New Delhi : Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna portal on Monday, framing it as a shift from the land struggles of the 1980s to a plug-and-play era for industry.
Drawing on his own experience of making “over 90 trips” to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation office in Vakola in the mid-80s for a 2,930 sqm plot in Dombivli, Goyal said the new portal will spare young entrepreneurs and foreign investors that pain through transparent, single-window access.
The portal will integrate Google Maps and satellite imagery so investors can assess connectivity, plot size and neighbouring units before applying. In a forward-looking suggestion, Goyal said: “We could have a premium rate if somebody says I want this piece of land, but I don’t want my neighbours to be polluting entities… We can charge a premium and maybe work out a balance… people may also get a chance to choose their neighbours.” The idea is to give the industry more control over site selection and operating environment.
The government has earmarked Rs 34,000 crore, about $4 billion, for 100 industrial parks in plug-and-play mode. Goyal said the scheme will “catalyze large amount of investment, create significant jobs directly and indirectly, provide social infrastructure of a kind never before provided in industrial parks, demonstrate centre-state partnership at its best.”The rollout is designed for speed.
Phase 1 will clear 20 parks from applications received between June 1 and July 31, and another 30 by September 30. A second phase will follow based on learnings. States must set up SPVs before applying, a change from past NICDIT parks, where SPV creation took months. “First 20 parks… I’m not even allowing anybody to apply unless they’ve made the SPV in advance,” Goyal warned.
For MSMEs, the minister is open to tweaks like flatted factories if industry associations aggregate demand and specify requirements. But he stressed management should be by private service companies that handle electricity, water, sewage and labour compliance, so MSMEs can focus on production.
Warehousing and airstrip provisions will be linked to industry type, and land valuation will follow established state methodologies, not ad-hoc pricing. With 22 NDA-ruled states already on board, Goyal urged all states to compete. “Business people, you can negotiate with the different states and you’ll get the best deal where you should ideally put up your plant, subject, of course, to port connectivity and whatever your other requirements are,” he said.
Goyal said that the goal is to make Bhavya remembered as “the day when India became ready for a new paradigm of business” and lay the groundwork for Viksit Bharat 2047.
