Gurgaon () is the sixth largest city in the Indian state of Haryana. According to the 2001 India census, Gurgaon has a population of 228,820.^[1] Gurgaon has grown extensively during the last decade due to its proximity to West Delhi and South Delhi and its emergence as a major outsourcing destination and as a real estate market in northern India.

An important town in ancient Hindu mythology, Gurgaon is one of Delhi's four major satellite cities and is therefore considered to be a part of the National Capital Region of India. Over the past few years the city has grown tremendously as an outsourcing destination within India and has also witnessed a big real estate boom. It has also become the poshest area of Delhi with numerous Villas and condominiums and many malls with multinational brands.

Etymology

Dronacharya when Bhishma dies

History

Gurgaon in Punjab Province in 1903.

Gurgaon remained a small farming village while neighboring Delhi emerged as India's political capital. Delhi's economic rise attracted a large influx of laborers from neighboring regions like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab rapidly increasing Delhi's population. By early 1990s, Delhi was one of the most populated and crowded cities in the world and the need for a satellite city became more apparent. Gurgaon seemed like an ideal choice given its vast undeveloped farming lands and proximity to Delhi. Haryana Urban Development Authority bought large acres of land from farmers in Gurgaon and developed residential and commercial sectors. Tax incentives by the state government of Haryana and improvement in infrastructure attracted Indian companies and foreign investment and Gurgaon emerged as one of the major manufacturing and services hub in northern India.

Geography and Climate

Gurgaon is located at ^[2]. It has an average elevation of 220 metres (721 ft).

The present Gurgaon district comprising nine blocks Tauru, Nuh, Pataudi, Nagina, Punhana, F.P.Jhirka, Sohna, Gurgaon & Farrukhnagar was created on 15 August,1979. It is the southern-most district of Haryana. On its north, it is bounded by the district of Rohtak and the Union Territory of Delhi. Faridabad district lies to its east. On its south, the district shares boundaries with the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. To its west lies the district of Rewari and the State of Rajasthan. Gurgaon is situated between the Himalayas and Aravalis mountain ranges. It is surrounded on 3 sides by Haryana and to the east, across the river Yamuna by Uttar Pradesh. Its greatest length is around 13 miles and the greatest breadth is 17 miles. Delhi's altitude ranges between 213 to 305 meters above sea level.|^[3].

Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[4], Gurgaon had a population of 228,820. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Gurgaon has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Gurgaon, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. There was a big population of jat Sikhs but due to development of Gurgaon some of the rich farm owners have moved back to Punjab and some have resided in the city and have built big businesses.

Ethnicity

Most Gurgaonites are Jats and Punjabis . But now due to the real estate boom there also a large number of Biharis and Oriyas . There is also a fast growing expatriates community with foreign investment flowing into Gurgaon but there is also a growing African and Bangladeshi community. Most Gurgaonites are Hindu but there are also a small number of Muslims and Parsis.

Economy

Cyber Greens Office Complex contains the offices of ABN Amro, Microsoft IBM Daksh, Sapient, Nokia, Canon, and Alcatel

DLF Square

Plaza Tower

Major Office Complex

Favorable tax policy by the Haryana government, improvement in the city's infrastructure by Haryana Urban Development Authority and the need of a business center close to Indira Gandhi International Airport saw the emergence of Gurgaon as one of the most prominent outsourcing and offshoring hubs in South Asia. Real estate, automobiles, retail and banking are other major industries. Gurgaon contributes over 50% of Haryana's income tax revenues along with Faridabad. ^[5]

The distribution of outsourcing companies is skewed towards non-IT services . India's outsourcing industry was born in Gurgaon in 1997 when GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was set up as the India-based business process services operations of GE Capital. In 2005, GECIS became an independent company - Genpact, which is now headquartered in Gurgaon. A number of BPO and KPO firms such as Keane, Genpact, Evalueserve, Dell, British Telecom, Accenture, Hewitt Associates and Convergys have Gurgaon as their regional operations hub. This trend continued after several other firms like Alcatel-Lucent, Niksun, IBM, Opera Solutions and Bain & Company established themselves in the city. Gurgaon also has a major manufacturing industry. Several auto-manufacturing facilities exist including India's largest passenger car company, Maruti Suzuki, and largest motorcycle company, Hero Honda, are based in Gurgaon.

The outsourcing boom has led to a rapid growth in employment prospects and local wages, leading to a mushrooming of shopping malls, restaurants and entertainment facilities. Demand for such lifestyle options is driven by the demographic shift to a younger, more cosmopolitan, more affluent and better educated population. This also led to boom in the city's retail industry. Gurgaon has also benefited from the aviation boom in India, though it lost the bid for the new international airport in the Delhi area to Greater Noida. India currently has 16 airlines, out of which IndiGo Airlines and MDLR Airlines have their headquarters in Gurgaon.

Urbanism

New Buildings were built to make Gurgaon more appealing to investment

Most of the residents in Gurgaon work in the city's booming IT industry.

Regent Plaza much like many other buildings close by cater to Multinational banks like Citi

Most structures are covered with steel and glass

Business Park

Initially a small farming village located south of Delhi, Gurgaon saw a massive increase in its population and economy after real estate major, DLF Group, bought farms owned by local people and started developing housing societies for upper-middle class residents of Delhi. One such housing society, DLF City, became a real estate phenomenon in northern India with many Delhites preferring the greener and newly planned Gurgaon over the congested and heavily polluted metropolis.

The urban landscape has been constantly changing in the fast growing city of Gurgaon in the past few years. In the Hindu and Mughal times the city was largely made up of the temples and forts which were used as a barrier to secure Delhi.The present City of Gurgaon can be considered the metropolitan area of an old civilization, encompassing every single settlement around the original city, and expanding even further with the establishment of new neighbourhoods and districts since the changes in the 21st century.

Until the 2000, the city has gone into decline compared to the importance it had when ruled by the Hindus, but due to an immediate need of a satellite city for Delhi it got its revival. Now it is recognized as one of the most important business hubs of North India. To capitalize on the foreign investment and new business opportunities, numerous tall structures were built around the city to accommodate the rapid growth. Surrounding villages were absorbed into Gurgaon as the city rapidly expanded outwards.

The tallest highrise office and residential buildings are mostly located in the north western areas of the city, and especially in the business and shopping districts of MG Road, DLF City, and Ashok Marg. The headquarters of Gurgaon's largest companies and banks are also located in this area.

Thousands of professionals have recently made their home in Gurgaon, living in apartments or in newly constructed colonies and condominiums. The mushrooming shopping malls of Gurgaon, like the Ambience Mall, Gurgaon Central, DLF City Centre, DLF Grand Mall, DLF Mega Mall, Sahara Mall, MGF Metropolitan Mall, MGF Mega City, DLF Star Mall, are also indicative of the recognition by retailers of the far-reaching aspirations, and deep pockets, of the residents of the city.

By 2010, the state government hopes to complete a world class Golden Triangle City Centre (GTCC) in Sector 29 with as many as four skyscrapers higher than Taipei 101.Some experts are worried about the project because Gurgaon lies in an earthquake prone area ^[6]. The fast growing population, with increasing purchasing power, has created a huge demand for housing, resulting in escalating property prices in recent years.

Transportation

Radio Taxi

8 Lane Expressway with streetlights and has 4 toll gates

The 32 lane toll gate at National Highway 8 is the largest in Asia and third largest in the world

New Buses

The Gurgaon Railway Station that has gone into disrepair

Traffic at rush hour.

The state governments of Delhi and Haryana have created an 8 lane expressway from Delhi to Gurgaon, which meets European standards ^[7]. It is part of the Golden Quadrilateral project. Though only 28 km long, the expressway became one of the few 35 motorways in the world and the fourth in India to have street lights . The expressway between Gurgaon and New Delhi, provides non-stop connectivity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport and the Domestic Airport and to Dhaula Kuan in Delhi over a distance of 28 kilometers (18 miles), and includes 7 flyovers and 5 underpasses along the stretch.

An inexplicable fact, modes of public transport within the city practically do not exist. There are a handful of local buses plying on a few routes. The only other form of transport is taxi. Gurgaon has 4 types of Taxis as to make them cater to all classes of the population from the rich to the poor. The taxis range from the Black and yellow cab to the most expensive taxi dubbed White Taxi. Government has not taken much of an initiative to introduce buses or other forms of public transport as the average salary in Gurgaon is double the country's average salary and accounts for 50% of tax revenues along with Faridabad for the state of Haryana.

The main Bus Depot of the city connects to all neighboring towns including Delhi. The buses to Delhi are the most frequent and have a choice of routes between AIIMS (via Mehrauli) and Dhaula Kuan. It also connects to Rohtak, Jammu, Faridabad , Dharuera and others. Recently, the Gurgaon administration and Haryana Roadways has bought 10 Cerita Motors semi low floor bus and has started some new city bus service routes in new gurgaon that connects the fashion district of MG Road to the numerous business parks like DLF City and Unitech Internatiional Business Park. ^[8] . Due to a lot of job opportunities inv Gurgaon, the Delhi Transport Corporation is using 15 of their 250 air-conditioned Tata Marcopolo buses ^[9] to ply on the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway.

Most Gurgaonites own cars as the cream of the Delhi-ites have moved to Gurgaon but to minimize traffic on the expressway, a metro line too is supposed to link the prosperous suburb of Delhi, Gurgaon with other parts of Delhi. A Monorail or suburban railway is also being discussed by the Haryana government to link Gurgaon with Faridabad, which is the other financial hub for the state of Haryana. Plans to extend the Delhi Metro to Gurgaon have now been formally approved by both Delhi and Haryana governments, both having reached a cost sharing arrangement. Delhi Metro to Gurgaon is expected to be completed by the year 2010 .

Due to the little importance of the Gurgaon railway station it has gone into disrepair and is a contrast to the modern building made of steel and glass in the rest of the cities. The rails connect to both Rewari on one side and Delhi Cantt on other. Gurgaon has its railway station located at the extreme corner of the city and little parking facilities thus improving the civil facilities of the city has been the most important topic in the administration. Gurgaon residents mostly depend on railway stations in Delhi or airports for long-distance travel.

Education

The city is home to a number of reputed educational institutions.The city is home to a number of reputed educational institutions - Management Development Institute, ITM (Institute Of Technology and Management), Indian Institute of Law, IILM Institute for Higher Education, The Gurgoanites normally do their higher studies in Delhi. Schools and higher educational institutions in Delhi are administered either by the Directorate of Education, the NCT government, or private organizations.

Life in Gurgaon

Shopping

Shopping malls cater to the increased purchasing power of the people

Galaxy Mall

MG road, the longest street of malls, restaurants, cafes et cetera in Asia

Gurgaon is considered as the unofficial "Mall Capital of India"Gurgaon is known for its large number of malls and shopping facilities, attributed to be one of the major factors in its recent growth. ^[10] Though Gurgaon lacks in historic history, the new shopping centers have opened up all around the city. The first shopping malls were established on MG Road- DLF City Center Mall and MGF Metropolitan Mall. Since then many new ones have sprung up around the city like the Ambi Mall, the largest mall in India and South Asia and 7th largest in Asia. Wedding Mall(2007) and Gold Souk are one of many speciality malls in town. Mall of India which is being constructed and is supposed to be completed in 2008 end is supposed to be the 9th largest in the world. Most new malls are targeting high-end consumers and are almost exclusively dedicated to world-famous fashion brands like Chanel and Versace. In March 2008, a new law went into effect in the state requiring all malls and shopping centers to be closed one day per week in order to conserve electricity and help traffic flow. All malls and shopping centers are closed on Tuesday. However, some major retail chains like LifeStyle stores have managed to open on all seven days.

www.JindalCrafts.com - Manufacturer & Exporter of Premium range of Indian Gifts, Arts & Handicrafts

www.TajMahalVirtualTour.com - A virtual way to visit Taj Mahal, greatest wonder of the world

www.IndiaVirtualTour.com - A virtual way to visit India

www.ViniInifnity.com - A complete web solutions providing company

www.FaridabadYellowPages.com - A 2 Z about Faridabad

www.GurgaonYellowPages.com - A 2 Z about Gurgaon

Recreation

There are numerous sports club around the city. Most real estate companies have established recreational facilities in their own residential complexes.^[11]

Neemrana and Pataudi Palace are Historic Hotel resorts and favorite weekend getaways for Gurgaon-ites. The Shekhawati Region near Gurgaon hosts one of the best havelis in India with beautiful frescoes. The towns of Shekhawati are eminent for their amazing painted havelis. Such is the appeal of the havelis that this region is dubbed as "open art gallery of Rajasthan". The plethora of painted Havelis in rich artistic tradition makes it commendable and fascinating. Most of the buildings are dated from 18th century to early 20th century. The Shekhawati landscape is dotted with so many havelis that tracking them is something like a treasure hunt.

Bars, cafés and restaurants

Gurgaon pubs offer great entertainment with great themes. There are huge range of pubs from Charcoal Griiland to Odyssey. And many other offer the most authentic Indian and the best in world cuisine. Along with the traditional Indian restaurants, many European and Far Eastern restaurants and numerous other cuisines are also thriving in the city. ^[11]

Most of the city's pubs and cafes are situated on the MG Road, the fashion district on Gurgaon. Other restaurants and most expensive ones are on the Mehrauli Gurgaon area. Many European restaurants have come up including reputed restaurants like Tonino and Clemont Ferrand in that area. Small streets here have been nick named french and Italian names due to many European restaurants in this part of town. A famous street which has became known as La Rue Française has rows of pubs, cafés and restaurants playing live French and Spanish music. Gymkhana Club is known for its seafood restaurant and superb snack eateries and great sport facilities. Many Portuguese and Spanish restaurants have been established by the local South Indian migrants.

Night Clubs

Gurgaon nightclubs provide the best of comfort and service and are also coming up with innovative ways to lure consumers. With UV lights, laser laden dance spaces, gigantic bars and smart decor, Gurgaon is on its way a whole new world of nightlife.Bed, a bar in Gurgaon exhibits loud American music to lure the expats. The Bed does do justice to its name as one catch a glimpse of people dozing off on the super comfy beds. With the arrival of pubs in Gurgaon, the nightlife has certainly transformed. ^[11]

District Administration

Delhi and Gurgaon Police work together to keep Gurgaon safe. Interceptors patrol the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway and many of the main roads in Gurgaon.

• The Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, is the overall in-charge of the General Administration in the district. He is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Haryana Civil Service and other Haryana state services.

• Till recently, the Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, used to be responsible for maintaining Law & Order and related issues in the district. He was assisted by the officers of the Haryana Police Service and other Haryana Police officials. Now, since June, 2007 the Police System has been converted into Commissionerate system of policing at par with other metropolitan cities in India e.g. Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, etc. for better administration of law and order.

• The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, is responsible for the management of the Forests, Environment and Wild-Life in the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Haryana Forest Service and other Haryana Forest officials and Haryana Wild-Life officials.

• Sectoral development is looked after by the district head/officer of each development department such as [PWD], Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers are from various [Haryana] state services.

The Pitampura TV Tower broadcasts programming to both Delhi and Gurgaon.

Media

Due to its close proximity to Delhi, Gurgaon shares media outlets with the capital city, such as radio stations, television stations, and newspapers. Television programming in the city includes two free terrestrial television channels offered by Doordarshan, and several Hindi, English and regional-languages cable channels offered by Multi system operators. Satellite television, in contrast, is yet to gain large-scale subscribership in the city.^[12]

Print journalism is also shared in Gurgaon and Delhi. During the year 2004?05, 1029 newspapers—in thirteen languages—were published in Delhi. Of these, 492 were Hindi language newspapers, and included Navbharat Times, Dainik Hindustan, Punjab Kesri, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar and fastest growing weekly The Stageman International.^[13] Among the English language newspapers, The Hindustan Times, with over a million copies in circulation, was the single largest daily.^[13] Other major English newspapers include Indian Express, Business Standard, Times of India, The Hindu, The Pioneer and Asian Age. Radio is a less popular mass medium in Delhi, although FM radio has been gaining ground^[14] since the inauguration of several new FM channels in 2006.^[15] A number of state-owned and private radio stations broadcast from Delhi, including All India Radio (AIR), one of the world's largest radio service providers, which offers six radio channels in ten languages. Other city-based radio stations include Big FM (92.7 FM)'Radio Mirchi (98.3 FM), Fever (104.0 FM), Radio One (94.3 FM), Red FM (93.5 FM) and Radio City (91.1 FM).

Sports

Force India

But there is still a lack of sports complexes in Gurgaon. Most are owned by corporations and membership is quite expensive. The government has promised to build 5 Sports Complexes by 2010.

Immigration

The 5 Star Hotel, Gurgaon Hilton is one of many 5 Star Hotels in town thanks to Gurgaon's booming economy, much of the economy has been built on the hardwork of so called guest workers

Migrant workers from states like Bihar and Orrisa work in these construction projects as farming is no longer profitable in these states due to the infertile land and droughts. Though the urban areas in these states are developing fast, the rural areas are drying up, so many are opting to work in farm lands in Punjab and in big cities like Gurgaon.

There has also been a large number of construction workers from Africa and Bangladesh who have been brought in to build The Metro Line, Malls and corporate offices. DLF, a big construction firm is supposed to have employed about 2,000 African migrant workers to finish work on Mall of India, which is supposed to be the largest mall in India and 10th largest in the world.

The economic boom has also created a steady influx of qualified workers from South India and expatriates from Africa.

References

External links

• Gurgaon administration's web site
• A website about Gurgaon
• Gurgaon citizens' web site

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