If Tata Motors' Nano plant transformed the sleepy town of Sanand into a Motown, Honda's two-wheeler facility is recreating the same magic in a small village called Vithalapur, some 90 km from Ahmedabad. The non-descript village in Mandal taluka of Ahmedabad district was almost unknown to the world till the time Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) decided to set up its two-wheeler plant two years back.
Like many other villages, Vithalapur does not have pucca roads within village. The population is just 5,500 and majority are farmers. What makes it different from others is the buzzing industrial activity around the tiny village somewhat similar to what Sanand witnessed after the advent of Tata's Nano project. Honda Cars India and Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) have also chosen Vithalapur for their plants. Auto parts makers are also making a beeline to set up their shops in the Japanese park being set up in the 120 hectare GIDC estate in the area. SMC has already started constructing its first facility at Hansalpur, around 32 km from Vithalapur.
The rush to park their projects around the village could be gauged from the skyrocketing land prices.Recently, a piece of land near Vithalapur cross roads, the only land mark, fetched a whopping Rs 1 crore per bigha. “The land prices were Rs 5-10 lakh per bigha few years back. With the beginning of industrial development, the prices have shot up to Rs 50-60 lakh bigha depending the land's proximity to the main road,“ said Rajbha Solanki, Sarpanch of Vithalapur.
The prices started moving northwards when Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GDIC) acquired land at Rs.11.89 lakh per bigha in 2012-13 for its industrial estate, say farmers.Realtors, too, have joined the development bandwagon.
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