By 2017 or 2018 Dholera to be in Business

This was stated by top official associated with Dholera smart city project in Gujarat during the session on Smart cities at 7th Vibrant Gujarat summit in Gandhinagar:

"Just last month we have floated our first tender for the roads and services for Dholera. So we expect that in less than five months we will start construction and construction will take place three to five years, so by 2017 or 18 Dholera should be in business."

Dholera smart city is much talked about project, but nothing materialized on ground in all these years. The official in his speech stated: "In our case, the act was enacted in 2009. It takes couple of years for master planning which involves not just technical master planning but also public hearing process. Then comes environment clearances. And then you start design which takes 6 to 10 months. We have now environment clearances and tenders are floated last month."

The official further said that the total area of proposed project is 422 sqm.

"Even first phase would involve 123 sq k area, and we would require 7-8 billion US$ just for basic infrastructure to develop the area in this size."

"Therefore we decided on a strategy of 'activation area' which is 22.5 sq km in size."

Tenders are floated for basic infrastructure in this size of area.