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LUCKNOW: In yet another example of the growing bonhomie between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, the UP government has decided to lend full support to the Centre in its bid to set up the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor ( DMIC). The corridor passes through the Greater Noida-Meerut-Muzzaffarnagar region in the state. The stretch is part of the 1,483-km dedicated corridor conceptualized to boost industrial growth in the country.Chairing a meeting of industrial department officials on Saturday, Chief miniser Akhilesh Yadav hailed the project as "extremely crucial" for the growth of the state. The project, which envisages setting up of seven investment and 13 industrial regions between Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai and Dadri in Greater Noida, will pass through two investment regions in UP -- Greater Noida and Meerut-Muzzaffarnagar.The ambitious project also provisions setting up of a dedicated freight corridor to an extent of 150 to 200 km on both sides of the investment region. The project becomes even more crucial for UP because the proposed east-west corridor merges at Khurja, which lies in the state.In the first phase, the Greater Noida Development Authority (GNDA) has decided to develop Bodaki railway station, Greater Noida-Noida metro rail link, Dadri-Vallabhgarh railway station, Noida, Greater Noida-Faridabad expressway, Logistic park/township and an auto-mart. The authority has also indentified setting up of a power plant in the region as a crucial feature.

Yadav said that directions have been issued to GNDA and UPSIDC to identify a site for setting up of a hi-tech integrated industrial township in the region. The chief minister said that the corridor will help the farmers, especially of the east UP, to ship their produce to places as far as Mumbai. He, however, said that land will be acquired with the consent of the farmers. The Centre will invest around Rs 3,000 crore in the region lying in UP. Secretary, commerce and industry, Government of India, Saurabh Chandra, said that the project will bring an investment of over Rs 75,000 crore to the region. This will include setting up of industries, including food, IT, electronics and automobiles. In all, the project is expected to create 12 lakh jobs, Chandra said.