Plans to build a world-class Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre at Diu and an Industrial Park-cum-Logistics Centre in Silvassa have come to a halt owing to non-availability of land, official sources told The Hindu.
Proposals for these two facilities, part of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), were first taken up formally in December 2014 at a meeting between the officials of the DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC) and the authorities of the Union Territories (UT) of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (the capital of which is Silvassa).
The project development activities for the two facilities were to be undertaken under the auspices of DMICDC.
In April 2015, tender documents were issued to select consultants to prepare the technical and economic feasibility report for these two facilities. By May 25 last year, which was the last date for submission of bid proposals, four bids were received for the Silvassa facility and five for the Diu facility.
The tender value for each of these two facilities was about Rs. 8 crore. The bids were being evaluated.
However, the sources said, the processes had to be “annulled” as the authorities concerned of the UTs did not give any confirmation regarding the availability of land required for the facilities.
The Silvassa project was to come up on a total area of about 100 hectares (both government and private) in Karad, Velugam, Kharadpada, Parzai and Silvassa, they said.
These UTs together have around 2,400 factories and 2,700 small scale industries, employing about one lakh people. The industries are mainly in sectors such as plastics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, basic metals and chemicals. Information technology and tourism are the leading service sectors. The two proposed facilities were aimed at boosting manufacturing and manufacturing-related services there. A total area of around 490 sq km in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and about 122 sq km in Diu & Daman was part of the DMIC ‘project influence area’ totalling about 4.37 lakh sq km spread across seven states and three UTs (including Delhi).
The $90 billion-DMIC project envisages industrial hubs on either side of 1,483 km-long Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) connecting Delhi and Mumbai, boosting employment, industrial activity and exports.
The 2015 ‘Industrial Policy’ of the UTs of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli had recognised Silvassa’s potential to be developed as a multi-modal logistics hub, considering it was located close to the DFC.
Silvassa is situated at the intersection of cargo movement between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The Industrial Policy also sought to provide special focus to ‘eco-tourism’ in Diu and to project Diu as an attractive ‘events destination.’
The policy had acknowledged that land availability was becoming a key impediment to industrialisation. These two UTs were making efforts to create land banks for industrial use. They had also encouraged entrepreneurs to consider land-pooling independently or in partnership with the government.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the nodal Central government agency for the DMIC project, had also said land acquisition was a major impediment and that it was a time-consuming and cumbersome process requiring huge financial resources.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce is looking into the problems, including those related to land acquisition, affecting all the industrial corridors.
Other sub projects in the DMIC project that have been facing land acquisition problems include the Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow Investment Region in Madhya Pradesh (where private land owners had challenged the government notification to acquire around eight sq km) and the Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat.
