AURIC Converts 520 Acres of Residential Land into Industrial Zone

What was decided

Rising demand from industries has prompted Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) to convert 520 acres of land originally reserved for residential use into industrial land, a decision expected to help AURIC allot large contiguous land parcels to major investors and attract new industrial projects. The reclassification does not create new land — it shifts land already inside AURIC's approved footprint from the residential/mixed-use category to the industrial category so it can be offered as large, single plots.

With industrial demand continuing to rise, the additional 520 acres have now been reclassified to ensure the availability of large land parcels for future investors, expected to support investments in advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, engineering, electronics and export-orientated industries.

Who decided, and under what structure

AURIC (branded name for the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area, SBIA) is implemented through Aurangabad Industrial Township Limited (AITL), now operating as Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited (MITL) — a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) between the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) that manages AURIC's day-to-day land and infrastructure decisions. Routine plot allotments inside AURIC go through a Land Allotment Committee comprising officials of MITL and NICDC, which considers applications under Priority and Expansion categories, evaluated on project feasibility, turnover, land requirements, and future expansion plans. The 520-acre land-use reclassification was reported as an AURIC/MITL administrative decision rather than a fresh land acquisition — it reworks the internal zoning of already-acquired AURIC land.

Operative details: areas and current allotment position

AURIC's Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area (SBIA), developed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), is one of India's largest greenfield industrial smart city projects, with its first phase covering around 40.2 square kilometres across the Shendra and Bidkin nodes.

According to AURIC officials, 332 plots covering nearly 3,434 acres have been allotted so far, of which around 3,284 acres have been allocated for industrial use. At present, AURIC has around 771 acres of industrial land available, while nearly 2,039 acres remain earmarked for commercial, residential and other purposes — it is from this residential/other pool that the 520 acres have now been moved into the industrial column.

For context on the original zoning baseline: Auric Industrial Area had earlier acquired 10,000 acres, with 40% reserved for residential use and 60% for industrial zones. The 520-acre shift adjusts that baseline split in favour of industrial use.

Why now: investor demand at Bidkin

The Bidkin node has attracted major companies, including Toyota Kirloskar Motor, JSW, Ather Energy and Piramal, while the Shendra node houses Hyosung and several other manufacturing units. Large single allotments have already been a feature of Bidkin: JSW Green Mobility was allotted 636 acres, following an earlier 827-acre allotment to Toyota Kirloskar Motors, indicating why AITL/MITL wants more large contiguous parcels rather than fragmented plots.

Separately reported figures show the scale of remaining pressure on land: as of February 2026, Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Ather Energy, JSW, and Piramal Pharma had already invested Rs 88,000 crore in Bidkin, with demand for 2,500 acres pouring in from various industries even though no industrial plots remained available, prompting the administration to initiate further land acquisition.

Practical effect

• Investors seeking large single-block plots (as opposed to fragmented allotments) gain a bigger pool of industrial-zoned land without waiting for fresh acquisition.
• Households or developers who expected residential/mixed-use land in the affected 520 acres will not get it there — that land is now earmarked for factories and industrial infrastructure instead.
• The move signals that AURIC's original 60:40 industrial-to-residential land split is being skewed further toward industry as manufacturing demand outpaces the residential/commercial component of the master plan.
• The land is expected to support investments in advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, engineering, electronics and export-orientated industries, which are the sectors already dominant at Bidkin.

What comes next: Phase II preparations

Considering the growing pace of industrialisation and investor interest, preparations have begun for Phase II of the project, with the land acquisition process expected to be funded by AURIC and Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited (MITL).

This sits alongside separate, larger expansion announcements reported around the same period: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the acquisition of 8,000 additional acres for the Auric Bidkin industrial belt in March, and by February 2026 that acquisition was described as the administration's Phase 3 land acquisition, already notified, with the administration needing to negotiate rates with farmer-landowners and pay compensation before taking possession. Readers should note that different reports use "Phase II" and "Phase 3" somewhat interchangeably for AURIC's next stage of expansion beyond the original 10,000-acre Shendra-Bidkin footprint — as of mid-2026 this larger acquisition remains in the planning/notification stage rather than completed.

About the authority: AITL / MITL

AURIC was originally implemented through Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd (AITL). AURIC's development and implementation is undertaken by Aurangabad Industrial Township Ltd (AITL), a special purpose vehicle between the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation, with its own set of DCR rules and a single point of contact for building permission, water supply and related infrastructure, and it manages the day-to-day activities of the industrial city. The entity now operates and is referenced in current reporting as Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited (MITL), a Special Purpose Vehicle formed by NICDC and MIDC to develop and manage AURIC, with a mandate to drive investment, ensure ease of doing business, enable single-window clearances, and promote industry-led growth in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.