Govt targets ₹65,000-cr investment in economic zones

The government has prepared a blueprint to attract investment of ₹65,000 crore in more than 200 economic zones in the next five years, under the National Master Plan for providing multi-modal connectivity to various economic zones. The road, railways, shipping and civil aviation ministries have prepared a detailed connectivity roadmap for these economic zones like food and agro zones, fishing and defence clusters, electronic, textile and pharmaceutical parks. The PM informed that this move will boost productivity, infrastructure, economic progress and opportunities for youngsters. Seven infrastructure ministries and seven others joined hands to prepare the National Master Plan with to align efforts of each ministry or department with a national perspective. The plan also aims to ensure that all missing gaps are removed for seamless movement of people, goods and services within a given time frame so far as connectivity is concerned. The three industrial areas at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Tumkur in Karnataka and Dadri in UP have been identified under this plan. To improve connectivity, the road transport ministry has informed the construction of more highways including economic corridors that would cater to the needs for economic zones while Indian Railways has planned to increase cargo handling by 33% by 2024, which will ensure faster movement of raw and finished material and will reduce logistics cost.