Surat City Guide

WELCOME TO SURAT

 

History of Surat :-

Surat previously known as “Suryapur”, is a well-developed metropolis of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities of the world. The city is located 306 km south of state capital Gandhinagar, and is situated on the left bank of the Tapti River (Tapi), the center being around 22 km from its mouth.

Surat was recently conferred with two awards “Best Urban City of India” and “Best City to Live in India” constituted by Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS). Surat gained fame and recognition for being the ’2nd Cleanest City in India’ awarded by INTACH during 1995-1996, and it also won the best practice award by UN-CHS.

It was once again declared the ’3rd Cleanest City’ in India in 2011. The city registered an annualized fastest GDP growth rate of 11.5 per cent over the seven fiscal years between 2001 and 2008, according to data compiled by the economic research firm Indices Analytic.

The city is largely recognized for its textile and diamond businesses. It is also known as the diamond capital of the world and the textile capital/Manchester textile city of India, a distinction it took over from Ahmedabad. It is also known as the “Embroidery capital of India” with the highest number of embroidery machines than any other city.

92% of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished in Surat.

Surat Municipal Corporation

Administratively, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is the responsible unit for the provision of basic amenities in the city. The local authority was established as a small municipality in 1853, became a borough municipality in 1952 and was accorded the status of a Corporation in 1966.

A unique Indoor Stadium in West India for the latest & International games in Surat. With a seating capacity of 7000 viewers, this massive fully air conditioned stadium is one of the key attractions of Surat. Inaugurated in December 1998, the complex boasts of all modern facilities and was built at a cost of Rs. 21 crore.

Today’s Surat

Surat is now India’s second cleanest city. Surat was ranked the No.1 city in India to earn, invest and live. Surat has the highest No. of flyovers in Gujarat. Surat has a very good shopping area. Surat is also called “Mall City” now the days. Surat has numbers of mall and super markets like Escone Mall, Big Bazaar, Vishal Mega Mart, Sahaj Super Stoer, Diraj Sons, City Mall, House Full, etc., Surat has three multiplexes Fame – Raj Empire, Cityplus Multiplex- Adlabs, Valentine and numbers of Cimace all around the city. Surat is famous for tasty and delicious foods, especially surti khamam, locho, surti undhayu etc.

Industry of Surat

The industries in Surat are traditionally dominated by small scale manufacturing units including diamond cutting, textiles, gold thread, dyeing and printing which were largely home based and cater to the domestic market. Diamond cutting and polishing, however, are for export market. The medium and large-scale industries are mostly located at the five industrial estates in and around the city.

Surat is also famous for its saree. 20 percent of sarees manufactured in India is from Surat. During festive season and during marriage season people throng to Surat to buy sarees as they get more varieties at cheaper rates too.

Today Surat is a booming industrial center famous for textiles, Jari, brocades and is a very important diamond processing center with a glorious past and a bright future. Surat offers a wide range of places of interest ranging from historical to religious, educational to entertainment and art to industry.
Surat is also an industrial hub for the production of synthetic fibers and man-made fabrics, contributing almost 28% of India’s total synthetic fiber output and 40% of the nation’s total man-made fabric production and computrized embroidery work. In addition it is home to several major processing facilities/manufacturing centers for Reliance Petrochemicals, Essar Steel, Larsen & Toubro, KRIBHCO, ONGC, Shell, ABG Shipyard, Torrent Power.