Cabinet clears Sarkhej–Dholera semi-high-speed rail: 134 km, 220 km/h, ₹20,667 crore

On 13 May 2026 the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Ahmedabad (Sarkhej) to Dholera semi-high-speed double-line rail project at an estimated cost of ₹20,667 crore. It is Indian Railways’ first semi-high-speed line, designed for 220 km/h with indigenously developed technology, and it is expected to be complete by 2030–31. Construction tenders opened in August 2026.

What the line connects

Ahmedabad, the Dholera SIR, the Dholera International Airport and the Lothal National Maritime Heritage Complex. The corridor already has an expressway; this gives it a passenger spine fast enough to make Dholera a commute from Ahmedabad rather than a relocation.

The Bhavnagar piece

Separately, the Railway Ministry approved a 65 km broad-gauge line from Bhavnagar to Dholera, with a Final Location Survey underway since January 2026. That line is freight-first, intended to put Bhavnagar Port on the SIR’s logistics map. Taken together, the two projects give the corridor a rail system: fast passenger service from the north, freight from the coast.

A plot at Kala Talav is not on either line. It is 46 km by road from the SIR end of the semi-high-speed line and 11 km from Bhavnagar Terminus, where the freight link begins. That is the right distance for a supplier: close enough to serve, far enough to pay revenue-land prices.

Status

Approved with a sanctioned cost; tendering in progress; no track laid. We carry it as approved on the timeline and will move it to under construction when contracts are awarded.