Dholera SIR (Dholera Special Investment Region): Complete Overview

What Dholera SIR Is

Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) is a greenfield industrial planned city near Dholera in Gujarat's Ahmedabad district, around 100 kilometers to the south-west, spread over more than 920 km2, being jointly developed by the Government of India and Gujarat. It falls in the influence zone of the proposed Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor project (DMIC), a joint initiative by the Government of India and Japan.

DSIR is described by the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation as India's first semiconductor city and also the largest node under DMIC, managed by Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DICDL), an SPV of the Centre and Gujarat Government.

Who Is Building It

The Gujarat Special Investment Region Act, 2009, enacted by the state legislature and effective from January 6, 2009, established the legal framework for developing integrated industrial regions with streamlined regulations, single-window clearances, and incentives.

In 2019, a regional development authority, the Dholera Special Investment Region Development Authority (DSIRDA), was established under the Act; DSIRDA is responsible for planning and development of DSIR and administering government land.

On 28 January 2016, the governments of India and Gujarat established a Special Purpose Vehicle called Dholera Industrial City Development Ltd (DICDL) for the development of the Dholera SIR, with the Gujarat government owning 51% of the SPV through DSIRDA and the Indian government owning 49% through the DMIC/NICDC Trust. Through DSIRDA, the Gujarat government contributes equity in the form of land given to DICDL.

In short: DSIRDA is the statutory planning and land authority; DICDL is the operating company that builds and allots infrastructure and plots on the ground.

Official Notified Area, Villages & Districts

Dholera SIR spans approximately 920 sq km, encompassing 22 villages of the Dholera Taluka in the district of Ahmedabad, and is envisaged to be bigger than the city of Ahmedabad. It is strategically located between the industrial cities of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.

Not all of this notified area is buildable. The sanctioned Development Plan of Dholera Industrial City comprises a total land area of 920 sq km, with a total developable area of about 580 sq km, as one-third of the area falls within the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) boundary where development is restricted. Separately, real-estate-facing sources describe the area covered under Town Planning Schemes 1 to 6 as 422 sq km — the zone where formal plot layouts and infrastructure are actually being rolled out.

Dholera sits along the Gulf of Khambhat and is enclosed by water on three sides — to the east by the Gulf of Khambhat, to the north by Bavaliari Creek, and to the south by Sonaria Creek — which shapes its coastal, low-lying terrain.

Why It Exists

Dholera was conceived as a flagship node of a much larger national project. It falls in the influence zone of the proposed Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor project (DMIC), a joint India–Japan initiative. Under the SIR Act, the Gujarat government is empowered to declare Investment Regions or Industrial Areas as Special Investment Regions; an Investment Region must have an area of more than 100 sq km, and an Industrial Area more than 50 sq km.

The idea was to create a rules-light, plug-and-play industrial city from bare land rather than retrofit an existing town. Dholera has been accorded a first-of-its-kind blanket environmental clearance for the entire 920 sq km city by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change — a key enabler that lets individual projects inside the region avoid separate, project-by-project clearance delays. In recent years the region's purpose has sharpened around one sector in particular: it is now positioned as India's first semiconductor city and the largest node under DMIC.

Current Status (as of July 2026)

Activation Area (the working core): The 22.54 sq km Activation Area is almost completed with trunk infrastructure in place. Per DICDL's 2024 report the Activation Area is over 95% complete and ready for industrial setup; companies such as ReNew Power, Torrent Gas, Tata Power Solar, and Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics have already been allotted land there.

Semiconductor fab (anchor project): The Government of India has approved a proposal from Tata Electronics to build a mega semiconductor fabrication facility in Dholera, Gujarat, in partnership with PSMC, with a total investment of up to INR 91,000 crores (~US$11bn) and over 20,000 direct and indirect skilled jobs. As of April 2026, the construction team had achieved 50% completion. A 66.166-hectare Special Economic Zone for the project was notified in April 2026. In May 2026, Tata Electronics and ASML signed an MoU under which ASML will enable the establishment and ramp-up of Tata Electronics' Dholera Fab with its lithography tools and solutions. Trial production is being targeted for late 2026, with commercial scale-up through 2027–2028 — this is a company target, not yet a confirmed operational date.

Energy: An Ultra-Mega Solar Park of 4,400 MW capacity is planned, of which Phase-1 (1,000 MW) is under implementation, with 300 MW already commissioned by Tata Power.

Roads: The Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 March 2026. A subsequent PIB feature notes the road has been opened for public use, with commuters reporting Ahmedabad-to-Dholera travel times cut sharply — reaching Dholera from Ahmedabad now takes just 45 minutes.

Airport: is not yet operational. Phase 1 construction of Dholera International Airport was completed in December 2025, and the airport is now moving into licensing, calibration, and operational trial stages, with a 3,200-metre Code 4E runway ready. Full passenger operations for Phase 1 are expected by December 2026, though this date has not been officially confirmed by AAI as of March 2026, and construction timelines in India often slip.

Headline Connectivity

• Road: The Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway is a 109 km, four-lane (expandable to eight) access-controlled expressway connecting Sardar Patel Ring Road near Sarkhej in Ahmedabad with Adhelai village in Bhavnagar district via DSIR.
• Freight: DSIR has strong connectivity via NH-8 and the Dedicated Freight Corridors, offering large, scalable land parcels.
• Air: Dholera International Airport is an under-construction greenfield airport near Navagam in Dholera taluka, on a 1,426-hectare site about 80 km from Ahmedabad and around 20 km from DSIR.
• Mass transit (planned): DSIR is planned to be linked to Ahmedabad via a 6-lane expressway and an MRTS (metro-style) corridor.
• Port (proposed): A Greenfield port is proposed to be developed with private-sector involvement by Dholera Port Limited, backed by the J K Group and Adani Group — this remains a proposed, not operational, project.

What Happens Next

Three timelines to watch through 2026–2028: the semiconductor fab moving from construction to trial production, the airport moving from testing into scheduled operations, and the wider Town Planning Schemes expanding beyond the Activation Area.

• Tata Electronics is targeting trial production at the Dholera fab in December 2026, with full commercial-scale production ramping up progressively through 2027 and 2028.
• Once Phase 1 of the airport stabilizes, a Phase 2 is planned to add more taxiways, a second runway, and additional terminal capacity to handle 30–50 million passengers annually, though specific timelines for this expansion have not been announced.
• Vedanta Group has been reported to be in talks with partners for a semiconductor and display fab in Dholera SIR, with a proposed $5 billion investment for the first phase — an announced interest, not a confirmed project.
• Beyond the Activation Area, development of the remaining Town Planning Schemes and the rest of the notified 920 sq km is expected to continue in stages over many years, as land pooling, trunk infrastructure and CRZ-compliant planning proceed village by village.