Gujarat govt reduces area allotted to Japanese industrial park as interest wanes post Covid

Citing lack of interest among Japanese firms due to the prevalent Covid situation, Gujarat government has scaled down the size of the Japanese Industrial Township (JIT) being built at Khoraj by 43 per cent.

“We had a meeting with JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation). Currently, there are no inquiries from Japanese companies. We have already lost over 1 year. Now, instead of over 600 hectares, we have brought down the area of the industrial park to 350 hectares. However, we are not shelving the project,” an official from the state Industries and Mines Department told The Indian Express.

According to Gujarat government officials, the remaining 262 hectares of land will be used for setting up a toy park or would be merged with the automobile hub at Sanand. “A feasibility study for setting up a toy’s park has been submitted to the government. One or two places, including Khoraj, might get approval,” the official added.

In April 2015, India and Japan had agreed to develop JITs in nine states, including Gujarat. Khoraj was one of the two JITs being set up in the state, with the other township spread over just 150 acres at Mandal in Ahmedabad. That park is based on a plug-and-play model and currently has 15 small and medium Japanese firms.

The Gujarat government had initially planned to develop the Khoraj JIT in over approximately 1,500 hectares. The plan for this park was readied ahead of the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting in Ahmedabad in September 2017.

Of the proposed 1,500 hectares, 612 hectares have already been acquired by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation— a nodal agency of the state government for industrial development — under Phase-1 of the development of the JIT.

As per an earlier plan shared by the Gujarat government, this exclusive industrial park for Japanese firms had 969 hectares reserved for industrial development, 227 hectares for roads and transportation facilities, 136 hectares for green spaces and 141 hectares for a residential zone.

GIDC had also allotted a piece of the acquired land at Khoraj to Daicel Corporation, which had proposed a unit for manufacturing automotive airbag systems. The company, however, withdrew from the project. GIDC has already constructed over 30 km of trunk and internal roads within this JIT at Khoraj.