UPA Government has decided to set up the first National Manufacturing and Investment Zone (NMIZ) in Rajasthan along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project (DMIC) in order to give a major boost to manufacturing sector.
“India aims at a sustained GDP growth of 9-10 per cent per annum. This necessitates the growth of the manufacturing sector at 13 to 14 per cent per annum over a long period. The Government intends to develop NMIZ which would not only provide the required infrastructure but also enabling environment to give impetus to the manufacturing activities in the country,” Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma said here.
Mr. Sharma said he had already got a positive response from the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot during his interaction earlier this month and the State Government had already offered 10,000 hectares of land for the first phase of the project.
The Government has also constituted a Task Force under the Chairmanship of Secretary DIPP, R.P. Singh with representation from Rajasthan Government, DMIC, CII and FICCI to study the whole issue and summit a report within three months.
For sustained strong GDP growth over long periods, the focus has been shifted from services to manufacturing. Rajasthan’s ability to accommodate such large scale products on its land made it the favourite destination for this new programme.
“Locating NMIZ in Rajasthan would further leverage the large amount of investment being envisaged in the development of multi-modal high axle Load dedicated freight corridor project and DMIC. The State is strategically located connecting the large consumers markets in North and West and has a well developed transportation network traversing across the State and connecting to major locations within the country,’’ the Commerce Minister added.
It was felt that Rajasthan’s global recognition as a tourism destination and its requisite skills in product, process and capital engineering would make it a global manufacturing powerhouse.
