The Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and Bangalore-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which have found a mention in the Union Budget, will not only provide port connectivity to industries here but also benefit industrially backward districts in north Karnataka.
World-class connectivity
“Though the corridor to Chennai may not benefit industries in Karnataka much, it will provide world-class connectivity to a port (Chennai) in the Bay of Bengal. However, the corridor to Mumbai is set to benefit a large number of districts in north Karnataka besides providing connectivity to a port (Mumbai) in the Arabian Sea,” L. Krishnan, chairman of the Karnataka State Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), told The Hindu .
While initial studies are under way on the corridor to Chennai, which is being backed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, studies are to take off on the corridor to Mumbai.
Both the corridors have attracted international attention as Japan has already expressed its interest in both of them and British Prime Minister David Cameron, during his recent visit, evinced interest in the corridor to Mumbai.
Once implemented, the industrial corridors would result in world-class tolled road, high-speed rail link and centres along the corridor would develop as industrial clusters. Normally, it takes about five to 10 years for a corridor to develop well from the conceptualisation stage.
Terming the corridor model as a “well-trusted” one, Mr. Krishnan said, “These corridors will decongest Bangalore, and industries can be located in industrially backward districts in north Karnataka that have sizeable non-agricultural land.”
A warning
However, managing director of Bangalore-based Volvo India Pvt. Ltd. A.M. Muralidharan said the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor was not progressing as fast as it was predicted earlier.
