Building business-ready infrastructure in India’s emerging cities

While India is betting big on infrastructure with the aim of transitioning from a rapidly growing consumer market to a global trade hub, trade infrastructure needs to keep pace with the aspirations of a developed India. It needs to go beyond connecting highways to ports or building another industrial park, but rather designing an ecosystem where commerce can flourish, exports grow and businesses can grow with certainty.

Often, infrastructure is discussed as a subject of engineering. Build a bridge. Expand the port. Lay the track. But business doesn’t just thrive on asphalt. For businesses, what matters is whether these assets reduce costs, reduce uncertainty and open up new markets.

While physical infrastructure such as transportation and telecommunication networks are important, business infrastructure adds another essential dimension to the success of tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Business connectivity promotes overall development by supporting business communities, creating employment opportunities among other benefits.

Commerce-friendly infrastructure also means embedding digital devices. Smart logistics systems that allow exporters to track consignments in real time or customs processes that reduce clearance from days to hours are as important as the physical road. This is where industrial corridors also need to incorporate “Industry 4.0” practices as core design principles.

According to NITI Aayog, industrial growth in cities like Nashik, Indore, Coimbatore, Surat and Nagpur is catching up and even overtaking metros in some areas. For example, Nashik has developed into a major pharmaceutical and precision engineering centre. Coimbatore is an emerging textile and engineering city, and Surat accounts for about 90% of the world’s diamond cutting and polishing business.

Nashik is an emerging city in India due to strong growth in the IT, data, automobile and defense manufacturing sectors, as well as a thriving real estate market and high quality of life. Factors such as its pleasant climate, clean environment and smart city initiatives are making it an attractive destination for jobs, investment and a balanced lifestyle. Strategically located on the Mumbai-Agra Highway near Samruddhi Expressway, the upcoming World Trade Center (WTC) Nashik will offer over 9.21 lakh square feet of built-up space designed for global trade, integrated into a world-class, digitally enabled ecosystem for exporters, investors and enterprises.

Kozhikode, located on the Malabar Coast in Kerala, has become a model city due to its commitment towards infrastructure, education and inclusive growth. The city and its port have always had a strong trading heritage, and its strategic location makes it an important trading hub in the Indian Ocean with sea routes connecting East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China. The recently announced WTC Kozhikode, a landmark 12.5 million sq. ft. project, will connect Kozhikode to global routes, making the city a major hub for business, trade and education and will boost Kozhikode’s growth by attracting MNCs, global integration, economic acceleration, international educational institutions and infrastructure development.

The National Industrial Corridor Development Program (NICDP) is India’s most ambitious attempt to replicate the cluster-style success across sectors. Each corridor has been designed not just as a road or rail link but as a backbone of development. The Chennai-Bengaluru corridor is giving a boost to electronics and auto-manufacturing. The Amritsar-Kolkata Corridor aims to boost agro-processing and textile industries in Eastern India. The East Coast Economic Corridor aims to connect Indian ports to Southeast Asia.

Logistics parks are at the heart of this vision. They provide exporters with the necessary warehousing, cold chain and digital integration. A container that reaches a port quickly is valuable. A container arriving at the port with real-time digital documentation, minimal detention and assured cold storage is invaluable. Smart cities add another layer to ensure sustainable development and inclusive growth by taking into account dynamics such as economic, social and environmental factors.

A good example of a successful smart city in Asia is the WTC Binh Duong New City (BDNC) which won the Intelligent Community of the Year award at the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Global Summit in New York in 2023. The Vietnamese city is taking advantage of WTCA’s global network and ecosystem of economic development agencies, real estate developers, universities, logistics hubs, airports and free trade zones (FTZs) around the world. It acts as a catalyst, contributing to growth and innovation in the region through B2B events and programs as well as premium business facilities such as branded office buildings and an exhibition centre. Today, the region has emerged as an innovation ecosystem with a growing number of tech labs, improved living standards and better access to services through technology – thereby boosting business, innovation and sustainability in the country.

The soft side of infrastructure is often ignored. Zoning laws and land use regulations can make or break a business cluster. Even the best corridors remain underutilized if exporters cannot find land with clear title, if approvals take years, or if the industrial use zone is too restrictive.

Urban zoning in India is still designed around traditional categories – residential, commercial and industrial – with little recognition of the hybrid spaces required for modern business. For example, logistics hubs are neither purely industrial nor purely commercial. They need their own category with flexible norms for warehousing, cold chain and digital infrastructure.

Simplifying zoning laws will open up investment faster. It will also create fairness by ensuring that small exporters and MSMEs are not locked out of prime locations. Equally importantly, zoning reforms will reduce the informal practices that still dominate land allocation in many states.

Building business-ready infrastructure in emerging Indian cities is not a one-time project. It is a continuous process of integration, learning and curriculum improvement. The principles are clear: connectivity should be multi-modal, infrastructure should enable commerce not just movement, clusters should be nurtured through specialization, and zoning should suit the needs of modern trade.

India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities are no longer the future but the present growth engine. Reimagining them as globally connected trade hubs will not only boost India’s exports but also make supply chains more resilient and inclusive.

Recent government initiatives like PM Gati Shakti, Make in India and National Logistics Policy are further accelerating infrastructure investments in these growth corridors. Yet, despite this momentum, challenges remain, particularly in last-mile trade infrastructure, logistics optimization, international connectivity, and B2B integration with global markets.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) can be a major driver of resilience, particularly in emerging markets. Attracting investment and establishing these cities as hubs of global capital requires a strategic approach that focuses on leveraging local strengths, creating a favorable fiscal and tax framework supported by business-friendly policies, transparency in governance and effective interaction between local authorities and the private sector. The way forward requires collaboration between governments, trade bodies, infrastructure developers and global networks, and we are committed to playing our part in building that future.

WTCA’s expansion strategy includes setting up WTC businesses in special economic zones (SEZs), FTZs, smart cities, industrial parks, airports and universities. We believe that our integrated approach will ensure that MSMEs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are not only manufacturing competitively but also doing business globally.

This article is written by Scott Wang, Vice President of Asia Pacific at the World Trade Centers Association.