Government has granted in-principle approval to five National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) outside the DMIC region. The state governments have to acquire the necessary land before any projects can be considered in these zones.

Eight zones have been announced as NIMZ along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The Government has received nine proposals for setting up of NIMZ outside the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor region, including one from Kerala. These are:(i) Nagpur in Maharashtra; (ii) Tumkur in Karnataka; (iii) Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh (iv) Medak in Andhra Pradesh (v) Prakasa in Andhra Pradesh; (vi) Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh; (vii) Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh; (viii) Mandal-Bencharaji SIR in Gujarat and (ix) Kochi-Palakkad in Kerala.

The National Manufacturing Policy inter-alia aims to enhance the share of manufacturing in the GDP to 25%;to create 100 million jobs over a decade or so; to impart the necessary skill sets to make the youth employable; to increase domestic value addition and technological depth in manufacturing while ensuring environmental sustainability. Government has taken steps to implement the policy wherever orders/notifications/ instructions were required at the level of the Central Government. The National Manufacturing Policy provides an enabling policy framework to strengthen manufacturing activity in the country. The implementation of the policy on ground has to be done at the level of the state governments. The policy is based on this principle and the state governments have been encouraged to adopt the instrumentalities provided in the policy.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Dr. E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

State land acquisition requirement for NIMZ approvals ensures state-level implementation of national manufacturing policy and zone proposals. Government granted in-principle approval to NIMZs outside the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, subject to state land acquisition before projects can be considered. Multiple proposals for NIMZs outside the DMIC have been received and candidate locations identified. The NIMZ initiative is framed within the National Manufacturing Policy, which establishes an enabling central policy while assigning implementation and preparatory responsibilities, including land assembly, to state governments.