Dholera Timeline: Every Dated Milestone

The foundations

The legal foundation is the Gujarat SIR Act of 2009. DURABLE The DICDL development company was formed in 2016, environmental clearance was granted in September 2014, and the major anchors (semiconductor fab, solar, expressway) have landed from 2024 onward. DURABLE

Yes. Environmental Clearance was granted by MoEF&CC on 19 September 2014. DURABLE Note that a large share of the developable land falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone, which constrains what can be built where.

The 2024 fab approval

It is India's first major commercial semiconductor fab, built by Tata Electronics with Taiwan's PSMC as technology partner (entity: Tata Semiconductor Manufacturing Pvt Ltd). The Union Cabinet approved it on 29 February 2024 under the India Semiconductor Mission. DURABLE

Investment is Rs 91,000 cr (about US$11B), capacity up to 50,000 wafers per month on 300mm wafers, at mature and specialty nodes (28/40/55/90/110 nm), making products like power-management ICs, display drivers and microcontrollers. DURABLE It is under construction; no chip has been confirmed produced yet.

The 2026 wins

2026 stacked several dated milestones: the expressway reported operational (March), the semi-high-speed rail cleared by the CCEA (May), the ASML fab partnership (May), the airport reported ~80% with a late-2026 target, and the state Data Centre Policy naming Dholera as primary location (July). REPORTED Real, dated progress on multiple fronts is what is driving the coverage.

Yes. The 109 km greenfield access-controlled Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway is reported inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 31 March 2026 and operational. REPORTED It is built by NHAI with a 120 km/h design speed.

Travel time from Ahmedabad is reported cut to roughly 40 minutes to 1 hour. REPORTED Lane count is reported inconsistently (NICDC's ledger says 6-lane; earlier sources say 4-lane expandable to 8), so we label it as reported, verify as-built. Construction cost is cited as about Rs 3,196 cr, or about Rs 4,373 cr including land.

The Ahmedabad (Sarkhej) to Dholera semi-high-speed rail was approved by the CCEA and confirmed via a PIB release on 13 May 2026. Cost is about Rs 20,667 cr for a roughly 134 km double line, described as India's first semi-high-speed rail using indigenous technology, completion targeted up to 2030-31. TARGET

It is planned to connect Ahmedabad, Dholera SIR, the upcoming Dholera airport and the Lothal heritage complex. The often-quoted 220 km/h speed and 45-48 minute journey are press figures; the official PIB release states the cost, length and timeline, not a speed. REPORTED

What is targeted next

Dated announcements are one record and measured quantities are another, and the second one moves slower. The Delivery Monitoring Unit publishes fourteen quantities for Dholera, and the progress record that tracks those readings across successive report dates shows that between the earliest and the latest report, most of them did not move at all. That is the useful counterweight to a milestone list.

Full development is planned across three phases to about 2040-2042, per the sanctioned plan. TARGET Given the documented history of slippage, treat any completion year as a target, not a promise. Near-term milestones with dates are the airport (targeted late 2026), the fab's first trial silicon (targeted late 2026) and the rail (targeted 2030-31), each a target.

The plan is a phased build toward a large industrial smart city with a promotional target population of about 1 million over roughly 30 years, anchored by semiconductors, solar, manufacturing and logistics. TARGET Near-term, the watch items are the airport (targeted late 2026), the fab's first silicon (targeted late 2026) and the rail (targeted 2030-31), each a target that has a history of moving. We track these rather than promise them.