In order to provide better connectivity to 28,000-odd employees currently working in GIFT City campus, plans are afoot to to extend the Ahmedabad metro into the 800-acre campus at a cost of about ₹2000 crore.
“Currently, the Phase-2 of the Ahmedabad metro ends at the GIFT City station which lies on the periphery of the GIFT City campus. A proposal has been sent to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to build a six or seven kilometer long circular loop of the Ahmedabad metro within the GIFT City campus,” a senior official of the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) told businessline. GMRC is a 50:50 venture between the Centre and Gujarat government.
“This metro loop within GIFT City will be part of Phase-2B of development of Ahmedabad metro and will involve construction of four to six metro stations within the GIFT City campus,” the official said adding that the exact cost and the number of metro stations will be finalised once the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is cleared by the Centre. The proposed route connecting commercial, residential and public areas will be an elevated section.
Interestingly in 2018, due to cost overruns, the Union government had asked GMRC to revise the original DPR for Phase-2 by removing a proposed six kilometer route within GIFT City. This original plan also had three metro stations inside the GIFT City campus. Thereafter the Phase-2 DPR was revised and the metro route shortened to 28.26 kilometers from the earlier planned 34.59 kilometers.
Passengers travelling to GIFT City on Metro
Ahmedabad metro connectivity to GIFT City began after September 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Phase-2 of the project at a formal event.
Currently, only 115 passengers are using the GIFT City station on a daily basis. In other words, 3400 passengers are using the GIFT City station on a monthly basis which is the final station on the route. Businessline has already reported that GMRC has sent a Rs 1800 cr proposal to connect Ahmedabad Metro to the international airport under Phase-2B of the Ahmedabad Metro project.
Most of the employees coming to GIFT City currently use private vehicles to travel to the campus that lies 25 kilometers from Ahmedabad city and 15 kilometers from the centre of state capital, Gandhinagar. GSTRC has also been running buses to the campus.