Tata Motors makes the Nano micro car here. Ford Motor's facility is getting ready. Honda Motor is next in line. Maruti Suzuki, India's top carmaker by sales volume, has acquired land for two plants. Investments are flowing in thousands of crores. A 120 - 130 km belt comprising Sanand, Hansalpur and Vithalapur, with connected nodes of Kadi and Halol, is well on its way to be the biggest automotive clusters in the Asia-Pacific region. 2.2 million passenger vehicles are expected to be produced in the region in the next six to eight years by Maruti, Tata Motors, Ford India and Honda Cars India. Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India are considering opening of factories to manufacture two-wheelers.

The Gujarat government has put development of the region on fast-track after Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister who was then the state's chief minister, famously sent an SMS to Ratan Tata in October 2008, inviting Tata Motors to relocate its strife-hit Nano plant to Gujarat from West Bengal. For Tata Motors, the Nano project has yet to produce the expected results. But for Sanand, the company's decision to move in has acted as a catalyst as other auto makers too started to come to Sanand.

"Industrial development in the region will definitely improve the socio-economic level in this 100 - 120 km belt, thereby giving rise to a significant housing, school and college infrastructure," said KT Vyas, officer on special duty at the Industrial Extension Bureau, the state's one-stop business facilitation initiative.

By Premji