The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved 12 new project proposals last month, under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP). This decision entails an estimated investment of `28,602 crore and aims to establish a network of industrial nodes and cities. These 12 industrial areas, located across 10 states and planned along six major corridors, are expected to support India’s manufacturing capabilities and contribute to economic growth. Given the mandate for creation of jobs and increase in contribution of manufacturing to the GDP, this is significant. The NICDP began with the launch of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), which was incorporated as DMICDC in January 2008. I had then met Amitabh Kant, who was the CEO of DMIC. He had prepared master plans of all cities that would be rolled out under DMIC. These industrial smart cities being built along the Dedicated Freight Corridor included: 1. Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) in Gujarat; 2. Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area (SBIA) near Aurangabad, Maharashtra; 3. Manesar-Bawal Investment Region (MBIR) in Haryana; 4. Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana Investment Region (KBNIR) in Rajasthan; 5. Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow Investment Region (PDMIR) in Madhya Pradesh; 6. Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region (DNGIR) in Uttar Pradesh; 7. Dighi Port Industrial Area (DPIA) in Maharashtra. The DMIC is strategically built around the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). The WDFC serves as a backbone for the DMIC, facilitating efficient transportation of goods between the industrial hubs along the corridor and major ports in Mumbai. But both the Dedicated Freight Corridor and the DMIC are still only around 90 per cent complete. The fruits of this development will remain unutilised and provide suboptimal results for our investments until this project attains 100 per cent completion. In February 2020, DMICDC Ltd was renamed the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) Ltd. The current announcement includes the following: Khurpia, Uttarakhand; Gaya, Bihar; Rajpura- Patiala, Punjab; Zaheerabad, Telangana; Dighi, Maharashtra; Orvakal, Andhra Pradesh; Palakkad, Kerala; Kopparthy, Andhra Pradesh; Agra, Uttar Pradesh; Jodhpur-Pali, Rajasthan and Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Efforts are to be directed towards project completion for deriving full value from the investment made. As per CMIE, completion of investment projects suffered a steepfall in the quarter ended June 2024. Only 316 projects with a combined investment of Rs.353 billion were completed during this quarter. Even announcements on setting up factories, building roads, and other new projects fell below the Rs.1 trillion mark, according to data for the April-June quarter (Q1) of 2024-25. The Q1 figure of Rs.60,000 crore is 92 per cent lower than the Rs.7.9 trillion recorded in the year-ago quarter, shows CMIE data. However, project announcements suffered mainly owing to the code of conduct and general elections. Recently three major railway infrastructure projects, totalling 296 km in length, have been greenlit at an estimated cost of Rs.6,456 crore. Kaynes Semicon Facility in Sanand, Gujarat, has been approved to establish a semiconductor unit for Rs.3,307 crore. Further, the Government has approved a proposal from Tata Electronics to build a mega semiconductor fabrication facility in Dholera, Gujarat, in partnership with Taiwan’s PSMC. Construction will begin this year with a total investment of up to Rs.91,000 crore. Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd (TSAT) will also establish a unit in Morigaon, Assam, with an investment of Rs.27,000 crore.The Government seems to have realised that the pipeline is drying up and is likely to squeeze economic performance towards the end of this term. Therefore, we are likely to see many more announcements coming up. Setting up industrial smart cities would mean that land acquisition and environmental clearances are all taken care of and even trunk infrastructure is well provided. This, then, sets the stage for plug and play and international companies like Foxconn, which is already exploring manufacturing iPads. States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra are actively pursuing FDI in the quest for job creation. Speaking of competition, the 10th India Construction Festival will host three awards: the 22nd Construction World Global Awards in association with ENR magazine, the 12th Equipment India Awards and the RAHSTA Awards. Nominate your companies at www.RAHSTA expo.com