Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway
Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway
Also known as Dholera Expressway and NH 751
109 km
Open
Gujarat
Expressway
Route
Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway runs 109 km from Sarkhej (Sardar Patel Ring Road), Ahmedabad, Gujarat to Adhelai (near Dholera SIR), Gujarat.
Crosses Gujarat.
Through Ahmedabad, Dholka and Dholera.
Why it matters
Dholera is meant to become a giant new industrial city — including India's first big semiconductor factory — and a city that size cannot work without a fast road to an existing metro. This expressway is that road: it turns Dholera from a remote patch of coastal plain into a suburb-distance drive from Ahmedabad, and it is the route the trucks, workers and equipment building the new city all use.
History
This expressway was built to connect Ahmedabad with Dholera, the site of India's first big planned 'greenfield' smart city, the Dholera Special Investment Region. Gujarat had been planning Dholera for years, but investors kept pointing at the same problem — the site sat two hours away from Ahmedabad down slow village roads, which made it hard to move people, machinery and goods. So NHAI built an entirely new access-controlled road under the Bharatmala programme, starting at the Sardar Patel Ring Road near Sarkhej and running south to Adhelai village beyond Dholera. It opened to traffic on 23 January 2026 and was formally inaugurated that March. The drive that once took over two hours now takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and a link road partway along leads straight to the new Dholera International Airport at Navagam.
Good to know
- Built as the main road link to the Dholera Special Investment Region and the new Dholera International Airport.
- Cuts the Ahmedabad–Dholera journey to roughly 45 minutes to an hour.
- A brand-new 'greenfield' road — it doesn't follow any older highway.
- A link road of about 9.5 km branches off at the Pipli junction near Navagam to reach Dholera International Airport.
- Built four lanes wide but on land and structures sized for eight lanes later on.
- Part of the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor plan.
Timeline
- 2021Construction begins on the greenfield route
- 2026Opened to traffic on 23 January; formally inaugurated in March
Key junctions
- Sarkhej (Ahmedabad) — the northern end, on the Sardar Patel Ring Road — the gateway from the city
- Vataman — midway interchange, linking to the Ahmedabad–Bhavnagar road
- Navagam (Pipli junction) — the exit for the link road to Dholera International Airport
- Adhelai — the southern end, beyond the Dholera investment region
On the road
Allow about an hour from the Sardar Patel Ring Road to Dholera. It is a toll road, and being brand new and running through open coastal plain, there are very few fuel pumps, tea stalls or repair shops along it — fill up in Ahmedabad. Traffic is still light compared with Gujarat's older highways, so the drive is easy, but watch for strong crosswinds on the open flat stretches near the Gulf of Khambhat.
More details
- Lanes
- 4 lanes, access-controlled (expandable to 8)