The Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) project straddling three southern States and supported by the Union and Japanese governments is expected to move a step forward on May 12 when the five stakeholders meet in Chennai and finalise a development node along the route in each State.
T.K.A. Nair, Adviser to the Prime Minister, is scheduled to take stock of the pre-project developments during the high-level discussions with senior representatives of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, it is learnt.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are each to have three nodes en route and Andhra Pradesh two nodes — which would be integrated hubs of industrial, residential and commercial activity. However, one node each will initially be developed as a model.
“At the upcoming meeting, the States will mainly project their respective node. It will be replicated at the other nodes,” an official familiar with the development told The Hindu .
Karnataka has decided on Vasant Narsapur near Tumkur as its node; Kolar and Bidadi would follow. Vasant Narsapur is also where the first of the State’s four 12,500-acre National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) is to be located.
The State’s plan is to develop the Centrally-sponsored project NIMZ and the corridor together, with the CBIC stretching up to Chitradurga.
Special purpose company A special purpose company is to be formed in a couple of months to take charge of the developments on the Karnataka side of the corridor.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is steering the plan. An early estimate puts the full cost of the project at Rs. 10,000 crore-Rs. 12,000 crore, to be shared in varying degrees between the two governments and enabled by the States.
Over 10 years, each node is estimated to generate three lakh jobs and investments totalling Rs. 60,000 crore.
While the project has some way to go and the comprehensive plan is not likely to be ready until next year, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board has just completed the techno-economic feasibility study, the official said.
The corridor works could take off in a year and start showing results over the next three to five years.
