New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) India and Japan Monday signed agreements to build eco-friendly cities along the Rs.3.6 lakh crore ($72 billion) Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.
The first memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corp (DMICDC) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) for development of eco-friendly and smart cities.

The other MOU was between India Infrastructure Finance Co and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for setting up a project development fund.

Official sources pegged Japan’s investment in the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor to be around $10 billion spread through five years.

“The new township, which would come up on this corridor will help the movement of large populations to these townships,” said Commerce Minister Anand Sharma after the two sides signed the pacts.

“This project will help us in faster movement of goods through the corridor and will generate employment, infrastructure and will have a huge multiplier effect for wealth generation,” Sharma told reporters.

The 1,483-km Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will cross six states — Delhi and the national capital region, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana.

“The MOU between the two countries is a confirmation of political will of both countries to take forward our bilateral co-operation and to further consolidate our relationship,” Sharma said.

DMICDC managing director and chief executive Amitabh Kant told IANS that the work on the project would start in the next four to five months.

“We expect to finish our project by 2017,” said Kant.

The agreement comes ahead of the prime ministerial-level meeting between the two countries Tuesday.