New Delhi: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday lamented that states have been "very slow" in extending their cooperation and transferring land for big infrastructure projects like industrial corridors.
Replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Goyal said, "I say with a lot of sadness that the kind of cooperation which could have been received and should have been received from the states in encouraging these projects in industrial corridors has been, unfortunately, very slow." He also told the House that some states have not transferred the full land for projects like Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
"Many states have not yet transferred the full land because of which many projects are getting delayed. Some projects are getting completed because state governments were active and, therefore, a matching share was received from the state government," he said. The minister also said that though DMIC was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2011, the then central government did not provide adequate funds for the same.