Gujarat | A metal steed to Dholera
Gujarat gets its second marquee rail project: India's first semi high-speed train line, linking to a new industrial hub
A decade on, the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad may be moving like a Cupid’s arrow in a slow-motion dream, but Gujarat has got recompense. After a Union cabinet nod, it has secured a second marquee rail project. India’s first semi high-speed corridor, it will run the 134 km between the Ahmedabad suburb of Sarkhej and Dholera, a coastal town due southwest in the Gulf of Khambat. That destination is a place fast gathering importance. The planned line itself is evidence: it will operate at 200 kmph, with a design speed of 220 kmph, both the highest yet for an Indian train.
A decade on, the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad may be moving like a Cupid’s arrow in a slow-motion dream, but Gujarat has got recompense. After a Union cabinet nod, it has secured a second marquee rail project. India’s first semi high-speed corridor, it will run the 134 km between the Ahmedabad suburb of Sarkhej and Dholera, a coastal town due southwest in the Gulf of Khambat. That destination is a place fast gathering importance. The planned line itself is evidence: it will operate at 200 kmph, with a design speed of 220 kmph, both the highest yet for an Indian train.
Built on indigenous technology and running parallel to the Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway, the semi high-speed train will carry both passengers and freight, integrating with Western Railway’s existing network in Ahmedabad at one end. The other end—of what’s being planned as a full-fledged infrastructure corridor—is set to bloom as the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), India’s first planned greenfield industrial smart city designed as a commercial, semiconductor and manufacturing hub. If all goes to plan, the line will be operational by 2030-31, serving as what the ministry of railways describes as a reference model for a phased national rollout.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared the project at Rs 20,667 crore on May 13. The 134-km line is double-tracked, with a total track length of 293 km and 13 stations, including spurs of eight km to the Lothal Maritime Heritage Complex and 17 km to the Dholera International Airport. Beyond Dholera, the line extends to Bavaliyari, from where a separate 65-km extension to Bhavnagar is under survey.
‘LARGER THAN SINGAPORE’
The engineering load is heavy: 74 km of viaducts, three mega bridges, 39 road-under-bridges and two rail-over-rail crossings. Union home minister Amit Shah, in whose Gandhinagar constituency much of the alignment falls, called it “a strong testament” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. The project’s justification rests on the DSIR project coming to fruition as the flagship node on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. “It is spread over 920 sq km, larger than Singapore at 736 sq km,” says Kuldeep Arya, CEO and managing director, DSIR Development Authority.
The SIR is anchored by Tata Electronics’ Rs 91,000 crore semiconductor fab, whose first chips are targeted for December 2026. Dutch lithography major ASML signed an MoU with Tata Electronics in May to supply equipment for the Dholera plant.
Around the fab, a broader industrial base is taking shape. The 4,400 MW Dholera Solar Park will draw in most majors; the EV side sees participation from, inter alia, Tsingshan Holding Group; Mahindra is developing a world city; and a silicon photonics unit by Jabil etches the state-of-the-art. Arya says talks with 40 more companies are in the pipeline, expected to be firmed up within a year and operational by end-2028.
This will begin to drive demand for residential, educational and healthcare infrastructure in the region. On cue, the six-lane Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway is near completion, with 80 per cent of land acquisition done. Dholera International Airport is in Phase 1, with first flights expected by the end of this year.
AIRPORT TAKES FLIGHT
“Dholera will become Ahmedabad’s primary airport in a few years. The existing one will not suffice. The way this region is coming up, it needs a high-speed railway line,” Arya says. With Ahmedabad hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games and bidding for the 2036 Olympics, Dholera is positioned to absorb the bulk of international traffic, aided by a geography that allows westbound routing via West Asia without overflying Pakistan.
The political geography is striking. Its most consolidated beneficiary is Shah’s constituency. Gandhinagar already hosts the upcoming bullet train terminus, GIFT City, and the Narendra Modi Stadium—the world’s largest cricket venue—along which the Sardar Patel Sports Enclave is coming up on the Sabarmati riverbank. With this project, it also becomes Point A for India’s first semi high-speed rail line.
