Dholera RERA and GUJRERA guide: how to check, and the SIR exemption scam

RERA is the single cheapest, fastest protection a Dholera buyer has, and it is the one sellers most often talk people out of using. This page explains what RERA and GUJRERA are, when a project must be registered, how to verify one yourself in a few minutes, and the specific scam line that turns a public safeguard into a blind spot. If you read only one legal page before buying, this pairs with the verification bible to keep you out of the most common trap.

What GUJRERA is

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, created a regulator in each state to bring transparency and accountability to real estate. In Gujarat that regulator is GUJRERA, the Gujarat Real Estate Regulatory Authority, and its public portal is gujrera.gujarat.gov.in. Developers must register qualifying projects with GUJRERA, disclose details, and only then advertise or take bookings. For a buyer, the portal is a public register you can search to confirm a project is real, registered and current.

When a project must be registered

The trigger is size. A real estate project on land over 500 sq m, or with more than 8 units, must be registered with GUJRERA before it is advertised, marketed, booked or sold. Most Dholera plotting schemes being sold to the public clear that threshold comfortably, so for the projects you are likely to be shown, registration is not optional. If a project that plainly exceeds the threshold has no RERA number, that is a problem with the project, not a technicality.

How to verify a Dholera project

Verification takes minutes. Ask the seller for the project's RERA registration number, then check it yourself on the GUJRERA portal rather than trusting a screenshot. Searching by the RERA number is the most accurate method; you can also search by project name, promoter or district if you do not have the number. Confirm the project details on the portal match what you are being sold, and that the status shows active rather than lapsed or completed. Our RERA verification guide walks the portal screen by screen, and the broader plot verification bible puts it alongside the title checks.

The SIR exemption scam

Here is the line to watch for: because the land is inside the Dholera Special Investment Region, the seller says, RERA does not apply, so there is no RERA number to check. This is the core scam. Being inside the SIR is a planning and industrial status; it is not a RERA exemption. A plotting project that meets the size threshold still has to be registered with GUJRERA regardless of where it sits. When a seller uses the SIR to explain away a missing RERA number, they are using the region's prestige to skip your strongest check.

What RERA does and does not tell you

RERA registration is necessary but not sufficient. It confirms the project is registered and disclosed, which filters out the crudest scams. It does not by itself prove the individual plot's title is clean, that the land is Non-Agricultural, or that the seller is the recorded owner. So treat RERA as the first gate, not the whole gate. After it clears, still verify the 7/12 extract, the 30-year encumbrance certificate, the mother deed chain and the N.A. or Final Plot status. Our N.A. conversion explainer and due diligence checklist cover the rest.

The bottom line

GUJRERA is your first and easiest safeguard in Dholera. Any project over 500 sq m or with more than 8 units must be registered before it is sold, and you can confirm that in minutes by checking the RERA number on the official portal. Reject the idea that the SIR removes the need for RERA; it does not. Verify the number yourself, then move on to the title checks, because RERA opens the door but does not clear the whole path.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• SIR-Dholera master fact base, July 2026 (RERA thresholds and the SIR exemption red flag).
• GUJRERA portal, gujrera.gujarat.gov.in.
• Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. See our full sources page.