The long-term vision of the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) is to develop itself as a globally competitive manufacturing hub that promotes sustainable development by creating at least 22 million additional jobs in the next 20 years.

The project will drive growth of both large industries and SMEs within the corridor and boost exports from the region by focusing on sectors like electronics, automobile, textiles and food processing, according to the integrated master plan for CBIC, prepared by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), with the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Nippon Koei.

As per the infrastructure development planned in the corridor region, a total funding of around $174 billion will be required over the next 20 years to meet the goals of CBIC. These investments would be distributed among various sectors, including industrial infrastructure, logistics, ports, airports, energy, railways, roads, solid waste management, urban transport and water.

Over the short term (up to 2018), around $44 billion investment in infrastructure shall be needed and the same amount of investments will be required from the short to medium term (2018-2023) as well. Over the long term (2023-2033), around $87 billion will be required to finance the infrastructure development requirements in the region.

The majority of the investments (more than $100 billion) are required for development of energy infrastructure in the region to meet the growing energy requirements of the region and to ensure good quality and regular supply of power to the industries in the region.

Transport (especially trunk infrastructure and gateway development) is the second area where significant investments (around $32 billion) will be required to ensure seamless connectivity within the corridor and to the gateways. At the same time, significant investments shall also be needed for the development of industrial infrastructure and utilities in the region, according to the plan.

Over the short-term (up to 2018) maximum investment in infrastructure development will be required by Andhra Pradesh followed by Tamil Nadu. Around 46% (around $20 billion) of the total investment required for infrastructure development in the corridor will be required by Andhra Pradesh with around 75% of demand for these investment requirements arising from the planned energy infrastructure creation.

Tamil Nadu will be required to attract around 25% of the total investment needed for infrastructure development in the region with more than 50% of these investments ($5 billion) required for development of energy infrastructure only. The remaining around 15% and 14% investments shall be required for projects planned to be developed or the projects required by the state of Karnataka and the Central government, respectively.

Of the total investments of around $6 billion required for Karnataka, around 52% will be needed for industrial infrastructure development and another 32% for utilities. Karnataka shall not require additional investments in the development of energy infrastructure over the short term, says the plan.

As per the plan, over the medium term, Tamil Nadu will require the maximum amount of investments for infrastructure development while another $17 billion is required to be allocated to the agency responsible for development of energy infrastructure in the region.

Source: The Financial Express