The Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) is a greenfield smart industrial city project in Gujarat, spanning 920 sq. km, making it India's first planned city of this type. The concept was declared a Special Investment Region in 2009 under the Gujarat Special Investment Region Act, 2009, which provides the legal framework for its establishment, operation, and regulation. The project's vision is to develop a global manufacturing and trading hub to double employment, triple industrial output, and quadruple exports.
The governing mechanism is rooted in the SIR Act, 2009, which mandates an autonomous governance structure with the Dholera Special Investment Region Development Authority (DSIRDA) as the regulatory body. To execute the project, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named Dholera Industrial City Development Limited (DICDL) was established on January 28, 2016, with equity contributions from the Central Government (through NICDC Trust) and the Gujarat Government (through DSIRDA). The development uses a land pooling mechanism and implements Town Planning Schemes (TPS) under the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976.
Dholera SIR is a key node in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a flagship infrastructure initiative of the Government of India and Japan, and is facilitated by the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC). It also features a dedicated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) framework to attract investment. While the core SIR Act, 2009, remains, the project has evolved its land management strategy, now utilizing the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act of 2013 to address land acquisition and compensation.