Nainod (Indore), May 3 (IANS) In a ground-breaking initiative described as the first of its kind in India, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced that farmers will be direct stakeholders in the Indore-Pithampur Economic Corridor.

Performing the Bhoomi Pujan for the project’s first phase, which is being executed at a cost of Rs 2,360 crore, Yadav emphasised that this model integrates landowners as partners rather than treating them as passive beneficiaries.

The corridor, spanning Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Dewas, Shajapur, and Ratlam, is envisioned as a metropolitan zone with far-reaching connectivity. The road network extends beyond the Pithampur-Indore stretch, incorporating an eight-lane super expressway linking Indore to Ujjain and Garoth, which will connect to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Yadav credited this achievement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the vision and leadership of the Prime Minister had transformed India’s infrastructure landscape. He pointed out that India’s national highway network now exceeds 116,000 kilometres, ranking as the second-largest in the world.

The Chief Minister explained that farmers involved in the project will receive 60 per cent of their land back as developed premium plots, a provision higher than the standard 50 per cent. This arrangement, he said, ensures greater future value and higher income potential for landowners.

He described the initiative as a farmer-industry partnership based on voluntary consent, highlighting that land pooling was being done with active participation rather than compulsory acquisition. The project directly involves landowners from 17 villages, including Kodiabardi, Nainod, Rinjlay, Bisanawda, Sindoda, Shivkheda, and Tihi.

He added that farmers could collaborate with developers for residential colonies and commercial establishments, such as shops and offices, capitalising on the growing demand for infrastructure near the corridor. The Chief Minister thanked all farmers who actively participated in the project.

CM Yadav remarked that diverse employment opportunities would emerge across agro-processing, automobiles, textiles, engineering, and warehousing. According to him, the project represents modern infrastructural development, enhanced connectivity, and industrial growth, all while ensuring farmers remain central to the process.

Yadav recalled that Prime Minister Modi had pioneered this approach in Gujarat, where prosperity was achieved by prioritising farmers’ interests in development projects.

The Chief Minister said India was entering a golden era of infrastructure under the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, with economic corridors, highways, expressways, and logistics parks being built at unprecedented speed.

He cited the Chenab railway bridge in Kashmir as an example of transformative change, noting that similar progress was now visible in Madhya Pradesh with new four-lane highways and gleaming roads.

–IANS

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