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India has been working seamlessly to speed up businesses and manufacturing facilities all around the nation. Nirmala Sitharaman, India's finance minister, recently highlighted the critical necessity to map all industrial zones in order to understand what can be purchased under the PM Gati Shakti yojna, a revolutionary and comprehensive infrastructure development initiative. Here, the industrial corridors stand out as a crucial component in India's development trajectory among the large spectrum of industrial zones that were highlighted. In recent years, activity has been abundant along the industrial routes.

According to the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited(NICDC). 11 Industrial Corridors Projects are set for development with 30 projects to be developed by 2024-25. The Indian National Industrial Corridor Development Programme was supported by a $250 million loan from the Asian Development Bank in 2021.

Against this backdrop constituting the resolution to strengthen and spread industrial corridors in the country, it is pertinent to first understand what industrial corridors are and what they bring to the table. The two main economic sectors along the transit corridor are connected by an economic ecosystem. It functions as a region's economic lynchpin, much like an artery does. It is home to several manufacturing and industrial production hubs that serve both local and global demands too. By merging infrastructure and business, they take advantage of how interdependent each sector is.

The NICDP seeks to establish economic hubs with important characteristics like urban agglomeration, multi-modal connectivity, and climate resilience. The ability of industrial corridors to encourage equitable urbanization is one of their key characteristics. Urbanization must have a uniform distribution because it has been linked to increased economic growth.

According to the World Economic Forum, about 35% of the projected growth in the world's urban population by 2050 will come from India, China, and Nigeria, combined. What is more important to be taken note of is that among the three countries, the absolute growth in urban population is estimated to be the highest in India.

Therefore, it is crucial to guarantee that the country's urban population is dispersed fairly in order to prevent the expansion from becoming concentrated in a few areas.

Also, a study titled 'India's Urban System: Sustainability and Imbalanced Growth of Cities', points to the fact that million-plus cities in India increased in number from 5 (with a share of the total urban population of 18.81%) in 1951 to 23 (32.54% of the urban population ) in 1991, and to 53 (42.62% of the urban population) in 2011, whereas the share of small and medium cities in total urban population registered a consistent decline over the years. Industrial corridors hold the potential to address this challenge as they foster a space conducive to the development of multiple urbanized economic ecosystems in different locations would ease the pressure to migrate to a mega-city center for an improved life. Additionally, the overburdened civic infrastructure in a handful of densely populated large cities will see some respite.

Apart from distributing economic growth, industrial corridors will also facilitate the seamless movement of people and goods, adding a thrust to manufacturing capacities. In unison with the Gati Shakti initiative - a multimodal infrastructure connectivity endeavor- the development of industrial corridors will further enhance India's manufacturing competitiveness, increasing the share of manufacturing in the GDP.

In order to enhance cohesion by dismantling silos connecting diverse venues, including roads, trains, airports, ports, waterways, and mass transit, the Gati Shakti endeavor uses an integrated planning strategy.

This integrated planning approach will help grow industrial corridors holistically when brought under the rubric of Gati Shakti. This integrated planning approach will help grow industrial corridors holistically when brought under the rubric of Gati Shakti. One of the flagship Industrial Corridors initiatives in India is the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). About 24 investment nodes across six states have been identified for the DMIC.

About 24 investment nodes across six states have been identified for the DMIC. Of the 8 Industrial Cities proposed in the first phase, work on 4 cities is underway, for which sanction was received in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The cities of Dholers (Gujrat), ShendraBidkin (Maharashtra), Vikram Udyogpuri (M.P), and Integrated Industrial Township (Greater Noida, U.P), with an allotment of 172 Plots (851 Acres), are attracting investments from companies of South Korea, Russia, China, UK, Japan, and India and have an investment of Rs.16,760 Cr. Generating 21,000 employment opportunities widely. There is huge scope for harnessing the economic potential of each one of the Industrial Corridors planned.

Without question, industrial corridors are the routes to more evenly distributed economic growth and increased industrial competitiveness. However, the threat posed by unplanned urbanization and its advantageous benefits is significant. The way forward is to construct industrial corridors using thoroughly thought-out blueprints.

Today, climate change resilience. Environmental sustainability and a people-based approach must be at the heart (center) of the industrial corridor plans.

We must not lose sight of the importance of people and the environment while working to increase industrial robustness. To comprehend their social and environmental impact, there should be more attention placed on undertaking in-depth studies of current industrial corridors and specific industrial cities in India, such as Jamshedpur and Vishakapatnam. Long-term sustainability will be achieved throughout the corridors by ensuring a decent working and living circumstances, more equal economic growth, and a concern for environmental quality. Such well-planned and carried-out industrial corridor projects will be successful.