DMIC DE-RISKED!

DMIC DE-RISKED!
There is no paucity of funds, but there is a poverty of well structured de-risked projects in the country. DMICDC is trying to structure the project in a manner which will help in attracting finances as the projects will be fully de-risked, informs Amitabh Kant, CEO and MD, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC)
First phase of the DMIC project was expected to be completed by 2012; could you tell us the current status and reasons behind delay? First of all, let me clarify that there is no delay. As per the timeline approved by Government of India, the first phase of new industrial cities has to be completed by 2019. DMIC Project is a mega infrastructure project, covering six states of the country and is mandated to develop seven new industrial cities in Phase-I of the project. DMICDC goes through very detailed planning before initiating the implementation of the projects. In the last three years, we have completed perspective plan for overall DMIC Region, master plans for seven cities, ICT master plans for three cities, procured Phase-I land for some of the new cities, taken various clearances, etc. Cities across the globe had been created over a period of three decades. We have created a few capital cities like Chandigarh. However, DMIC is planning industrial cities where manufacturing will be the key driver of growth.
Brief us on some unique features of this project. DMIC project is a joint venture project between central and state government wherein the state government is making available the land whereas the central government is providing funding support for creating trunk infrastructure.
The planning for the project is of global scale and size and the projects will be bid out only when they are completely structured and de-risked.All necessary clearances are being obtained before inviting private participation.
Projects have potential to increase the industrial output and the manufacturing base of the country, which in turn will help in increasing the country’s GDP and in particular will generate more and more employment opportunities.
Which are the infrastructure development companies involved in this project? DMICDC is presently in the project development phase and is working closely with international consultants of repute like Jurong of Singapore, AECOM of USA, and CH2MHill of USA etc. The infrastructure development companies will be involved during the project implementation or execution stage.
What is the projected cost of entire project and how will be the money raise?As per the perspective plan prepared for the overall DMIC Region, total cost of project is approximately 90 billion US Dollars at 2010 prices and actual cost will be much more than this. The Government of India has created a DMIC Trust Fund which will work as a revolving corpus with an initial contribution of Rs.17,500 crore. The Trust Fund is authorised to leverage financial resources from bi-lateral and multilateral financial agencies. Japan Government has also created a corpus of $ 4.5 billion for promoting Japanese technology in DMIC region. The modalities of the scheme are being worked out.
How much are Japanese companies investing in the entire project?Japan Government’s METI (Ministry of economy, trade and industry) has already invested for getting conducted pre-feasibility studies for promoting smart community projects in the DMIC region. METI has appointed leading Japanese consortiums like Mitsubishi, Hitachi, JGC, Toshiba, etc. to conduct the pre-feasibility studies. The actual investment from Japanese side will be known when Japanese companies will set us their manufacturing bases in India.
The Govt plans for seven new cities along the DMIC, what additional funding will be needed? The Government has already created a corpus for facilitating the creation of trunk infrastructure in the new industrial cities. In my view, there is no paucity of funds, but there is a poverty of well structured de-risked projects in the country. DMICDC is trying to structure the project in a manner which will help in attracting finances as the projects will be fully de-risked.
What are the roadblocks the project is facing? Issues relating to the land acquisition, availability of water, getting environment clearances, getting dedicated and reliable power linkages etc. are some of the challenges which every infrastructure project faces in the country. DMICDC is trying to address these challenges and overcome the obstacles one by one in a highly professional way. Project development of a very sophisticate level with all approvals in place is our objective.

Projects have potential to increase the industrial output and the manufacturing base of the country, which in turn will help in increasing the country’s GDP and in particular will generate more and more employment opportunities.How far you have been able to tackle the issues related to land acquisition?Most of the areas identified for the DMIC project are greenfield in nature. Respective state government (s) are responsible for making the land available. Different states are following different methods of land pooling, procurement, or acquisition and we are hopeful that the same will be taken care of by the state governments.
Recently, there was strong agitation in Maharashtra for land acquisition; can you brief us about the current status? Some activists raised their concern on the fate of DMIC saying only the realtors will gain from this project, what is your take in this regard? Our aim has been to break a large infrastructure project like DMICDC into small doable component. We work in partnership with the state and the people. The benefit must flow back to the local population through skilled jobs. Are you expecting any kind parallel development across the states alongside DMIC?The states will be major beneficiaries as Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) will provide connectivity and provide impetus to manufacturing. This will give a thrust to industrialisation and job creation.
The MP Govt. plans to set up power project in DMIC, which are the other government and private players shown interest in the project?DMICDC is developing gas based power projects at Chainpura Industrial Area, Madhya Pradesh; MIDC Indapur and MIDC Ville Bhagad in Maharashtra; and Vaghel and Rajpur-Shahpur in Gujarat.
All the project development activities including the final environmental clearance has been taken. We are presently awaiting the allocation of gas and also parallelly evaluating the possibility of structuring the project on imported LNG.

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