AURIC (Aurangabad Industrial City) — Shendra-Bidkin, Maharashtra: Overview, Status & Connectivity

What AURIC is

AURIC stands for Aurangabad Industrial City. The Aurangabad Industrial City is a greenfield industrial smart city spread over an area of 10,000 acres (40 km2) near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, and is a part of the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project (DMIC). The Government of Maharashtra decided to develop the Shendra and Bidkin neighborhoods of Aurangabad as a planned industrial township under DMIC.

AURIC has a total area of 10,000 acres spread across the Shendra and Bidkin areas near Aurangabad, with the Shendra node at 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and the Bidkin node at 8,000 acres (32 km2). 60% of land in AURIC is zoned for industrial use, while the remaining 40% is zoned for residential and commercial use, as well as public spaces, and social and cultural amenities. AURIC is also referred to on the ground simply as "Bidkin" (its larger and now more active node) and as the "Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area (SBIA)."

Who is building it

AURIC is managed by the Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited (formerly Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd), a special purpose vehicle and joint venture between the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (formerly Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation). The entire development and management of AURIC is undertaken by this SPV, which has determined its own Development Control Regulations (DCR) and acts as the single point of contact for building permissions, utilities connections and related infrastructure provisions, and is responsible for day-to-day management of the township from its administrative Admin Block.

The renaming from AITL to MITL was formalised as the project matured; Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited (MITL) is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) between National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) that manages the development and growth of AURIC.

Notified area, villages and legal status

The Maharashtra Chief Minister approved the Shendra-Bidkin Mega Industrial Park on 14 October 2011 as part of DMIC, originally envisaged over roughly 8,400 hectares (20,756 acres). The final acquired footprint was scaled to 10,000 acres: of an area proposed over 10,000 hectares, 2,100 hectares of land was acquired in Shendra and 7,900 hectares in Bidkin.

MIDC had earlier, in the 1990s, established Shendra as the third industrial estate in the city by acquiring 902 hectares of land at Shendra village. Bidkin itself is a large village in Paithan Taluka of Aurangabad district. The underlying Bidkin village spans a natural geographical area of 3,844.64 hectares, providing a foundational land bank for expansion within the broader Shendra-Bidkin corridor.

Regulatory filings put the current operational footprint precisely: the total area for development covered through MITL's area of operations is 4,143.89 hectares, comprising Shendra Industrial Area (851.49 ha) and Bidkin Industrial Area (3,292.40 ha). Environmental clearances were granted in stages — for Shendra on 18 June 2015 and for Bidkin on 21 February 2017, as recorded in project histories.

A further expansion is now underway. As industrial plots ran low in Shendra and Bidkin, authorities began preparing to acquire an additional 8,000 acres from seven adjoining villages for the project's third phase — on top of the original 10,000 acres (2,000 in Shendra, 8,000 in Bidkin). MIDC's regional officer named the villages for this acquisition as Chite Pimpalgaon, Chitegaon, Khodegaon, Ghardon, Ghardon Tanda and Gadiwat.

Why AURIC exists

AURIC was conceived as one of DMIC's flagship "early bird" nodes to industrialise Marathwada, a historically drought-prone and under-industrialised region of Maharashtra. Marathwada is a drought-prone and historically neglected region of Maharashtra that faced long and serious development challenges due to scarce natural resources. The project aims to transform Marathwada into a hub for industrial development, offering numerous opportunities for economic growth and job creation.

The rationale was also explicitly economic and strategic: Maharashtra's then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said India's first smart industrial city with the concept of 'walk to work' was expected to bring investments worth Rs 70,000 crore and jobs to three lakh people. The regulatory framework anchors on the Maharashtra Industrial Policy 2019, which designates the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area as a priority zone eligible for enhanced incentives such as Industrial Promotion Subsidy, stamp duty exemption and electricity duty exemption.

Current status (mid-2026)

As of its sixth anniversary in September 2025, AURIC's headline numbers were: 323 plots allotted across industrial and mixed-use categories, covering 3,029 acres of industrial land and 117 acres of mixed-use land, with total investment potential exceeding Rs 713 billion and an employment potential of 62,405 jobs; 78 units operational, 62 factories under construction, and 184 units preparing to begin construction.

By node: Shendra Industrial Area has attracted investments worth ₹6,096 crore and created 14,455 jobs, with notable investors including Hyosung (South Korea), Perkins (UK), Fuji Silvertech (Japan), Oerlikon Bakiers (Liechtenstein), Siemens (Germany), and NLMK (Russia). Bidkin Industrial Area has emerged as a regional growth engine, securing investments of ₹76,219 crore from companies such as Ather Energy, Lubrizol, Toyota Kirloskar, and JSW Green Mobility, with a job creation potential of over 35,000.

Momentum has continued into 2026. Rising demand from industries prompted AURIC to convert 520 acres of land originally reserved for residential use into industrial land; the first phase covers around 40.2 square kilometres, and according to officials, 332 plots covering nearly 3,434 acres have been allotted so far. Preparations have also begun for Phase II of the project, with land acquisition expected to be funded by AURIC and Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited.

Ground-level construction is running ahead of schedule in Bidkin. With 31 major companies advancing their construction projects, over 80% are expected to commence operations by 2028, and combined investment across both the Shendra-AURIC industrial area and the Bidkin DMIC now stands at over Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Industrial land in AURIC is described by officials as almost fully allotted, reflecting strong investor confidence.

Headline connectivity

AURIC's core pitch has always been multi-modal access. In addition to being linked to India's main highway and rail networks, AURIC is only a 10-minute drive from Aurangabad International Airport, and its strategic location near Mumbai's JNPT facilitates seamless exports to South Asia, ASEAN, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

A major recent upgrade was direct expressway access: a major boost to logistics was marked by the inauguration of the AURIC-Samruddhi Connector, providing direct access from the city to the Samruddhi Mahamarg (Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway). Other links cited by the project and Ministry statements include the Samruddhi Mahamarg, the proposed Sambhajinagar–Pune Greenfield Expressway, Jalna Dry Port, and proximity to Aurangabad Airport and major rail links.

At the node level: Shendra is located 17 km from Aurangabad, 8.0 km from Aurangabad airport, and the Aurangabad railway station is 19.0 km away. Bidkin is further out: Bidkin village is situated about 24 km from Aurangabad city on the Aurangabad-Paithan Highway towards its south. A dedicated rail link is also cited for Bidkin, with direct access to railway on account of an adjacent railway line at Karmad Railway Station.

What happens next

Three things to watch: (1) Phase 3 land acquisition — roughly 8,000 more acres from seven villages adjoining Bidkin, to replenish an inventory that is close to exhausted, as officials confirmed in 2025. (2) Construction-to-operations conversion in Bidkin — MITL's own General Manager for AURIC noted that construction across Bidkin's DMIC area is progressing faster than anticipated, with over 80% of projects expected to be completed within two years, i.e., by around 2028. (3) Continued infrastructure and connectivity build-out, including the proposed Sambhajinagar–Pune Greenfield Expressway and further rollout of digital administration tools such as the MITL logo and website, a Utility Billing Dashboard and Right to Services feature, unveiled at the project's sixth-anniversary event.