The National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) prescribes a minimum area of 5000 hectares for establishing National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs). In order to enable the manufacturing industry clusters outside NIMZs to avail the benefits/dispensations under the NMP, the Government of India has circulated the definition of cluster, guidelines and dispensations for cluster to States. Government of Tamil Nadu requested for relaxation of the minimum area norm for their proposal to create three new manufacturing zones and extend the benefits of NIMZs to these zones as well as to the existing industrial clusters in Tamil Nadu. Government of Tamil Nadu has been informed that since the area stipulated under NMP for setting up of NIMZ is minimum 5000 hectares, their proposal do not qualify for approval as NIMZ. These zones may be developed by Government of Tamil Nadu as industrial clusters to avail of the benefits under NMP as per the guidelines and dispensations for cluster notified to States. Government of Haryana requested that the size of a NIMZ be reduced to about 1000 hectares. Government of Haryana has been informed that Manesar-Bawal Investment Region of Haryana in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has already been designated as an NIMZ and the dispensations under the NMP will therefore be available to the said zone.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Minimum area requirement for NIMZs upheld; sub-threshold zones may seek cluster status to access NMP dispensations. The National Manufacturing Policy requires a minimum area of 5000 hectares for designation as a National Investment & Manufacturing Zone; proposals below that threshold do not qualify as NIMZs but may be developed as industrial clusters to avail benefits under the NMP pursuant to the circulated cluster definition, guidelines and dispensations. State-specific requests were addressed: Tamil Nadu was advised to pursue cluster status for its zones, while Haryana's Manesar-Bawal region has existing NIMZ designation and thus qualifies for NMP dispensations.