Aurangabad, June 12:
The Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) will change the entire Marathwada region in the next five years. High quality facilities and infrastructure in Auric compete with international standards and will surely bring in investment of thousands of crores and generate employment to thousands of employees. It now needs an international airport facility and a state-of-art convention centre, said Niti Aayog chief executive officer Amitabh Kant on Saturday while inspecting the work at AURIC, established under the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.
Speaking to the pressmen after inspecting the Shendra node of DMIC Kant said the overall progress of the Shendra and Bidkin phase are satisfactory. Once running in full capacity, the project will change the entire region in the next five to six years. Earlier, it took 20 to 40 years to establish cities such as Gurgaon and Noida. But a ready world class infrastructure has been provided in the DMIC that includes 24 hours water, uninterrupted electricity, wastewater recycling, Wi-Fi, fiber optical cable, water distribution system. The industrial area is also developing in a planned manner. To date, 73 units have been installed here so far that has generated employment to nearly 3000 people and brought in investment of nearly Rs 4000 crore, Kant said. He further said that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has made a significant contribution to the development of the Shendra industrial area. This is definitely admirable. MP Dr Bhagwat Karad, Auric managing director A S Ranga Naik, MIDC CEO Dr P Anbalgan, Jt managing director Jitendra Kakuste, MIDC regional officer Rajesh Joshi, Prafulla Wani, entrepreneurs Ram Bhogale, Rishi Bagla, Mukund Kulkarni and others were present.
Need an international airport, convention centre
The city is well connected with Chikalthana airport. However, for its overall growth, the city needs an international airport facility and an international convention centre, which will boost tourism and industries in the region. The facilities and infrastructure at the Chikalthana international airport need to be upgraded to further increase the connectivity. Improved connectivity and convention centre will further help to promote tourism in the city and region. I will talk to the Airport Authority regarding the issue, Kant said. The Shendra and Bidkin nodes will be connected by the Samruddhi expressway. There are also plans to establish a similar city at Dighi port on the lines of Auric, he added.
Entrepreneurs demand proper marketing
A delegation of members from the industrial associations along with MP Dr Bhagwat Karad met Kant and put forward their demands. The entrepreneurs said that currently Auric has infrastructure, but lacks marketing. An international convention center is also needed for startups. Small and medium enterprises should get space in DMIC at reasonable rates and the problems of the industry need to be addressed.