Beyond the Questions: The Dholera Forest Estate Due‑Diligence Compendium Part – 4

Chapter 7: Developer Credibility

Builder track record? 

SmartHomes Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. is a CREDAI Ahmedabad GIHED registered developer with a proven presence in Dholera for over a decade. The company is widely recognized for its expertise in strategic land aggregation, rigorous title clearance, zoning and regulatory compliance, and phased, sustainable development practices, ensuring every project is legally robust and future-ready. 

The company’s promoters bring together financial discipline, strategic foresight, and long-term urban vision, ensuring execution with transparency, reliability, and sustained value creation. Rupinder Singh, an MBA from Manchester Business School, possesses deep expertise in financial markets and technology-oriented businesses. With a comprehensive understanding of land economics and market cycles, he has been actively involved in multiple technology ventures as an angel investor, enabling him to apply a data-driven, future-focused approach to real estate development. His ability to understand land “in and out” allows SmartHomes Infrastructure to identify high-potential locations at the right stage of the growth curve. 

Complementing this, Meenakshi Khurana, an alumna of IMT Ghaziabad, leads operations and new business development with a strong focus on process efficiency, strategic coordination, and scalable growth. Her experience in managing cross-functional teams, partnerships, and global business initiatives ensures that decision-making remains agile, systems remain streamlined, and organizational execution aligns seamlessly with long-term strategic objectives. 

SmartHomes Infrastructure has further strengthened its credibility through a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Gujarat, signed at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, for investment and development in Dholera. This association reflects the company’s strong institutional standing and alignment with the state’s long-term development vision. The company is also a proud member of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), reinforcing its active engagement with the business and industrial ecosystem of Gujarat. 

In addition, SmartHomes Infrastructure has entered into a strategic partnership with Marriott Hotels, bringing Dholera’s first 5-star hotel – Courtyard by Marriott. This landmark development underscores the company’s commitment to premium, world-class infrastructure and its confidence in Dholera’s emergence as a global business and lifestyle destination. 

Together, the promoters and the organization have positioned SmartHomes Infrastructure as a trusted and pioneering force in Dholera, combining international exposure, deep local market insight, strong government relationships, and global strategic partnerships to create sustainable, high-value developments for investors, businesses, and future residents alike. 

Any history of diluted promises? 

No. At SmartHomes Infrastructure, planning precedes commitment, and commitments precede marketing. This philosophy mirrors the broader evolution of Dholera itself. Over the last decade, the first half of Dholera’s journey was largely focused on master planning, policy frameworks, and approvals, while the second half marked the beginning of visible, on-ground infrastructure execution. 

Aligned with this natural development cycle, SmartHomes Infrastructure spent its initial years building a strong land bank across strategic locations, followed by detailed planning and regulatory alignment. Only once clarity on infrastructure, zoning, and development direction was established did the company move toward active development. Today, as on-ground infrastructure has commenced and momentum has clearly shifted from planning to execution, SmartHomes Infrastructure has entered the development phase as well. 

With housing demand expected to rise in the coming years alongside employment and infrastructure growth, the company is strategically positioned to serve this demand without compromising on credibility or over-promising. Every commitment made is calibrated to the city’s real development stage, ensuring expectations remain realistic and value creation remains sustainable. 

Escrow mechanism?

While no project-specific escrow mechanism is maintained, fund deployment follows a disciplined, phase-linked and asset-backed approach, aligned strictly with defined development milestones. Capital is deployed progressively in line with land acquisition, planning, approvals, and on-ground development requirements, ensuring prudent utilization and risk control. This structured approach provides transparency and financial discipline, while maintaining flexibility required for phased development in an emerging smart city ecosystem.

Penalties for timeline delays?

Dholera is a demand-led, long-cycle smart city, where development and value appreciation evolve concurrently rather than in a strictly linear, time-bound sequence. Infrastructure rollout, industrial activation, and residential absorption progress in phases aligned with macro-economic and employment drivers. 

In such a development environment, value creation is not dependent on rigid timelines alone but is driven by city-level growth, infrastructure readiness, and rising demand. Investors continue to benefit throughout the cycle through capital appreciation as the ecosystem matures. Accordingly, project timelines are structured to remain adaptive to the city’s broader development trajectory, ensuring long-term value rather than short-term, deadline-driven outcomes

Chapter 8: Regulatory & Tax Outlook

Risk of zoning change?

Minimal. In a greenfield smart city like Dholera, land use and zoning are pre-defined under an approved master plan and town planning framework, leaving limited scope for arbitrary or ad-hoc reclassification. Zoning decisions are driven by long-term urban planning objectives and statutory processes, providing stability and predictability for landowners and investors. 

Future levies? 

At present, no betterment charges or impact fees have been notified for the relevant developments. Any future levies, if introduced, would be implemented in accordance with established urban governance norms, following due process, notifications, and uniform applicability rather than project-specific or retrospective impositions. 

Property tax regime? 

The standard property tax framework applicable under local municipal or development authority regulations applies. There are no Dholera-specific deviations or special taxation structures, ensuring consistency with broader state and urban taxation policies. 

Chapter 9: Marketing vs Ground Reality 

Real travel times? 
 
With the current and planned road network in place, key destinations within Dholera—including the Dholera International Airport, Activation Area, Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway, and State Highway connectivity—are all accessible within approximately 10–15 minutes of each other by road. These indicative travel times reflect normal traffic conditions and underscore the strategic location of the project within a compact, well-integrated framework, designed to support seamless mobility and long-term growth. 

Maps authenticity? 
 
All base maps used are sourced from official government notifications and planning authorities. Project-specific overlays are provided strictly for reference and representation, without altering or substituting the underlying statutory maps, ensuring transparency and clarity for investors. 
 
On-ground proof? 
 
Yes. GPS-tagged, time-stamped site photographs are maintained as part of project documentation and are attached even with registered sale deeds, providing verifiable on-ground evidence of land location, access, and current status. 

Chapter 10: The Worst‑Case Question 

If Dholera underperforms for 15 years? 

This scenario is increasingly structurally unlikely. The Ahmedabad–Lothal–Dholera corridor has effectively evolved into Greater Ahmedabad, with physical, economic, and administrative integration already underway. Land values in core Ahmedabad today trade in the range of ₹1–3 lakh per sq. yard, while Dholera despite being part of the same extended urban and industrial ecosystem continues to trade at a fraction of these levels, creating a clear case of asymmetric undervaluation. 

Over long urban cycles, such disparities do not persist indefinitely. As infrastructure, employment hubs, logistics corridors, and institutional capital consolidate across the region, price convergence is a natural outcome, followed by selective out-performance in newer, better-planned zones. Dholera’s scale, greenfield planning, and industrial anchoring place it firmly in this category. 

Viewed over a 15–20 year horizon, the investment thesis is less about short-term performance and more about structural catch-up and long-term convergence. In that context, the question of prolonged under-performance becomes largely not applicable, as the broader regional growth dynamics make parity and eventual out-performance, a matter of time rather than speculation. 

Why choose this over agricultural land or liquid assets? 

Dholera Forest Estate is fundamentally different from traditional land holdings or passive financial instruments. Unlike agricultural land, which often remains idle, fragmented, and dependent on future conversion, this project offers a managed, branded residential ecosystem designed for both capital appreciation and income generation. It transforms land ownership from a speculative hold into a structured, productive asset. 

The project integrates hospitality-linked rental opportunities, targeting 7–9% potential yields, supported by professional management and proximity to future employment and business hubs. This creates a clear income narrative, something agricultural land or most liquid assets cannot consistently offer. In addition, investors benefit from asset liquidity with upgrade options, allowing flexibility as the city matures, along with participation in five-star hotel ownership and revenue sharing, anchored by premium hospitality standards. 

Dholera Forest Estate is not positioned as a short-term trade or a race against timelines. It is a conviction-led investment, built on urban structure, long-term planning, and the inevitability of city growth. The project aligns with how great cities evolve, value creation precedes habitation, and early participation captures the maximum upside. 

SmartHomes Infrastructure has deliberately positioned itself ahead of habitation and ahead of headlines, but firmly aligned with historical urban development patterns. Dholera Forest Estate represents land that is curated, income-oriented, and future-ready—not an idle holding, but a thoughtfully structured asset designed to mature with the city itself.