This page ranks Gujarat's Special Investment Regions by size and tells you how many of them are actually running, which is three. It matters because Dholera is usually compared to Singapore or Shenzhen, when the fair comparison is with the other zones this same state has notified.
The short version
Thirteen regions are named with areas, led by PCPIR Dahej at 453 square kilometres and Dholera at 360. Only three are described as operational after up to seventeen years. The page also prints the two conflicting figures for the size of Dholera, 360 and 920 square kilometres, with both publishers named.
What a Special Investment Region is
A Special Investment Region is a large industrial zone notified by the Gujarat government under the Special Investment Region Act of 2009. Notifying one creates a development authority with planning powers over the land inside it, which is how a stretch of farmland becomes a place with a master plan, town planning schemes and plot numbers.
Gujarat has notified more than a dozen. Almost none of them are running.
The ranking, and what it says
The Secretariat published this table on 29 July 2025 under a headline stating that in 17 years, only 3 of Gujarat's 14 zones went live. Thirteen regions are named with areas. The fourteenth is not named in the piece, so the fourteenth row here reads UNKNOWN rather than being filled in with a guess.
Three are described as operational: PCPIR Dahej, Dholera and Mandal-Becharaji. The other ten named regions are not. Dholera is the second largest and one of the three that exist as more than a notification.
| # | Special Investment Region | Area (sq km) | Status | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PCPIR Dahej | 453 | Operational | REPORTED |
| 2 | Dholera | 360 | Operational | REPORTED |
| 3 | Changodar | 319 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 4 | Anjar | 237 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 5 | Okha | 206 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 6 | Santalpur | 186 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 7 | Navlakhi | 182 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 8 | Aliyabet | 169 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 9 | Pipavav | 147 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 10 | Halol-Savli | 123 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 11 | Viramgam | 109 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 12 | Mandal-Becharaji | 102 | Operational | REPORTED |
| 13 | Simar | 84 | Not Live | REPORTED |
| 14 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
This is journalism, not a government register, so every figure carries the publisher and the status REPORTED. We opened the article and read the full table on 11 August 2026.
Two sources give Dholera two different sizes, so here are both
The likeliest explanation is that the two are measuring different things, most probably the developable or urbanisable area against the full planning envelope. But the sources do not say that, and the moment we write down which one we think it is, we have invented a fact. So: 360 square kilometres, REPORTED by The Secretariat, 29 July 2025. 920 square kilometres planned area, OFFICIAL, from the corridor agency's progress reporting. They do not agree.
This is worth knowing because the size of Dholera is quoted constantly and almost never sourced. If a page tells you the number without telling you which number it is, it has not checked.
How to use this
The useful comparison here is not Dholera against a foreign new city. It is Dholera against Gujarat's own attempts at the same thing. Ten notified regions in this table are not live after up to seventeen years. Notification is not construction, and a master plan is not a road.
Read that as the base rate. It is the strongest argument for checking what has actually been built at Dholera rather than what has been announced, which is what the rest of this site is for.
Sources
- The Secretariat, "Special Investment Regions (SIR) In Gujarat: In 17 Years, Only 3 Of Gujarat's 14 Zones Go Live", published 29 July 2025. thesecretariat.in. Article opened and the full table read on 11 August 2026. Status: REPORTED.
- National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation progress reporting, used for the 920 square kilometre planned area figure only. Status: OFFICIAL.
Every figure on this page was computed at build time from the extract named above, not typed in by hand. Where the source records nothing, the cell reads UNKNOWN rather than a guess. We do not sell land and nobody can pay to change a position in any list here.
Last verified: 11 August 2026Before you pay anyone
Whatever you read here, the last step is always the same. Look the project up on the state regulator's website yourself, read the land record, and get the full price in writing. Our checklist walks through it in the order that saves you the most time.
Open the checklist