…India’s biggest major planned skyscraper CBD outside Mumbai, Gujarat’s and India’s tallest commercial skyscraper, Mumbai’s first major commercial skyscraper, and one of the biggest single megaprojects in India!



The Indian Skyscraper Race is ON.

This last year has been big for Indian architecture and development fans. A total of 7 megaprojects with supertall towers have been either approved or beginning construction (sadly, only a handful of them with renderings released), each of them vying to grab the coveted title of “India’s Tallest Building.”

But this latest project, located at Gandhinagar, the capital city of the über-industrial Indian state of Gujarat, and nearby the state’s commercial capital of Ahmedabad, its a home-run hit deep to left field (or maybe I should try to speak in cricket terms… a deep sixer(??)) Why? Although it may not necessarily win the title of India’s tallest building (not for long anyway), the project certainly has all the mega projects made public beat in terms of sheer massing and scale.




^ Views of the CBD and skyline

Boasting 17 high rise commercial buildings — the tallest being the signature 80-storey, 400m “Diamond Tower” — as well as an artificial island, integrated mass transit and dedicated expressways, residential townships, and dedicated power supply, the 500 acre GIFT aims to be Global Financial Services hub. The project, is being developed by the Gujarat Finance City Development Company Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between the Gujarat government and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) as a Public-Private partnership, will employ 400,000 people and house 50,000 residents.



^ Perspective and View of the GIFT skyline

Arguably India’s most economically proactive and reform-minded state, Gujarat’s second-tier metropolises have chafed under the shadow of nearby Maharashtra state’s (and India’s) financial capital of Mumbai. It is this rivalry that has triggered the rapid industrialization of the state and the vision and drive to try to directly compete with India’s biggest city (though with a population of 5.7 million, the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar urban agglomeration is no slouch either.)


The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, well placed between the political and commercial capitals of Gujarat, was conceived as the beginning of that competition. Designed to kick Mumbai in the FDI balls, GIFT is developed as India’s first major supertall CBD project that is designed to be the focal point of India’s booming financial services market — in direct competition with Mumbai — by providing companies with all those things Mumbai is still developing: comprehensive infrastructure, power, verticalized office space, and a well designed, planned and expandable urban form. Its strong proximity and infrastructure connectivity with Mumbai ensures that mutually beneficial development occurs between the two metros.





The project is being planned to be at or above par with presently acknowledged globally benchmarked financial centers such as Shinjuku (Tokyo), Lujiazui (Shanghai), La Defense (Paris) and Dockyards (London). Size-wise too, at over 7.5 million sq. feet of built up space in Phase 1 of the project alone, it is almost twice as massive as in Shinjuku, Luijiazui, La Defense and Dockyards combined! However, with India’s financial sector employing 10 million people by 2020, it hardly puts a dent in the 800 million sq feet of office space needed for this industry alone… implies what big things are in store for Indian commercial development in the near future!



^ Views of the highrises and of Diamond Tower

Inspired by the boom cities of China, the city is being masterplanned by East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI), which is responsible for planning much of Shanghai, and Fairwood Consultants India, one of India’s largest and fastest growing consulting firms. According to Mr Yao Wen Lin, board chairman of ECADI, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City will be designed “to a standard that would be superior to one in Shanghai, China”.


^ Riverfront recreational and greenspace development

GIFT is designed as an extremely environmentally friendly development that will have the lowest per capital energy consumption of any Indian metro. The project itself will boast an impressive green area covering 65% of the total land, in large part due to the number of skyscrapers. In addition, the area long the Sabarmati River’s banks will be developed into a riverfront recreational area, complementing the riverfront developments planned for Ahmedabad. The project will also boast a museum, large conference center and gardens on the man made Fortune Island, where Diamond Tower is located. In addition to expressway linkages, GIFT will also boast underground arterial road, as well as MRTS/LRTS/BRTS connections and abundant parking.



Phase 1 of the project, which will begin construction in March, 2008 and to be completed by 2010, will consist of the 400m Diamond Tower and the core CBD of GIFT, comprising a total of 25.8 million sq ft. Already, 15 million sq ft. of the floorspace of this first phase has already been secured by a host of national and international companies, with MOUs for the other 10 million in the works. Two more phases will then be rolled out for an eventual 2017 completion date.

Ahmedabad -- Projects and Discussions:



Additional information from Official website:
Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)

Check out their PDF (download fast!)
Presentation about GIFT

Some more renderings, taken from PDF and website:








Perspective view on the entire CBD:












3 Signature Towers:






I tried to enlarge and clarify the overall master plan rendering:

cool, but you don't have to be such an ethnocentric sonnuva.

How? I didnt say anything.

If you aren't doing it on purpose, let me point out that you are coming off as a braggert. If you would like for me to describe why you are coming off as a braggert, I'll entertain you. It's great to see India developing though.

Looks like an awesome project . Although at 80 floors, it won't be the tallest one, and the article mentions that. Regardless, it would make Gujarat an important center. Although, it would never replace Mumbai as the article mentions.

I know that in AP there are 2 100 floor buildings along with a skyscraper CBD that is much larger than the one being planned for Gujarat, but no one thinks it would beat Mumbai. Mumbai could probably build dozens of 100 floor buildings and many more skyscrapers and still have more demand. Once the investments start rolling in Mumbai, it would be some crazy renovation and infra boom for mumbai.


But cheers for Gujarat for doing it , just don't act too snobby, you are not the only one building skyscrapers, and once mumbai starts building, no city could match it, not even delhi or bangalore.

It will be the 2nd tallest in India. the Tallest is being built in Hyderabd, 450m.... gujarat tower is 400 m

the rate of Gujarat investment THUMPS the rate of maharashtra investment.. so gujarat will definitely pass mumbai by 2020

That's true, but you are underestimating the potential of Mumbai. And you also have to take into account Pune, and Navi Mumbai, not only that, central government will invest heavily in mumbai in coming years. The indian gov't desire to convert mumbai into shanghai will solely bring in heavy investments although i would rather have it spread, you cannot deny that in the coming years, the central gov't will make HEAVY investments in mumbai to transform it.

I think Gujarat will remain india's most industrial state.

mumbai is FAR from becoming the shangahi of india. if any city is close to it, it's gandhinagar, by 2012 it WILL become the shanghai of india. the people who designed shanghai are desinghing gandhingar better or same as they did shanghai.

very well, i guess we will see it in 2012!

The advantage Gandhinagar has over Mumbai is that it's clean. Hopefully, they'll be strict with housing/sanitation standards as it grows and not let it turn into Mumbai, limiting street vendors is important too. Ghandinagar has potential to be a world class city. They need to do this sort of stuff all over India, I made a post a year back about the need for more planned cities because most of the existing ones would just require too much overhaul and people will protest if you pushed eminent domain on them. I hope they plan on building more light and heavy rail in Ghandinagar too so you don't see Mumbai style traffic. The only downside to Gujarat is that it's sorta arid, and sand/dirt ends up filling the streets. They should maybe let a Norweigan company buy one of the shipyards in Gujarat and let them upgrade it to improve national trade efficiency as well.

I wish there was a national media blitz to encourage smaller families amoungst the poor, prefarably one child per family. I also wish there was a push for cultural change to permit the elderly to stay with their daughter's family in the case they don't have a son. In a hundred years, I'd like to see the rural population dwindle so that mechanized/hydrophonic agriculture can take over because as it is, hiring farmhands is just cheaper than buying a tractor and this contributes to all sorts of problems.

BTW, do you know what type of magnitude of an earthquake those buildings will be able to withstand?

India's 1st Sci Fi city to be built in Gujarat: http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1249

This looks really top quality. I hope the real thing will look similar. Nice to see the grand scale of projects, I hope they will be realized with honesty and integrity. Gujarat already is one of the most prosperous states of India. Ahmedabd has the most potential to become the New York of India. But there is lot to do it will take time to be anywhere near to that standard.


Mumbai has a lot of potential. However the major problems plaguing Mumbai is corruption and dirty politics. Have you seen the roads of Mumbai? They couldn't even make a road properly, let alone making it New York or Shanghai. Bombay municipal Council elections were held some months ago, and the Maharastra government started publicising about projects to make Mumbai a world class city and to eliminate slums from there, and as soon as the municipal elections finished all of it simply vanished in thin air.


The major infrastructure upgradation for the past some years is going on in Delhi and Nation Capital Region. For other cities there is lot of catching up to do. A lot of Tier-2 small cities like Ahemadabad, Chandigarh, Pune and Hyderabad are also doing a good job.

Out of curiosity, are they doing anything in U.P. or Bihar? You are going to have to throw these people a bone, otherwise they'll start going elsewhere and contribute to rising housing costs.

They already are! there's a huge migration of people from bihar and other states into gujarat. just 10 years a go you could hardly find these people and now they're all over gujarat.

What do you think, all the slums in major and minor cities in Western and Nothern India are crowded by whom? They are all people from U.P. and Bihar. In Punjab even in villages they are changing the demography. In Delhi and Mumbai people from U.P. and Bihar have already changed the demograpy, even some sitting MLAs from Mumbai and Delhi are Biharis and UPites. The parts of U.P. closer to Delhi are prosperous, but as you go farther towards the east the situation becomes really really pathetic. Overpopulation and corruption are two major problems in U.P. and Bihar. Mark my words, I have typed overpopulation in bold letters. An able and honest leadership is the only saving grace for these two states.


Not just Gujarat, they are everywhere.

The only thing that can save them is BJP.

Have u guys heard of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor? That is going to bring a whole lot of development to Bimaru States(excluding Bihar)!

Project work on Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor by Jan

Our Bureau

Entails $45-50 b investment; Japan to be involved in a big way


6-STATE CORRIDOR: The Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, and the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr Akira Amari, at a CII interactive session with Indian businessmen in the Capital on Saturday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi April 14 The proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is all set to take shape with the project work likely to begin by January next year. Expected to be built over a seven-year period, the Corridor would involve an overall investment of $45-50 billion, the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said here on Saturday.

"The project work will start in January 2008 after finalisation of detailed project report by end of December this year. Land will not necessarily be acquired by the States for the purpose," said Mr Kamal Nath on the sidelines of a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The Japanese Government would be involved in the project in a major way and would help finance part of it through grants and by facilitating Japanese private sector participation.

Investment

The corridor should be beneficial to both the countries in terms of development of ports, business parks and infrastructure and Japan is committed to a huge investment for the project, the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr Akira Amari, said at the CII meeting.

To cover 6 States

The 1,483-km corridor will cover six States — Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra — and these States would be made stakeholders.

The corridor will have a 4,000-MW power plant, three greenfield ports and six airports, said Dr Ajay Dua, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. It would also link 10 cities with more than 10 lakh population — Faridabad, Surat, Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Meerut, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Pune and Nashik.

The industrial corridor has been planned along major transport arteries such as highways, passenger train connectivity and rail freight corridors connecting to ports to facilitate imports and exports, he added.

That building looks gorgeous.

Far better than the skyscapers that are getting the go ahead here in Canada :S

It's nice to see Japan stepping up. Once America sends itself into the poorhouse because of the Mid-East, Japan will need someone to sell all their crap too.

interesting

i always thought new delhi was the center of indian culture and biggest city and all that

Center of Indian gov't? Absolutely! Center of Indian Culture, Definitely NOT! In fact there is no indian city that can consider itself center of Indian culture. Most major state capitals serve as the center of their linguistic cultures. Although mumbai would be more of a center of indian culture due to presence of bollywood, and ppl migrating in large numbers from every part of India.

I always considered Delhi as a parasite, contributes nothing but takes all of the money from different states to fund itself for big projects like the upcoming commonwealth games.

so bombay = mumbai

and mangalore = bangalore?

Mangalore and Bangalore are two different cities. The "ore" after Bangal or Mangal is Anglicization of "uru", which means Village.

Bangalore has been changed to Bengaluru.

so bengalis are basically indians with a different official country, as are pakistanis?

Bangladeshis are the same as the people of West Bengalis of India, but I don't see how this is related to the topic.

bengaluru, fool. and it is about regions of india

but back to gujarat's accomplishments

The bengal/bangal in bengaluru/bangal has nothing to do with Bengalis and Bangladesh. Bengaluru is in South India, while Bangladesh and West Bengal is in East India. The similar words is nothing more than a mere coincidence. Culturally/Linguistically speaking the 2 regions are nothing alike.

It means that every capital city in the world should be considered as a parasite? fyi Delhi is the most cosmopolitan city in India, people from every corner of the country come to Delhi to seek their livelihood and improve their living standards. And unlike Mumbai there is no Shiv Sena to drive them out.

That's like saying that Irish are basically English with a different official country.

And Bengali is not a nationality; it's an ethnic group. Bengalis are found in West Bengal, a state in India, and East Bengal, which is Bangladesh.

Delhi and Mumbai's time are up. They're just swamped with too many people. Also, you can't build subways in Mumbai.

Far from it.


Yes that's the main problem. And it is putting extra pressure on electricity and water.


Mumbai is just one stretch of road. Building anything is very difficult. There is not enough space in Mumbai.

I dunno if things have changed since the last time I was there, but Delhi and Mumbai were dirty as hell. Varinasi was pretty bad too.

Delhi yes old Delhi and trans Yamuna areas are dirty but other areas are very clean. Mumbai, posh areas are clean but most of it is dirty. Varanasi it is an ancient city it is like this from thousands of years. But go to Sarnath it is pretty well kept there and very clean.

where is New Delhi in relation to just regular Delhi? is old delhi even a city anymore or did it get destroyed or something?

i think it was the capital of the muslim delhi sultanate of the turks

Old Delhi is a part of Delhi, it is in the centre of Delhi, it's real name is Shahjanabad. It is called Old Delhi because it was the capital of the Mughals before British came. It is very much intact and bustling with life, commerce and chaos. Yes it was destroyed, looted and pillaged several times by conquerers in the past - Tamerlane, Nadir Shah, British.


Old Delhi was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It was not the capital of Delhi Sultanate. Delhi Sultanate is a loose term it refers to the period when different dynasties of Muslim kings (Afghans, Turks) used to rule in Delhi, before Mughals came.