Seven new cities on Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor

New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Plans for seven new cities along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) have been finalised and work on two new smart industrial cities at Dholera in Gujarat and Shendra Bidkin in Maharashtra would start in the next financial year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday.

“The DMIC project has made rapid progress. Plans for seven new cities have been finalised and work on two new smart industrial cities will start during 2013-14,” Chidambaram said while presenting the union budget for 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha. Additional funds may be provided if required, he added.

He thanked the Japanese government for the projects. “We acknowledge the support of the government of Japan.”

The finance minister further said that plans were being prepared by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for Chennai-Bengalore industrial corridor.

“The corridor will be developed in collaboration with the governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,” Chidambaram said.

Preparatory work had also started on another corridor between Bangalore and Mumbai, he added.