National Industrial Corridor Development Programme is India's most ambitious infrastructure programme aiming to develop new industrial cities as "Smart Cities" and converging next generation technologies across infrastructure sectors.

Government of India is developing various industrial corridor projects as part of the National Industrial Corridor Programme which is aimed at development of futuristic industrial cities in India which can compete with the best manufacturing and investment destinations in the world. The same will create employment opportunities and economic growth leading to overall socio-economic development.

While developing the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor has been considered as the transportation backbone while Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor has been considered as the backbone for Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) project. For other industrial corridor projects like Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC), NH-4 has been considered as the backbone. For the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), NH-5 which is part of the Golden Quadrilateral, the Kolkata–Chennai rail route has been considered as the transport backbone. The proposed North-South East-West and East Coast Dedicated Freight Corridors will further supplement the existing transportation backbone for the corresponding industrial corridors.