SunstarTV Bureau: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved projects worth more than ₹12,000 crore.
These projects are expected to generate 280,000 jobs. For the Krishnapatnam node, the estimated employment projection on completion of the first phase of development is likely to be around 98,000 people, of which about 58,000 are likely to be employed at the site.
The projects are nodded as the government prioritised infrastructure spending to create job opportunities and lay the foundation stone to kick start economy recovery.
The projects cleared include the industrial corridor nodes in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka along the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor and multi-modal logistics and transport hubs at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
The Union government will, spend ₹7,725 crore to aid the proposed greenfield industrial cities with road and rail connectivity to ports and logistic hubs
along with reliable power and social infrastructure.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that she will give importance to revive the economy that is set to see it’s worst-ever contraction.
The government has set a ₹100 trillion investment target for projects coming under the national infrastructure pipeline over the next five years.
While ₹2,139.4 crore will be invested in the Krishnapatnam industrial area in Andhra Pradesh, projects in Tumakuru industrial area in Karnataka will be built at an estimated cost of ₹1,701.8 crore. The multi-modal logistics and transport hubs at Greater Noida will cost ₹3,883.8 crore.
“The industrial corridor programme thrives to attain the objective of creation of an Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat to drive the growth of industries and create greater avenues for investments across the country,” the Cabinet Secretariat said in a statement.
For the Tumakuru node, the government expects employment of about 88,500 workers, out of which 17,700 will be from the service industries in the initial development phase.
The logistics hub project at Greater Noida will provide storage and transitioning of goods to and from the eastern and western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) and offer a one-stop destination to freight companies and their customers. The transport hub project near the Boraki railway station (in Uttar Pradesh), on the other hand, will have space for an inter-state bus terminal (ISBT), a local bus terminal (LBT), metro, commercial, retail and hotel space, and green open spaces for world-class passenger movement facilities for the growing population of the catchment zone catering to upcoming developments in the Uttar Pradesh sub-region of the National Capital Region, thus, decongesting Delhi.
About 100,000 jobs are estimated to be generated by 2040 from both these projects, which will have a positive impact on growth opportunities in the surrounding areas.
CCEA also approved the expansion of the Paradip port in Odisha at an initial cost of ₹3,005 crore to enable it to handle large cargo ships under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. This includes the development of a new western dock and fresh dredging by the selected concessionaire at a cost of ₹2,040 crore and ₹352.1 crore, respectively; and investment by Paradip Port of ₹612.5 crore to provide common supporting project infrastructure.
“On commissioning of the project, it shall cater to the requirement of coal and limestone imports, besides export of granulated slag and finished steel products considering the large number of steel plants established in the hinterland of Paradip Port. The project shall also facilitate (i) de-congestion of the port; (ii) reduction of sea freight, making coal imports cheaper; and (iii) boost the industrial economy in the hinterland of the port, leading to the creation of job opportunities,” the cabinet secretariat said in the statement.
