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CRZ
CRZ is the Coastal Regulation Zone, the set of national rules that restrict development along India's coastline and tidal areas. About a third of Dholera's developable land, roughly 158 of about 580 sq km, sits within the CRZ, which constrains what can be built there.
Last checked 2026-08-11 · every figure below carries its source
What the CRZ is
The Coastal Regulation Zone, CRZ, is a framework of Indian environmental rules that regulate construction and activity along the coast, tidal-influenced water bodies and their surroundings. The rules exist to protect coastal ecology, fishing communities and against flooding, and they limit or prohibit certain kinds of development within defined distances of the coast. Dholera lies on the flat, low-lying Bhal land along the western coast of the Gulf of Khambhat, an area of tidal flats and mangroves, so a significant share of its land is affected. The fact base records that roughly a third of Dholera's developable land, of about 580 sq km, falls within the CRZ.
Why the CRZ matters for Dholera
The CRZ share is one reason the difference between Dholera's headline 920 sq km planning envelope and its roughly 422 sq km urban-developable area is so large. Coastal rules, together with the low-lying terrain, make drainage and flood management a real and documented planning constraint rather than a marketing footnote. For anyone evaluating land or the city's build-out, the CRZ is a genuine limit on where and what can be developed. It should be weighed against any claim that the entire 920 sq km will become dense city, because a meaningful portion is regulated coastal land.