Gift City Utility Tunnels Win Praise from Scottish Delegation
Gandhinagar: A high-level delegation from Scotland, led by First Minister John Swinney and comprising 11 members, has begun a four-day tour of Gujarat, running from October 22 to 25. The visit includes a tour of Gift City, where the group examined the city's advanced infrastructure.
Today, the delegation toured the world-class city, which was developed under the leadership of Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat. Modi is now the Prime Minister of India. The visitors gained insights into the city's development, its diverse financial services, investment opportunities, and export sectors, and were highly impressed by what they saw.
Swinney was especially struck by the city's ultra-modern utility tunnel facilities, appreciating the advanced technology deployed there.
As India's first International Financial Services Centre, Gift City is also a smart city that sets new standards for infrastructure. Its design accounts for high-rise structures and dense populations, offering solutions that could serve as a model both in India and internationally.
The city's expanding population places growing demands on electricity, drinking water, cooling, and telecommunications. Gift City's answer is a sophisticated utility tunnel system that now serves as the central support structure for the entire city.
Digging up roads for infrastructure repairs or upgrades is a common problem in many cities. It causes inconvenience to residents and detracts from urban beauty. Gift City has taken a lasting approach by building underground utility tunnels inspired by major smart cities across the globe. Every service network is placed underground, which removes the need for road excavation.
The tunnel itself occupies only a narrow band of land. Above ground, the space can be used for bus stops, pedestrian pathways, seating, and small shops or kiosks.
Inside the tunnel are power cables, drinking water pipelines, district cooling pipelines, automated solid waste pipelines, automation cables, and communication cables. Power cables with backup systems occupy the upper level, and water, waste, and communication lines sit in the lower level.
For safety, sewage, stormwater, and gas pipelines run through a separate dedicated corridor outside the tunnel.
The whole system is monitored around the clock from a central control room using supervisory control and data acquisition technology. When a technical problem occurs, the control room promptly informs the maintenance team, allowing quick repairs without interrupting road traffic.
The tunnel is designed to support the city's future development and the needs of buildings yet to be constructed.
Gift City aims to build a total of 16 km of utility tunnels. Currently, 5.5 km is fully operational, and a further 5.5 km is being actively built. The remaining network will be completed in line with the city's phased development. New buildings are directly connected to the tunnel network through their basements.
Beyond its technical achievements, the utility tunnel highlights Gift City's commitment to delivering eco-friendly, sustainable, modern, and world-class civic amenities.