Dholera's water treatment plant contract was terminated in 2021 and the arbitration is still running
DICDL terminated its water treatment plant contract with M/s SPML Infra Limited on 1 January 2021 for non-fulfilment of terms, and five years later the two sides are still in arbitration with claims running in opposite directions.
Confirmed by an official document: a government release, a filing, or the company's own published statement.
The gap between the two claims is the striking part. SPML has claimed Rs 77.52 crore from DICDL, and DICDL has filed a counter claim of Rs 2,227.23 crore, which is roughly twenty-nine times larger. SPML has also filed in the Commercial Court at Ahmedabad over the guarantees DICDL encashed.
DICDL encashed a performance bank guarantee of Rs 6.75 crore and a mobilisation advance guarantee of Rs 9.9 crore, forfeited retention money, and recovered Rs 9 crore of liquidated damages for missed interim milestones. Neither annual report discloses the original contract value, which is why that row below reads unknown. Water is the constraint on any city built on a salt flat, so a terminated water treatment contract is not a footnote.
Note to the FY2024-25 financial statements: DICDL terminated the WTP design, construction, operation and maintenance contract with M/s. SPML Infra Limited on January 01, 2021 for non-fulfilment of terms. DICDL encashed a performance bank guarantee of Rs 675 lakh (Rs 572.03 lakh net of GST) and a mobilisation advance guarantee of Rs 990 lakh (adjusted against Rs 808.71 lakh outstanding including accrued interest), and forfeited retention money of Rs 206.43 lakh (Rs 174.90 lakh net of GST). SPML invoked arbitration with a claim of Rs 7,752 lakh and filed a case in the Commercial Court, Ahmedabad over the guarantees. DICDL filed a counter claim of Rs 2,22,723.22 lakh. Liquidated damages of Rs 900 lakh were recovered for missed interim milestones.
| What | Figure | Unit | As of | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Termination date | 2021-01-01 | 2021-01-01 | CONFIRMED | |
| SPML arbitration claim against DICDLPrinted as Rs 7,752 lakh | 77.52 | INR crore | 2025-03-31 | CONFIRMED |
| DICDL counter claimPrinted as Rs 2,22,723.22 lakh | 2,227.2322 | INR crore | 2025-03-31 | CONFIRMED |
| Performance bank guarantee encashed | 6.75 | INR crore | 2025-03-31 | CONFIRMED |
| Mobilisation advance guarantee encashed | 9.9 | INR crore | 2025-03-31 | CONFIRMED |
| Liquidated damages recovered | 9 | INR crore | 2025-03-31 | CONFIRMED |
| Original contract valueDisclosed in neither annual report | UNKNOWN | INR crore | UNKNOWN | |
| Arbitration outcome | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
Last verified: 11 August 2026. Read the status column this way. CONFIRMED means the named document states the figure. REPORTED means a credible outlet states it and no document confirms it. TARGET means somebody is aiming at it. UNKNOWN means no source we hold gives it, and we would rather leave the row empty than fill it with an estimate.
The contractor that built Dholera's main office block has five claims outstanding against DICDL
The Dholera food court went to SCC Infrastructure at Rs 17.47 crore, the same firm that won the hospital
An accommodation block for investors was awarded to Unique Builders at Rs 26.72 crore
Everything we recorded in November 2025
DICDL 8th Annual Report 2023-24 (AR24 p.98)
Several of these documents are large PDFs on government portals that move without notice. Where a document has no stable deep link we cite it by its number and date so it can be found again. See the source register for what each document is and what we took from it.
If one of these links has moved or we have read it wrong, write to [email protected] and we will fix the entry and say so on the corrections page. For how we decide what counts as confirmed, see how we source and correct. For the full dated history of the region, see the Dholera timeline. For any term above you do not recognise, see the glossary.