Voyants Solutions Appointed Programme Manager for New Cities (PMNC) for IMC Rajpura-Patiala

What Was Decided

On 6 December 2025, infrastructure consultancy Voyants Solutions announced that it had been engaged as the Programme Manager for New Cities (PMNC) for the development and management of the Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) Rajpura, located in Patiala district under the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) project.

As PMNC, Voyants will oversee programme-level coordination, development management, and implementation support to ensure the project evolves into a modern, investment-ready manufacturing destination. The IMC Rajpura is envisioned as a key industrial node aimed at boosting manufacturing capacity, improving logistics efficiency, and accelerating regional economic growth.

This is a consultancy/programme-management engagement, not a construction or land-allotment decision. It does not itself transfer land, fix plot rates, or approve boundaries — those actions rest with the project SPV and Punjab government bodies.

The Contracting Authority

The party that ran the selection process and issued the engagement was NICDC Punjab Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NPICDCL) — the project Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for IMC Rajpura. Following IMCs approved by NICDC for this corridor are each developed under separate SPVs with 49% NICDC stake and 51% stake for the respective state: Punjab: Rajpura Patiala IMC, 1099 acres.

NPICDCL invited bids for this very assignment several months before the appointment was announced: NICDC Punjab Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NPICDCL) invited RFQ-cum-RFP from interested bidders for the selection of Programme Manager for New Cities (PMNC) for the IMC RAJPURA in Punjab, under the AKIC.

Selection Process Timeline

• Tender issued: NPICDCL's official Notice Inviting Tender set last date of receiving queries/requests for clarification as 29/05/2025 at 10:00 am, with a pre-bid meeting to follow.
• Bid submission deadline: A separate tender listing records the Tender for Programme Manager for New Cities (PMNC) for the Development and Management of Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) Rajpura at Patiala District under AKIC Project with a submission date of 30-06-2025.
• Publication on tender portals: A separate listing notes the tender was published by NICDC Punjab Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited on 07 Jul 2025 in tender-aggregator systems.
• Engagement announced: Voyants Solutions publicly confirmed its selection as PMNC on 6 December 2025.

The RFQ-cum-RFP document itself frames the assignment's purpose: this RFQ-cum-RFP is meant to engage Programme Managers for supporting the NPICDCL for Programme Manager for New Cities (PMNC) for Infrastructure Development and Management of Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) Rajpura at Patiala district in Punjab under AKIC Project.

Site and Project Parameters

The Rajpura-Patiala IMC, spanning 1,099 acres, is strategically located at the junction of NH-44 and NH-64, ensuring seamless connectivity to Chandigarh, Mohali, Ludhiana, and Ambala. Just 11 km from Rajpura, 24 km from Patiala and 54 km from Chandigarh, the site holds an investment potential of ₹7,500 crore and is expected to generate over 64,000 jobs. With a project cost of ₹1,367 crore, the node is being developed with world-class infrastructure to attract investment and boost manufacturing in the region.

Land ownership and boundary status, per NICDC's own technical specifications for the master plan: the land use of the five villages surrounding the IMC boundary has been officially declared as industrial under the development plans prepared by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA), and the total land area of 1,098.85 acres designated for the IMC is under the ownership of PUDA. The site is free of cultivation and tree cover, with some portions falling under seasonal water bodies and drains, and three high-tension (HT) power lines pass through it.

A government status report as of 31 October 2025 confirms key regulatory milestones for this project specifically: State Government has confirmed the availability of 1,098 Acre land for the project; Terms of Reference (ToR) was granted by SEIAA, Punjab on 6th January, 2022; Environmental Clearance for the project was granted on 20th May, 2025; the State Support Agreement/Shareholders' Agreement was executed on 19th Sep, 2022; NICDC Punjab Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, the SPV, was incorporated on 30th December, 2022; and the project proposal was recommended by NICDIT at its meeting on 8th June, 2022.

Practical Effect of the Appointment

With a PMNC now in place, the practical effect is administrative rather than physical: Voyants becomes the coordinating agency between NPICDCL, contractors, and other stakeholders for programme delivery, rather than a landowner, developer, or EPC contractor. NPICDCL separately ran an EPC tender in September 2025 for the actual trunk infrastructure construction, described in its own bid documents as covering design, construction, testing, commissioning of the Rajpura-Patiala Industrial node in Punjab under the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) Project, on EPC basis. That EPC process (Bid Reference IMCRAJ/Sept2025) is a distinct decision from the PMNC appointment covered here.

For investors and local stakeholders, the appointment signals that the project has moved from planning/clearance stage into active programme-management mobilisation, following completion of environmental clearance and master planning. It does not, by itself, confirm plot rates, allotment schedules, or a construction completion date — those depend on the separate EPC and allotment processes.

Wider AKIC Context

IMC Rajpura-Patiala is one of several Integrated Manufacturing Clusters under the AKIC. Seven Integrated Manufacturing Clusters (IMCs) have been identified under AKIC: Rajpura-Patiala (Punjab), Prag-Khurpia Farms (Uttarakhand), Bhaupur (Uttar Pradesh), Gamhariya (Bihar), Barhi (Jharkhand), Raghunathpur (West Bengal) and Hisar (Haryana). National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) Limited, formerly known as Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMIDC) Limited, is the incorporating agency for the programme. Each state IMC, including Rajpura, is run through its own SPV jointly owned by NICDC and the respective state government.