The Vision and Scale of Dholera Smart City

Envisioned as India’s first greenfield industrial smart city, Dholera represents an unprecedented urban development initiative spanning 920 square kilometers in Gujarat. Located approximately 100 kilometers southwest of Ahmedabad, this mega-project emerges from the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) blueprint, aiming to establish a globally benchmarked manufacturing and innovation hub. Unlike retrofitted smart city projects, Dholera Smart City is being built from scratch with integrated digital infrastructure woven into its urban fabric. The master plan allocates 22% of the area for industrial use, 17% for residential zones, and 40% for green belts and public spaces, reflecting a commitment to sustainable growth.

At its core, Dholera functions as a Special Investment Region (SIR), a designation granting it administrative autonomy and streamlined regulatory processes to attract foreign and domestic capital. The city’s development authority operates with enhanced decision-making powers, accelerating approvals for businesses through single-window clearance systems. This administrative framework is crucial for managing the project’s staggering scale – six times larger than Shanghai’s Pudong district – and its phased development approach targets accommodating over two million residents upon full completion. The foundational infrastructure, including a 100-meter-wide utility corridor housing underground utilities and smart monitoring systems, exemplifies its future-ready design philosophy.

Strategic connectivity forms another pillar of Dholera’s blueprint. The upcoming Dholera International Airport, currently under development, will serve as both a passenger hub and cargo gateway, enhancing export capabilities for manufacturing units within the SIR. Simultaneously, the six-lane expressway connecting Dholera to Ahmedabad reduces transit time to just 75 minutes, integrating the smart city with Gujarat’s economic powerhouse. For investors and industries evaluating opportunities, the dholera smart city offers insights into project specifics and investment frameworks. Water management innovations like a dedicated desalination plant and an extensive stormwater drainage network capable of handling 78mm/hour rainfall further demonstrate its resilience-focused planning.

Industrial Ecosystem and Investment Opportunities in Dholera SIR

Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) is engineered as India’s premier industrial ecosystem, leveraging its DMIC positioning to attract high-value manufacturing across sectors. Electronics, semiconductors, electric vehicles, renewable energy equipment, and pharmaceuticals dominate the targeted industries, supported by dedicated manufacturing zones with plug-and-play infrastructure. The SIR offers distinct advantages: 24/7 power supply through dedicated substations linked to solar parks, raw water allocation from the Narmada River, and fiber-optic networks enabling Industry 4.0 operations. Over 1,100 hectares have been earmarked for an Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC), already attracting major global suppliers.

Investment incentives within the SIR are transformative, including 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) allowance under automatic routes, capital subsidies up to 25% for MSMEs, and exemption from stamp duty and land taxes for initial investors. The development model follows a unique land-pooling mechanism where farmers contribute land in exchange for developed plots and annuities, ensuring equitable stakeholder participation. Phase-1 development, covering 22.5 square kilometers, has seen substantial progress: over 80% of trunk infrastructure like roads, water pipelines, and sewage treatment plants stands completed. Industrial plots are being allocated through competitive bidding, with companies like Tata Steel, Schneider Electric, and Hindustan Semiconductor securing land parcels.

The Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DICDL) recently announced ₹3,000 crore worth of new tenders for internal infrastructure within industrial zones, signaling accelerated development. Anchor investors benefit from customized facilitation, including expedited environmental clearances and pre-approved building plans. The strategic co-location of manufacturing with the Dholera Airport logistics park enables just-in-time production capabilities. As global supply chains diversify, Dholera SIR positions itself as a cost-competitive alternative to Chinese manufacturing hubs, with lower operational costs and direct access to India’s vast domestic market. The upcoming multi-modal logistics park will integrate rail, road, and air freight, reducing export lead times by 40%.

Current Progress and Transformative Infrastructure Milestones

The Dholera Smart City project update reveals rapid momentum, with Phase-1 infrastructure now 70% operational. The 34-kilometer Metro Rail project connecting Dholera to Ahmedabad has completed its detailed project report (DPR), with land acquisition underway. This metro line, integrated with the high-speed rail (HSR) corridor, will establish a 45-minute commute between Ahmedabad and Dholera, effectively making the smart city an extended economic zone of Gujarat’s capital. Simultaneously, the four-lane expressway has been widened to six lanes, with trial runs scheduled for Q4 2024. These transport arteries are critical for workforce mobility and industrial logistics.

Energy infrastructure advancements are equally significant. A 1,200 MW solar park dedicated to Dholera is under construction, supplementing power from the national grid. Smart grid installations featuring automated demand-response systems and underground cabling ensure uninterrupted supply to industries. Water security is addressed through the completed Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) pipeline network, delivering 300 million liters per day (MLD) from the Narmada River. The city’s wastewater treatment philosophy adopts zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) technology, with 100% treated water being recycled for industrial cooling and landscape irrigation.

The Dholera International Airport, a ₹1,600 crore project, has secured final site clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Phase-1 will feature a 3.2-kilometer runway capable of handling Airbus A380 aircraft, with construction tenders awarded in early 2024. Slated for operationalization by 2027, the airport will initially handle 3 million passengers annually, scaling to 20 million. Its strategic location positions it as a cargo transshipment hub for DMIC industries. Urban development milestones include the near-completion of the first 500 affordable housing units and the operationalization of the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), which monitors city utilities through IoT sensors. Recent tenders for smart street lighting, automated waste collection systems, and a district cooling plant underscore the project’s advanced technological integration.

Isabelle McAllister

Cape Town humanitarian cartographer settled in Reykjavík for glacier proximity. Izzy writes on disaster-mapping drones, witch-punk comic reviews, and zero-plush backpacks for slow travel. She ice-climbs between deadlines and color-codes notes by wind speed.