The State of Gujarat with just 5% of India’s total population & 6% of geographical area, contributes to the tune of around 16% of country’s investment. With the pro-active approach of the State Govt. industrial growth in Gujarat has been always consistent. Public in general & entrepreneurs in particular are benefited at large with ample opportunities available for the accelerated industrial development across the state.
As major industrial units successfully came into operation, a need had arisen for setting up ancillary industries on small & medium scale. Major amongst which is the Ankleshwar Estate followed by Vapi, Panili & Zagadia. GIDC played a pivotal role in development of these estates which facilitated acquisition of land & development of infrastructural facilities.
Since there was a heavy concentration of industries in Vadodara, Surat & various industrial estates, the State Govt. thought it prudent to decentralize the growth. Hence, it was decided to take up further industrial development in such rural / backward areas where agricultural produce was insignificant owing to scanty rainfall and want of suitable agricultural land. This is how, the Dahej Industrial Estate was conceived in early 1990s. It is now vibrant with extraordinary development. In-fact, it has acquired a coveted position as one of the major industrial hubs of India.
Dahej was a major port in ancient times providing trade linkage between western India & southern India/middle east. Over a period of time, it went into oblivion due to geographical / topographical & sea-bathymetric changes. Visualized by the Govt. of Gujarat, it is quickly transforming into a major industrial hub & on its way to become India’s Sanghai. This vision is endorsed by the growth in the region over last 10 years.
The development at Dahej was pioneered by GACL with the company embarking upon expansion plans beyond its complex at Baroda. The company established its first unit at Dahej in the year 1995 & never looked back as it consistently remained in growth mode by forward & backward integration & diversification. There was a major boost to the industrial development at Dahej with IPCL (now Reliance) setting up their mega petrochemical complex spread over a large area. It is now one of the flagship companies of Reliance Industries Ltd. is on its way to further accelerated growth.
As Dahej is strategically located along the coastal area, industrial giant – Aditya Birla Group visualized high growth potential here. Thus, it came up with India’s one of the world’s largest plants for copper products under the banner of Indo-gulf Fertilizers. The company has almost doubled its capacity recently. The company set up the first jetty in Dahej which was known to have world’s second difficult place to set up jetty due to very high tidal currents. Now, Dahej has 5 functioning jetties loading and unloading millions of tons of goods.