Jacobs has been appointed to produce the masterplans and preliminary designs for three greenfield industrial ‘smart cities’ in South India.

The work is for a project run by the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) aimed at reimagining industrial cities and creating new global manufacturing and investment zones with world-class road, rail, water, power and social infrastructure.

Jacobs is tasked with bringing to life NICDC's vision for a global manufacturing hub transformed for the 21st century. “We've been working with NICDC in India for the past 12 years,” said Jacobs People & Places Solutions executive vice president Patrick Hill. “These latest appointments give us the opportunity to combine that experience with the recent advances in digital and technology to set the new standard of excellence for industrial developments, to help diversify India's economy and to deliver long-term economic growth.”

The clusters, located at Palakkad in Kerala, and Ponneri and Dharmapuri-Salem in Tamil Nadu, will extend the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor to Kochi. When complete, the new smart cities are expected to attract businesses manufacturing high-value products with export potential and help fuel economic and socio-economic development in the region.