Manufacturing Surge Fuels Development of Integrated Industrial Townships

Property developers are sharpening their focus on integrated industrial townships to capitalize on the government's ambitious goal of increasing the share of manufacturing to 25% of GDP by 2035. Experts believe this initiative will drive demand for industrial plots, making them an attractive investment option.

Leading developers such as M3M, Signature Global, Reliance, and LML Realty are currently building industrial townships in the National Capital Region (NCR). In the South, the Brigade Group has launched the Brigade Industrial Park, a 25-acre industrial development in Devanahalli, North Bengaluru, as part of its strategic expansion into industrial real estate.

A large part of the activity is concentrated in a few key locations where infrastructure, connectivity, and execution have effectively come together, even though over 100 nodes have been planned across industrial corridors. Shrivallabh Goyal, CEO and WTD at Reliance Model Economic Township, notes that earlier townships often failed to scale beyond manufacturing hubs because they were primarily built as land aggregation exercises. Industrial activity came in, but the surrounding ecosystem of housing, social infrastructure, and talent pools did not develop at the same pace.

Reliance Model Economic Township is an 8,250-acre integrated smart city and global manufacturing hub in Jhajjar, Haryana. The shift toward more cohesive planning, where industrial land, logistics, and infrastructure are developed in tandem, is aimed at enhancing efficiency and competitiveness. This transformation has also positioned industrial real estate as an emerging investment option, with investors increasingly viewing industrial projects as stable, long-term assets.

Government-led initiatives such as the PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals, and Petrochemicals Investment Region) have played a pivotal role in driving this momentum. The Gujarat PCPIR region, with Dahej as a key node, highlights the impact of large-scale, policy-backed industrial ecosystems. The region has attracted investments exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore, with a strong concentration of petrochemical, chemical, and engineering industries, supported by port-led development and robust connectivity.

With warehousing demand expanding, integrated industrial ecosystems that combine manufacturing, logistics, and infrastructure are likely to play a defining role in sustaining India's long-term industrial growth. India is being looked at as an alternative to China for manufacturing and warehousing, and this push is reshaping the industrial real estate landscape.

A shift in buyer behavior has been observed, with industrial plots no longer viewed purely as end-use assets but as a compelling alternative investment class. Driven by long-term appreciation potential and improving liquidity in key corridors, the industrial and warehousing sector is fast becoming a high-growth frontier, according to Pratyush Pandey, founder of AARE Consulting (All About Real Estate).

LML Realty has advanced the development of its 35-acre LML Industrial Park, aimed at strengthening the manufacturing and MSME ecosystem through infrastructure-led, systems-driven industrial development. Over the next five years, the LML Industrial Park is expected to support over Rs 1,000 crore in cumulative factory-level investment across more than 50 operating units, while enabling employment for over 7,000 people through direct and indirect industrial activity.

Manufacturing-led growth depends on reliable systems, says Yogesh Bhatia, Managing Director & CEO of LML Realty. When infrastructure, compliance, and governance are built correctly from the outset, enterprises can focus on producing, employing, and scaling. This is how industrial capacity compounds at a national level.

Recently, the Union cabinet approved Rs 33,660 crore for the BHAVYA scheme, which proposes the setting up of 100 industrial clusters, as announced in the recent budget. According to Colliers' latest report, multiple cities are likely to emerge as frontrunners of industrial and warehousing growth over the next few decades, driven by factors such as continued regulatory support through corridor development programmes, the PM Gati Shakti programme, and the National Logistics Policy.