Sanand is a city and a municipality in Ahmedabad district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is a major industrial hub of Western India, host to manufacturing plants of multiple domestic and foreign companies like Tata Motors, Nivea, Nestlé India, Voltas Beko, General Electric, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, Hitachi Hi-Rel, Magneti Marelli - Motherson, Maxxis, Marico, Unicharm etc. History Sanand was a small princely state ruled by the Vaghela clan. Maharaj Jaywant Singh Vaghela of Sanand was a music connoisseur. In 1946, he had invited Pandit Jasraj, who was still very young, and his family to Sanand. Now, Sanand is a satellite town of Ahmedabad city. Geography Sanand is located at . It has an average elevation of 38 metres (124 feet). Demographics India census, Sanand had a population of 41,530. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sanand has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 65%. In Sanand, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Economy Sanand is part of the dedicated Viramgam Special Investment Region of Gujarat. Located near the city of Ahmedabad, Sanand is about 70 kilometres (40 miles) from a recently rebuilt international airport. Sanand is linked to Ahmedabad and Kutch by state highway 17. The state highway 17 joins India's National Highway 8, part of the recently completed 4-lane Golden Quadrilateral highway linking Sanand to many of the major industrial, economic and cultural regions of India. Sanand is connected by a modern highway to Mundra Port, a fully operational and one of the fastest growing, recently expanded sea ports in southeast Asia. Sanand is about 350 kilometres (220 miles) from Mundra port. Sanand is also close to the proposed Dholera port and international airport. In addition to modern highways, Sanand-Viramgam has an operational broad gauge railway network connecting it to major industrial centres of Gujarat. Sanand has become one of the booming entrepreneurial centres in India. Like industrial hubs in the developed countries and export centres in China, Sanand offers the following competitive incentives to companies seeking to set up operations within Sanand region: Income Tax Incentives 10 year corporate tax holiday on export profit – 100% for initial 5 years and 50% for the next 5 years Exemption from dividend distribution tax Indirect Tax Incentives Zero customs duty Zero excise duty Exemption