DIPP plans to propose National Industrial Corridor Authority

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion will soon move a Cabinet note on the proposed National Industrial Corridor Authority that might become the overarching body for all the existing industrial and economic corridors in the country.

Earlier this month, the Budget had proposed setting up a National Industrial Corridor Authority to coordinate the development of the industrial corridors, with smart cities linked to transport connectivity.

The finance ministry has provided an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore for setting up the Authority in Pune.

“We have sought the comments of infrastructure ministries and the Prime Minister's Office on how the regulator will be structured. We also need to decide on the structure of the authority,” according to an official.

The proposed authority will cover the industrial corridors between Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bangalore, besides the Bangalore-Mumbai Economic corridor. It will also include the East Coast Economic Corridor that encompasses the Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor and the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor.

The department has suggested two options to go about the proposed Authority, the official said.

The new body can either be a regulator that co-exists with the existing development corporations or it can take the shape of an overarching body that subsumes in it these existing agencies such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corp and the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor Development Corp.

“We are also thinking how a single authority will be able to regulate the industrial and economic corridors,” the official said.