By IANS
Ahmedabad : Mehsana city will emerge as the focal point of an area in north Gujarat selected by the state as a special investment region under the ambitious $90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project coming up in collaboration with Japan.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi indicated this in his Independence Day speech at Mehsana, about 110 km north of here.
The move is expected to transform north Gujarat, known for thriving agriculture and also as leader in India’s milk revolution, into Gujarat’s new hot spot for Japanese investments.
Gujarat accounts for nearly 40 percent of the 1,480-km belt covered by DMIC project – taking off from Palanpur, whose diamond merchants have made Antwerp their business home – in north and heading to Ankleshwar before culminating in Mumbai in Maharashtra.
The project therefore would benefit north Gujarat as a large number of Japanese companies are expected to set up ventures along the corridor and export their products using Gujarat’s road and port infrastructure as a gateway to Europe and the US.
The first phase of DMIC is scheduled for 2008.
Ahead of the project, north Gujarat with its excellent road connectivity with ports in Saurashtra region is fast emerging as a key logistics hub.
Concor, the public sector rail container operator, is setting up a large container freight station in the region along National Highway No 8 that connects Delhi and Mumbai. Many other proposals for container freight stations in the state have come up before the Modi government.
According to officials, the area between Ahmedabad and Dholera town identified as new investment region is expected to be more attractive for investors than even special economic zones (SEZs).
For instance, in addition to the preferential policies of reducing or eliminating customs duties and income tax, common to the economic and technological development zones and certain SEZs, the special investment region will have the possibility of Japan opening its financial institutions which channel investments by Japanese companies wishing to set up units along the corridor.
Japanese companies faced with congestion in their own ports and in their neighbourhood are keenly looking to develop port infrastructure in India and locate their export-oriented units near them.
This in turn is expected to bring about a significant improvement in the existing infrastructure in the region by way of improvement in transport facilities and opening up bright opportunities for insurance, advertising, commercial consulting, notarial and accountancy service businesses.
The region is also expected to see a real estate boom with construction of commercial centres.
Currently, north Gujarat is a flourishing agricultural region with bajra, jowar, jeera, cotton and oilseeds as dominant crops. It has a booming oilseed extraction industry and a big trading centre for oilseeds, cumin and isabgul (psyllium).
It is also home to the Dudh Sagar dairy in Mehsana, among the biggest in Asia.Kalol town has many ONGC oil fields as well as the fertiliser unit of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), a leading fertiliser producer in India.