Thaindian News

By John Stanly
Kadi (Gujarat), Aug 28 (IANS) The upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) will expedite Gujarat’s industrial development and help it emerge as a financial hub in Asia, said Chief Minister Narenda Modi here Friday.

“It’s my dream to make Gujarat a great financial power. The day will come when Gujarat, along with Japan and Singapore, will dominate the Asian economy,” Modi said after inaugurating the new plant of Hitachi Home and Life Solutions India, a subsidiary of Japan’s Hitachi Appliances.

The industrial corridor, being developed in cooperation with the Japanese government, “is a golden opportunity for development”, Modi said.

The 1,483-km dedicated freight corridor will pass through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and the National Capital Region (NCR) with end terminals at Dadri in the NCR and Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai.

The project aims to double employment, triple industrial output and quadruple exports from the region in five years.

India and Japan have signed a deal to build the DMIC at a proposed investment of $90 billion.

Modi said once the project is complete, a clutch of industrial projects will come up along the corridor, with Gujarat gaining the most.

The chief minister also said Gujarat was progressing in all sectors, particularly in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

“When the green revolution happened, Gujarat was not in the picture. But now, the agricultural sector in the state is booming. Gujarat has achieved over 10 percent agricultural growth, while the national average is less than two percent,” he added.

“The state would take a quantum leap in socio-economic development by 2010 when we will celebrate 50 years of the formation of Gujarat”.