India’s First Mega Coastal Economic ZoneTo Come Up At Mumbai Promises 1.5 Lakh Jobs

The union cabinet has agreed to the proposal of setting up India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, reports the Economic Times. This project is a part of the mega-plan to develop 14 such industrial clusters to spur manufacturing and generate jobs.

The ET reports that close to 45 companies across telecom, auto and IT sectors will bid for the 200 hectares of land to set up manufacturing units in the zone.

A total investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the first phase is expected, which will create more than 1.5 lakh jobs. “This, in turn, would help create an ecosystem around them in which productive small and medium firms would emerge and flourish,” said an official to the ET.

The report states that last year the government approved setting up of 14 mega CEZs, under the National Perspective Plan of the Sagarmala Programme. The plan was to enable the development of industrial clusters around ports, encourage ported development, reduce logistics cost and time for movement of cargo. The project expected to enhance the global competitiveness of India’s manufacturing sector a and create hubs of job creation.

The JNPT is among the busiest cargo ports in the country and handles over 40 per cent of India’s export-import volume, but it also has sufficient land availability, that is why it has been chosen over other ports to kick-start the plan. The government also hopes to add two percentage points to India’s GDP through the creation of world-class infrastructure.