Industry-led urbanisation to drive growth, not just industrialisation: NICDC CEO Rajat Kumar Saini

What is the plan for the 12 industrial parks and the expected completion date?

We like to call them industrial areas, or industrial cities, not industrial parks, considering the philosophy of the government that it is not just industrialisation, but also industry-led urbanisation. The government approved these after the initial success of eight such parks that are already under the NICDC. Not a lot of people are aware, but Dholera, the first semiconductor city of India, is also under NICDC. Four such cities are already up and running... Over 300 industries have been allotted land here, of which 100 have started production.

State governments will be equal partners in developing these 12 new industrial cities. For every project, we [will] float a joint venture company or a special purpose vehicle, where both the centre and state have 50% equity each. States [will] also delegate a lot of local body powers, including building and planning. We take environmental clearances beforehand. The state government brings land, and the central government brings money to build infrastructure. If there is any shortfall in money, then we also give debt cover. It is a corporate structure based on co-operative federalism.

We have been working on these projects for three to four years. Unlike most others where land acquisition begins after the project is announced, [here] land has been acquired, [and] environmental clearances taken. In many cases, the company has been formed. All master planning has been done... Cost estimates have been prepared. Everything is analysed and done through PM Gati Shakti and support from other ministries and states. Our target is to start construction of these greenfield cities within this fiscal... We have three years to complete construction. Companies will be expected to start production within three years of getting the land.

Are you targeting any particular segment?

Though these are greenfield smart cities, there is an ecosystem around each location. For instance, in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, it is automobiles; in Greater Noida, it is white goods, electronics and mobile manufacturing, to name a few. The sectors have been identified based on market analysis, interest shown by investors, and the existing industrial ecosystem within 1,500 km. The master planning for infrastructure is done based on that. We will stick to this unless the investment and industrialisation game changes by the time it comes to selling and new sectors emerge. But it’s not that other industries are a no go.

How is the investor interest? Will it help India with the China+1 strategy?

Yes, not just us, but the whole government is working [so] that India should be a reliable, sustainable destination for anybody coming from China or even otherwise. The whole world is seeing the trajectory on which the Indian economy has been for the past 10 years. At some point, we were lacking in infrastructure, but we have come a long way. We have improved in logistics. Of course, some things remain to be done, but that scope is always there.

The whole world is willing to bet on India. They just need locations where they can drop anchor. I hope, and I believe that foreign investors will drop anchor at these locations. As highlighted by the PM, states also need to work on policy... that is going to happen in the next four to five years, and with that, the ecosystem will improve further. You will see an immediate reflection of those changes in these cities.

What about social infrastructure?

People find it difficult to move from one city to another; imagine asking someone to move from one city to a non-existent city… It takes time. We are trying to hasten that cycle by giving more jobs. We are not just providing plug-and-play, we are also providing walk to work with a holistic city life environment. I believe there are enough entrepreneurs in India that can populate these cities. We are talking of around 4 million direct and indirect jobs in these 12 cities. That translates to 4 million families and 20 million people. Of this, let’s say even 10% start living in these cities, that makes 2 million, which is not a bad number.

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