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Shenzhen? Naam toh suna hoga!
It would read like a short fourth-grader essay but kindly bear with. The Chinese city of Shenzhen is a global technology hub and is often called the country’s Silicon Valley. A fishing town just forty years ago, Shenzhen is home to some of the major companies in China, including BYD, Tencent, Huawei, Alibaba Group, BGI Group, DJI, Foxconn, Infinix Mobile, and more. Hence it is also referred to as the ‘Silicon Valley of Hardware’ for the world.
The third most populous city in the country also hosts the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and has a GDP (US$ 517 billion) higher than that of neighboring Hong Kong! The list of trivia related to Shenzhen would fill up an entire article for a pub quiz, but this should suffice for now: that the city has the fifth-highest number of billionaires and the second-largest number of skyscrapers in the world. From top research institutions to financial centers and tech hubs, the city has it all under its roof. Tell me a city that rivals Shenzhen in India?
Industrialist and Twitter’s favorite WhatsApp uncle Anand Mahindra, in his latest tweet, has the same quest. He tweeted, “It’s time for a Shenzhen equivalent city in India….”
It’s time for a Shenzhen equivalent city in India….— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 12, 2025
And boy was he (and the Chaiwala premiere) trolled! Here are a few for your chuckling pleasure.
There is Dholera. Then there are 100 Smart Cities. Why not talk about them as benchmarks instead of Shenzhen? Each of them are more advanced than Shenzhen. https://t.co/0cx5aQe5AU— Joy (@Joydas) April 12, 2025
P. S. Those who don’t believe it, are anti-nationals. https://t.co/Lcv10fwDTr— PuNsTeR™ (@Pun_Starr) April 12, 2025
Sir we started building such a city in 2009 itself – under the visionary leadership of Shri Narendra Modi.
It’s called Dholera Special Investment Region. Forget Shenzhen – it was supposed to rival Singapore.
But industrialists like yourself never set up shop there. Wonder why. https://t.co/RHL1qmCfoG— The DeshBhakt 🇮🇳 (@TheDeshBhakt) April 12, 2025
Echoing Mr. Mahindra’s sentiments, I propose the next Shenzhen to be built in Bihar. We need a city version of that clock tower.— Ashish K. Mishra (@akm1410) April 12, 2025
Anand, Dholera in Gujarat will go down as a monument to Modi’s leadership & abilities. Modi beat Shenzhen with Dholera https://t.co/W4pNqMnqIp— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) April 12, 2025
India has a smart city which is 100X times better Shenzhen pic.twitter.com/iHsMm3J5GO— Ravi 🇺🇸 🍉 (@manvalism) April 12, 2025
Scenes from Shenzhen, Gujarat 2045 https://t.co/DfYbMX3Sh8— Varun (@wizardrincewind) April 12, 2025
Could this city be? It impressed you a lot. https://t.co/eF3FJmXuRd— Ganeshan (@ganeshan_iyer) April 12, 2025
This is almost done. Just wait for another 5 years and Modiji is already working on it.
By 2030, One Rupee will be 80 USD. Also Modiji’s all time dream of making foreigners stand in line for Indian Visa will also be done. This is how our Shenzhen will look… https://t.co/DDbw4Cymr5 pic.twitter.com/nqwmCl1vZ5— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) April 12, 2025
Sir Dholera +100 smart cities hain already.
Zyada Roshni ki wajah se shayad aapko dikhai nahi de rahi.
🤩 pic.twitter.com/AMNbfQLYYg— Vini Kohli (@vinikkohli) April 12, 2025
Subah Subah “apne yahan koi smart City kyu nahi hai?”
Din mein “ye gareeb bachha bina chappal school ja raha hai, kya spirit hai”
Shaam ko “flood mein log nach rahe , kya spirit hai “
Raat ko “patient ne khud ko glucose laga liya, kya spirit hai”— Rofl Gandhi 2.0 🏹 (@RoflGandhi_) April 12, 2025
Sir, haven’t you heard about Dholera Smart city?
E-rickshaw has been replaced with flying Thars here. No road rage, only sky rage 🤜 https://t.co/HQOBtjiZXM pic.twitter.com/iKY5Nd6x5S— Rofl Gandhi 2.0 🏹 (@RoflGandhi_) April 12, 2025
