The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in consultation with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and three southern States has identified 25 priority projects for the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC).
These projects are in different stages of implementation and are meant to decongest Chennai and Kamarajar ports. Majority of them are in Chennai and the rest will come up along the national highways of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
While nodes (industrial hubs) will be created in Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Vasant Narsapur (Karnataka), Tamil Nadu is yet to decide on Hosur or Ponneri, near Chennai. Sources said that Ponneri would be the likely choice as most of the Japanese firms are located in North Chennai and the expats would prefer to be near the city.
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Japanese majors Yamaha, Toshiba and Mitsui took part in the review meeting chaired by the Adviser to Prime Minister, T. K. A. Nair, on Monday. It was attended by representatives of NHAI, State government and ports.
Talking to The Hindu Mr. Nair said: “Today, we finalised the Terms of Reference and the next step is to prepare and submit Comprehensive Integrated Master Plan for CBIC by March 2015. I have been reviewing CBIC for more than two years to identify and remove the infrastructure bottlenecks. So far, we have been sticking to the timeline.”
The projects identified by JICA includes proposed and ongoing major projects in Chennai and Kamarajar ports, development of Sriperumbudur dry port, greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur, four-laning of road from Hoskote to Dobbaspet and from Mulbagal to Renigunta via Chittoor, dedicated high-speed freight corridor and developing Chennai-Bangalore expressway, among others.
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“This project is being developed on the lines of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. It will be monitored up to a point on a day-to-day basis and thereafter it will be handed over to an institution.
“The institution will do the co-ordination and implementation by seeking co-operation from the stakeholders. The final interim report-2 will be submitted by early June,” he said.