said each southern State would get funds for only one ‘node’.
The plan is to have a master plan for each business hub. The business hub will focus primarily on manufacturing and garnering investment from Japanese companies. It will have around 100 to 200 square kilometres of land and land availability will be a criterion for choosing the hub.
State government officials refused to comment but confirmed a meeting was held to review the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor project.
Tamil Nadu has so far received Rs 18,000 crore in funds from JICA. Currently, Andhra Pradesh is the largest recipient of Japanese aid, approximately Rs 24,000 crore till now.
