Dholera Smart City invites large manufacturers, aviation, defense firms

Dholera, the largest upcoming greenfield city in India under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, has has invited large manufacturers in aviation, defense, electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, heavy engineering and similar verticles to set up shop there, offering early-bird incentives including heavy discounts on land prices and financial grants and waivers. The Dholera Industrial City Development  (DICDL), the SPV formed by the DMIC Trust and Government of Gujarat, to administer the special investment region, outlined the advantages of the proposed industrial zone to global and domestic investor communities at a specially curated event held recently. With a total footprint of over 920 sq km, Dholera is the biggest of the eight industrial smart cities being developed in the first phase of the US$ 100 billion DMIC project. Infrastructure implementation in Dholera SIR is taking place in a phased manner. DICDL has committed US$ 600 million for trunk infrastructure rollout in the activation area. The trunk infrastructure construction of the initial activation area of 22.5 sq km (roughly 5,600 acre) is about 40 per cent complete with underground utilities and roads taking shape. It will be ready for business in September 2019. Land allocation for anchor tenants has begun in Dholera, and DICDL is especially targeting manufacturers in Defense and Aviation MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations), heavy engineering; machinery and auto components; electronics and pharmaceuticals, given that it is offering some of the biggest industrial parcels in all of South East Asia, eminently suited for large production facilities. Plots are available ranging from 5 hectare to 100 hectare in contiguous land parcels that can be aggregated to up to 750 hectare. The DICDL is offering fabulous discount on land prices for anchor tenants and a host of other incentives including tax waivers, skilling support for companies, highly competitive prices on utilities and ‘smart’ infrastructure that will be fully connected and managed through ICT networks, besides the attraction of well-planned transport networks and residential spaces conducive for ‘green and sustainable’ living. DICDL has set up a transparent e-land allotment system and single-window mechanism for investors in Dholera, promising 'ease of doing business' as a top administrative priority. Dholera also has several strategic advantages as a potential aerotropolis – an aviation-centered economic zone – and a defense and aerospace production hub. It will have its own airport to be built over 1,426 hectare in Navagam Village (about 7 km away) and connected to state capital Ahmedabad through a proposed Express Highway and a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). The greenfield international airport, besides becoming a logistics hub for DSIR, will also help manage spillover traffic from the existing Ahmedabad International Airport in the future. It will also help handle the increasing traffic from the nearby cities of Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Nadiad and Anand. European aviation giant Airbus has already signed a “Strategic Partnership” MoU, advising the DICDL on setting up an Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing cluster in DSIR. India currently does not have an MRO facility on a large scale and airline companies have to rely on overseas hubs to service their aircraft at extra cost and effort. The proposed Aviation Zone and MRO facility would consist of aircraft parts manufacturing, flight training institutes, etc, and MRO services and operations like body, engine, paint and airframe. The defense cluster will be vital to realizing India’s goal of indigenisation and self-reliance under the Make in India mission. Other sectors that the SIR is looking to attract include IT, electronics, bio-technology and food processing. Once the anchor tenants are in place, and construction on the production facilities take off, the city is expected to quickly take shape setting sights on becoming a global model for highly planned, model smart cities.