Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has said that ‘FIRE corridors’ (Freight, Industrial, Railways, Expressways) will ignite industrialisation and economic development of the country.
Chairing the 2nd meeting of the Apex Monitoring Authority constituted to review the activities of National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT), the minister emphasised upon the need to ensure continued coordination between the Central and state governments.
“The rapidity with which the infrastructure is being developed since 2014, needs to be maintained. State governments and NICDIT need to maintain the same momentum for realising the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of a developed India by 2047,” Sitharaman said.
“FIRE corridors (Freight, Industrial, Railways, Expressways) will ignite industrialisation and economic development in India,” the minister added.
Emphasizing the need to ensure continued coordination between the Central and the state governments, the minister said that they should work collectively as ‘Team India’.
She also urged all the states to tie up loose ends and move forward and resolve all pending issues through greater exchange and sharing of information to expedite the progress of works in the respective states.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal who was also present at the meeting emphasised upon the financial viability of the projects and urged the states for faster allotment of lands at reasonable rates.
“States should adopt innovative models and offer package deals etc. for faster investments. Electricity rates should be affordable and consistent as high rates of electricity are a deterrent to the industry,” he added.
Goyal also urged the state governments to expedite acquisition of contiguous, litigation encumbrance free land and grant early environmental clearances for the NICDIT projects. He further stated that states should focus on expediting the finalization and execution of shareholders agreements and state support agreements.
