New Delhi, Jun 14 (IANS): Ghilot and Tapukara in Alwar district are Rajasthan's next focus areas for industrialisation, targeting an investment of more than Rs.15,000 crore and providing jobs to around 150,000 people.
"Some 1,800 acres of land have been acquired in these two areas. One industrial house alone wants to invest Rs.5,000 crore," said Rajendra Bhanawat, managing director of the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corp (Riico).
"One of the main attractions among them is the Apparel City at Tapukara. This is expected to create 100,000 additional jobs," said Bhanawat, whose organisation oversees industrialisation in Rajasthan - from land acquisition to financing.
A special purpose vehicle - Rajasthan Integrated Apparel City Ltd - has been created to execute the project in association with the central-government-promoted Apparel Export Promotion Council.
At Ghilot, which is near the famous Neemrana Fort, the plan is for a 750-acre ceramics cluster, a 500-acre extension project of the Japanese Zone at Neemrana and a 300-acre solar city.
"For ceramics, the availability of gas was an issue earlier at Ghilot. Now the gas pipeline that GAIL has to Neemrana is being extended to Ghilot. His reference was to the 214-km Chainsa-Sultanpur-Neemrana gas pipeline.
"We expect the three projects at Ghilot to fetch an investment of over Rs.10,000 crore," he said.
On the extension project, he said, the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) evinced interest for more Japanese companies to set up shop in the vicinity and that was the reason why a part of Ghilot was so chosen.
"So far, we have attracted 38 Japanese companies at Neemrana and among them 17 have already started production." The Japanese companies that have zeroed in on Neemrana include giants such as Daiken, Mitsubishi, Nippon, Mitsui and Imasen.
Giving the big picture of industrialisation in Rajasthan, Bhanawat said Riico has acquired more than 50,000 acres of land thus far and around 2,000-3,000 acres of additional land was being acquired every year.
This has enabled some 323 industrial areas to be created in the state with no sign of any strife over land acquisition, as has been seen in several other states, notably West Bengal.
"Acquisition of land has never been a major problem in Rajasthan. We have a very transparent policy. Our compensation package is also very attractive as we go by the fair market price," said the top Riico executive.
"We never had to use emergency provisions."
He said landowners, who don't want to part with their land, also have the option of giving up their existing undeveloped holdings to Riico and getting back 25-percent of its size as developed land.
"Of the 25 percent land that is re-allotted, 20 percent can be used by them for industrial and residential purposes and the remaining 5 percent for commercial purposes. This way both sides are happy."