WILL DHOLERA POSITION INDIA AS A LOGISTICS POWERHOUSE?

The Dholera Airport, rising from the arid landscape approximately 80 kilometres south of Ahmedabad, isn’t just another infrastructure project. It’s the cornerstone of what could become India’s most audacious urban experiment—the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), a $30 billion smart city dreamed up as the crown jewel of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). NIDHI SHARMA reports.

- NIDHI SHARMA

In the heart of Gujarat’s ambitious urban and industrial transformation lies the Dholera Airport. Rising from the salt flats of the state’s Gulf of Khambhat, this isn’t merely an airport being constructed. Industry observers claim it’s the beating heart of what may become India’s first fully realised aerotropolis, where runways, warehouses, and manufacturing zones coalesce into a single, hyper-efficient economic organism.

Strategically located near Navagam village in the Dholera taluka of Ahmedabad district, this greenfield airport is poised to become a pivotal node in the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), a key component of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.

This in fact is the real game-changer -- the airport's integration with the DMIC’s dedicated freight rail line. This allows containers arriving at Dholera to reach North India’s manufacturing clusters or Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai within 12 hours—a logistical ballet that could shift India’s export dynamics. Early commitments from Amazon and DHL suggest industry confidence, though the true test will come when the first perishable shipment of Kesar mangoes or influenza vaccines gets whisked from Dholera’s tarmac to European shelves within 24 hours.

Further, Dholera’s symbiotic relationship with DSIR, the 920-square-kilometer smart city that promises to be India’s answer to Shenzhen or Dubai's Logistics City is unique. The airport's location isn’t accidental—it’s the linchpin of an economic zone designed to attract semiconductor fabs, electric vehicle plants, and global trade warehouses.

This ambitious project initially carried a substantial financial commitment, with early estimates suggesting a total budget reaching around $90 billion, underscoring the scale of the vision for this greenfield airport and the surrounding DSIR.