Construction of World’s Largest Green Industrial Park Kicks off in Indonesia

Indonesia has begun the construction of what is being hailed as the world’s largest green industrial park in Bulungan district on the country’s second-largest island of Kalimantan.

“We hope that this will be the largest green industrial park in the world, not only in North Kalimantan, not only in Indonesia, but in the world,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said during the groundbreaking of the park.

The green industrial park, which is expected to produce solar panels, semiconductors, green aluminium and petrochemicals among other things, is currently under construction in an area of 16,400 hectares and is targeted to expand to 30,000 hectares.

According to United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a green or eco- industrial park is a community of businesses located on a common property in which businesses seek to achieve enhanced environmental, economic and social performance through collaboration in managing environmental and resource issues.

This is known as industrial symbiosis, which is a means by which companies can gain a competitive advantage through the physical exchange of materials, energy, water and by-products, thereby fostering inclusive and sustainable development.

In India, for instance, the Telangana Industrial Federation Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (TIF-MSME) Green Industrial Park is currently running with 10 MSME units, a figure that the Telangana state government plans to increase to 450 MSMEs by December 2022. Out of 450 MSME units, 200 will be micro units and the remaining will accommodate small and medium enterprises.

Formally inaugurated in 2019, the park is being developed by TIF and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) and once all the 450 units become functional, it expects to provide direct employment to 20,000 and indirect employment to another 15,000.

“Under ‘walk to work’ concept, an industrial township being constructed in 200 acres of land would be opened soon. This will help provide accommodation to employees and entrepreneurs working in Green Industrial Park,” TIF President K Sudhir Reddy said.

According to him, one of biggest MSME facilities in the country is being developed with state-of-art infrastructure with wide roads, stormwater drains, street lights and uninterrupted power supply along with other basic amenities and several facilities, such as banks, fire station, shops for industrial supplies, consumables, tools and spare parts, an auditorium, restaurants, etc.