The first phase of the $90-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a collaboration between India and Japan, is expected to begin late this year and be completed in 2018, say officials. The project to build a 150-kilometer corridor on either side of the 1,483-km freight rail line planned between Delhi and Mumbai was to have started in 2008.
The project incorporates nine mega-industrial zones of about 200 to 250 sq. km, a high- speed freight line, three ports, six airports, a six-lane intersection-free expressway and a 4,000-megawatt powerplant. It will develop 24 locations into high-tech residential and industrial hubs, according to Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.