Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Explained

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 were the reason for the development of this industrial estate, which would supply the necessary infrastructure. India began exporting iron ore to China instead of Japan, and efforts were made to get ore for Japan from other parts of India. 

However, the lack of infrastructure made solving this issue for upcoming cases logistically challenging and expensive. Then the Japanese ambassador visited India to discuss the possibility of a productive freight corridor akin to Japan’s Tokyo-Osaka corridor. 

Support for the concept grew in December 2006. The project was started after the governments of Japan and India signed a memorandum of understanding. 

The DMIC, also known as the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor, will be 1483 kilometers long. This industrial corridor will link Mumbai, India’s financial centre and largest port city, with Delhi, the country’s capital. 

There will be 24 investments in industrial sectors along the corridor, each with a minimum area of 100 square kilometers and 200 square kilometers for the investment regions. 

A brand-new eight-lane highway, two mass transit bus systems, two brand-new international airports, and eight new industrial smart cities will all be built. Three logistics hubs, several power projects, and India’s first high-speed rail line will all be built along the western dedicated freight corridor (WDFC), which will be supported by a vast network of freight trains. 

There will also be a large number of smaller rail connections that will feed into the main freight line. By 2025, India hopes that the DMIC will function as a high-tech industrial zone, creating 3 million new jobs and raising the manufacturing sector’s share of the country’s GDP to 25%. 

For comparison, the manufacturing sector only made up 14.8 in 2018. The remaining 10% will come from foreign investment, with 90% of the DMIC’s funding coming from public-private partnerships with businesses investing in projects with appreciating value and industrial plots, industrial land, and other projects. 

Japan has already loaned the DMIC 4.5 billion dollars, which will be distributed among six states and Delhi, a small federal territory. 

The first state is Uttar Pradesh, which will have an industrial area, an investment region, a 3500-megawatt power plant, and a smart city in Noida with a new international airport and a logistics hub all within 80 kilometers of New Delhi. 

The second is Haryana, which will also have two industrial areas and two investment regions. Gurgaon will also get a smart city and a rapid transit bus system. 

Rajasthan will have three industrial zones, two investment regions, a smart city with a logistics hub, and the Bivari dry port and logistics hub. 

The fourth is Madhya Pradesh, which will have a smart city called Vikram Industrial Township outside of Ujjain, along with two investment regions, two industrial areas, and two smart cities. 

The fifth is Gujarat, which will have the largest new city in India, Dollara, as well as three industrial areas, an Ahmedabad rapid transit bus system, and two investment regions. A brand-new, enormous smart city with a land area of 920 square kilometres, Dollara will house one of the corridor’s brand-new international airports. 

The sixth state, Maharashtra, will include three new smart cities, including the Aurangabad industrial city, a green smart city that will span 40 square kilometers, as well as two investment regions, and two industrial areas, including the Digi port Industrial Area. 

A recently approved 17 billion dollar high-speed rail line will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad, and the eight lanes, $15 billion Delhi–Mumbai Expressway will connect the two megacities, cutting the current 24-hour travel time to 12 hours. 

Since the signing of the MOU in 2006, it will be the first high-speed rail line in India. During Abe Shinzo’s visit to India in 2007, the corridor made significant advancements. The final project concept was presented to him and Manmohan Singh in 2008. 

In 2011, the government-owned DMIC development corporation, which is in charge of creating and promoting the corridor, was established. The project received official approval, and as of July 2020, construction has begun on a number of projects. 

The western dedicated freight corridor is on schedule to be finished in December 2021 with a 56% completion rate. The 1250-kilometer Mumbai-Delhi Expressway is currently being built, and it should be finished in 2023. 

The construction of the Aurangabad Industrial City began in 2016. Satellite images from 2019 show the first phase, which is 4.5 square kilometers and has many roads built. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened the city on September 7, 2019. Between Ujjain and Divas, five square kilometers have been set aside by the Madhya Pradesh government for Vikram Smart City. A video from June 2020 shows completed roads, a water treatment plant, a sewage treatment plant, an electric substation, and a water tower.   

Residential buildings will be built in Greater Noida after these utilities are finished, and an integrated Industrial Township is being built close to Delhi. Both high-tech industries and residential areas will be prevalent there. 

All of these new cities’ initial phases will be finished in 2025 after receiving investments totaling more than $2 billion. The bus rapid transit system in Ahmedabad was finished in 2009 and is now fully operational.   

Last but not least, work on the high-speed rail line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is expected to start soon. 60% of the required land will have been purchased by July 2020. Many construction projects have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but once restrictions are eased, deals are still being struck. 

The projects will go on. The larger corridor will cost a total of 90 billion US dollars to complete by 2037. We’ll just have to wait and see if it succeeds in boosting the Indian economy and creating millions of jobs.