In order to increase the share of manufacturing in the overall GDP of the country and for ensuring systematic and planned urbanization, Government of India (GoI) has adopted the strategy of developing integrated Industrial Corridors on the backbone of transport connectivity infrastructure in partnership with State Governments.

Under Industrial Corridor Programme, the objective is to create greenfield smart industrial cities with sustainable ‘plug n play’ ICT enabled utilities to facilitate the manufacturing investments into the country by providing quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure for the industries. GoI has approved 11 Industrial Corridors consisting of 32 projects to be developed in 4 Phases.

As part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), 04 greenfield industrial smart cities/nodes are being developed in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh. Major trunk infrastructure works have been completed in these industrial cities/nodes with 138 plots (754 acres) allotted to companies with investment to the tune of more than ₹ 16,750 crore. Anchor investors in these cities/nodes include companies like HYOSUNG (South Korea), NLMK (Russia), HAIER (China), TATA Chemicals & AMUL. 23 nodes/projects in other Industrial Corridors are under various stages of planning & development.

Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC) is envisioned to facilitate development of a well-planned and resource-efficient industrial base in the two states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Perspective Plan for the overall corridor has been prepared and Dharwad (Karnataka) and Satara (Maharashtra) have been identified as the priority nodes. 

Under Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC), Dharwad nodehas been envisaged to be developed for achieving an accelerated development and regional industry agglomeration in the State of Karnataka. The project spreads across an area of over 6,000 acres and is in close proximity to Hubballi-Dharwad twin city (second largest Municipal Corporation in Karnataka State) which is poised to be the flag-bearer for the next industrial revolution in Karnataka. The site is well connected by roads (NH 48 & 67) which connects the metro cities Mumbai, Bengaluru and Goa along with other major urban centres. The existing railway station at Dharwad is located at a distance of 25 km and proposed Dharwad-Belgavi rail line is adjacent to the site. Hubbali airport is at a distance of 30 kms while the nearest sea ports are at Karwar(170 km) and Goa (180 km).

The proposed industrial development at Dharwad will augment the existing industrial development and create an investment destination for various categories of industries through provision of large-scale regional trunk infrastructure at Dharwad and tap the potential of the existing road/rail freight movement (strategic position in BMIC corridor ~500 km equidistant from Bengaluru and Mumbai) along BMIC. Various reputed institutional setups viz., IIT, IIIT, University of Agricultural Sciences, High Court, etc. are in close proximity.Belur & Mummigatti Industrial areas in vicinity would help in creating an industrial ecosystemfor the region.

Under PM Gati Shakti, the National Master Plan for providing multimodal connectivity, any infrastructure gaps required for Dharwad node will be examined and taken up for development for holistically integrating the economic zones. The project is being developed jointly by National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB). Consultant has been appointed for carrying out the Master Planning and preliminary engineering for the Project and in this regard, a kick-off meeting was held on 24^th November co-chaired by ACS, Commerce & Industries, GoK and CEO&MD, NICDC along with officials from NICDC, KIADB and State Govt.

Industrial corridor development to create greenfield smart industrial cities with multimodal connectivity and investment-ready infrastructure. The Industrial Corridor Programme seeks to create integrated greenfield smart industrial cities with ICT-enabled utilities and trunk infrastructure to attract manufacturing investment. The BMIC Dharwad node is planned as a major regional industrial agglomeration leveraging road and rail freight corridors, adjacent industrial areas and institutional ecosystems. Project implementation is a joint public-sector effort with consultants appointed for master planning and preliminary engineering, and the national multimodal integration framework will be used to identify and address connectivity and infrastructure gaps to integrate economic zones.