Industrial corridors: Cream of economic growth

ndia has been making efforts zealously to ramp up industry and manufacturing across the length and breadth of the country. Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the need to map all industrial zones for understanding what can be brought under the transformative and holistic infrastructure development endeavour – the PM Gati Shakti initiative. In the range of industrial zones that were highlighted, industrial corridors come across as a crucial component in India’s development trajectory. Industrial corridors have witnessed a flurry of activity in recent years. According to the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC), 11 Industrial Corridors Projects are set for development with 30 projects to be developed by 2024-25. In 2021, the Asian Development Bank approved a $250 million loan to support India’s National Industrial Corridor Development Program. Against this backdrop constituting the resolution to strengthening and spreading industrial corridors in the country, it is pertinent to first understand what industrial corridors are and what they bring to the table.