Bhubaneswar: The Union government has included Orissa in the mega East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) project, it was revealed at a meeting between state government officials and a team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that was chaired by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here Friday.
The corridor would link Orissa with the global industrial corridor and global value chain, officials said.
The first phase would connect Orissa, Kolkata, Vishakhapatanam, Tuticorin and Chennai.
The project is to be implemented jointly by the Union ministry of commerce and industry and ADB. The industry secretary and the CMD of Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation would be the nodal officers from state government, for the project and the industry department would be the nodal department.
Phase 1 of the conceptual development plan is to be prepared by March 2017, officials said.
The project would be India’s first coastal corridor and would cover approximately 1,700 km of coastline and connect six major ports and three of the country’s deepest draught ports.
The corridor would also connect the mineral rich hinterland, which has 86 per cent of the country’s coal reserves, 82 per cent of iron ore reserves, 70 per cent of bauxite reserves and 40 per cent of natural gas reserves.
The project would boost industrial activities in Orissa, particularly in the sectors of automobiles, electronics, petrochemicals, petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, naval shipyards, defence and space exploration. The project would have two basic dimensions — investments for infrastructure development and for node centric development, said the officials.
ADB’s technical teams would assess the extent of land availability, clearance from coastal areas, flood line and forest area, connectivity with highways and rail network, proximity to ports and airports, availability of utilities like power and water, proximity to urban centers, and availability of housing and skilled manpower.
Padhi advised the officials to make a perspective plan of the project compatible with Orissa Vision 2036 document.
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