Vibrant Gujarat: State continues to flog dream project Dholera SIR

After the announcement by Tata Group, a seminar was held as part of the 10th VGGS to focus on Dholera SIR and why it is a worthy investment destination. While showcasing the state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities being set up over an area of 22 sq kilometers as part of phase one of the project – Dholera Smart City, the government of Gujarat unveiled that it will create a ‘Semicon City’ in the region as well.

The seminar ‘Dholera: A greenfield smart city for smart businesses’ cited several reasons for investors to look at ‘India’s Singapore’, including the factor that land, power and water will be provided at subsidised rates.

Power and connectivity

“The plan is to produce 4.5 gigawatt of solar power which will be supplemented by sewage and effluent treatment plants and waste management plants. Dholera is different from other industrial parks as it offers plug-and-play facilities with lower power tariffs,” said Rajat Kumar Saini, an IAS officer and the CEO and managing director of National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation, the authority developing Dholera SIR.

“In addition, it provides 360-degree connectivity with the Dholera Airport, the Ahmedabad-Dholera Greenfield Expressway, and a separate railway line. Phase one of the project covers 920 square kilometers and addresses the concerns about efficient mobility,” added Saini, while addressing the investors in the seminar. He also assured that as companies set up their industries in Dholera more new jobs will also be generated leading to the creation of the Silicon Valley of India.

This is not the first time the Gujarat government has attempted to aggressively woo investors for Dholera SIR. Since its conceptualisation in 2008, Dholera SIR has taken centerstage in every edition of VGGS.

Though, the MoUs signed at the VGSS editions are yet to be completed or worse, have not even taken off.

Dholera SIR fails to take off

Dholera SIR was first projected at VGGS 2009 after its formation in January 2009. The then Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government had announced the formation of an industrial city in Dholera, a town in Ahmedabad district that is about 100 km away from Ahmedabad city.

Later that year, MoUs were signed at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2009 for projects in the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) as the Gujarat Special Investment Region Act 2009 came into effect, and Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DICDL) was formed.

In 2013, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), missed its January 31 deadline for down payment of the 766 hectares allotted to it in the Dholera SIR, and forfeited the allotted land parcel. During the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2009, HCC had signed a MoU to develop a waterfront city for ₹40,000 crore. By 2021, the same patch of land was resold to two different companies whose projects also failed to take off so far.

Noticeably, until VGGS 2017, no projects assured in 2009 had taken off. Despite the state and the Central governments pushing hard to develop Dholera SIR for several years, in reality, the ambitious project has failed to draw serious investors.

Two years later during VGGS 2019, when the Dholera SIR was showcased as the prized investment hub by the Gujarat government, most projects signed in 2009 were dropped.

All in a limbo

An international airport, an expressway connecting Dholera with Ahmedabad city and a 5000-MW solar power park are among the slew of projects announced for Dholera SIR. Out of this, only the airport was completed last year but it is still not functional.

An MoU signed with NRI Prasoon Mukherjee’s Universal Success Enterprise (USEL) for a township, a 10,000 MW power plant, a port and projects in SIR – a mammoth investment proposal of projects purportedly worth over ₹80,000 crores – was signed in 2011 Vibrant Gujarat Summit. This is still in a limbo.

Besides this, a Jindal power plant worth ₹11,000 crore and Gujarat Vittal Innovation City (GVIC) promoted by former bureaucrat-turned-entrepreneur N Vittal, worth around ₹11,500 crore, still continue to be in a state of inertia.

Discounts for Dholera SIR land

In an attempt to encourage industries to set up units in Dholera SIR, the state government had offered land parcels at 50 per cent discount in 2019.

“We are offering land to industries at a 50 per cent discount to encourage them to come and set up base at Dholera,” Jai Prakash Shivahare, then chief executive officer of Dholera Special Investment Region Development Authority (DSIRDA) had said.

The same year, DSIRDA organised a junket for Gujarat-based journalists to visit the Dholera SIR.

Long way to Shanghai

Noticeably, the Gujarat government has always held Dholera and the proposed smart city in the region to be PM Modi’s dream project, which will serve as building blocks for a global Gujarat. There were even claims that it had been envisioned on the lines of Shanghai.

However, the Dholera that actually exists is entirely different.

A small sign along the Bhavnagar Ahmedabad highway points in the direction of Dholera SIR. But when one reaches the spot, a barren stretch of low-lying land greets you. For several months of the year, the low-lying areas remain submerged mostly under seawater as the area falls on the Khambhat coastal area.

This is one of the main reasons industries are reluctant to invest in the region.