Gurgaon

Gurgaon गुड़गांव
Millenium City
DLF City, Gurgaon
Gurgaon Location of Gurgaon in Delhi
Coordinates	28°28′N 77°02′E / 28.47°N 77.03°E / 28.47; 77.03
Country	India
State	Haryana
District(s)	Gurgaon
Parliamentary constituency	Gurgaon Lok Sabha Constituency
Assembly constituency	Gurgaon / Badshahpur Teekli Village
Planning Agency	Haryana Urban Development Authority
Civic agency	Gurgaon Municipal Corporation
Population	228,820 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 220 m (722 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 122001 to 122017 • Telephone • +91 -(0)124 • Vehicle • HR 26 (Personal), HR 55 (Commercial)
Website	http://gurgaon.nic.in/

Gurgaon pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: गुड़गांव) is the sixth largest city in the Indian state of Haryana. Gurgaon is the industrial and financial center of Haryana. An important town in ancient Hindu mythology, Gurgaon is one of Delhi's four major satellite cities and is part of the National Capital Region of India. Over the past 10 years the city has undergone rapid development and construction.^[1] A wave of Multinational companies choose to locate their call centres in Gurgaon after GE did so in 1997. Which has made Gurgaon the call centre capital of the world.^[2] Multinational Companies also chose to put their regional headquarters in Gurgaon instead of Mumbai or Delhi.^[3] Today, Gurgaon is regarded as the best city in India to work and the best city in India to live, according to a survey by Business Today magazine. ^[4] The per capita income in Gurgaon is 122,212 INR, which makes it the 3rd highest in India after Chandigarh and Mumbai. ^[5]

Etymology

The origin of the city's name is steeped in Hindu mythology. Legend has it that Gurgaon is the ancestral village of Guru Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In Sanskrit, Guru means teacher, which in this case refers to Dronacharya and Gram means village. According to Hindu mythology, the village was gifted by the Pandavas and Kauravas to Dronacharya the son of Rishi Bhardwaj, and was therefore known as guru-gram. Over time the colloquial term gaon (which also means village in Prakrit) was substituted for gram and the name Gurgaon emerged.

History

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (August 2009)

Gurgaon in Punjab Province in 1903.

Gurgaon has been under the control of a succession of rulers of Delhi and their appointees, including Yaduvanshi Rajputs, Tughlaks, Khanzade Muslims and Mughals.^[6] A major portion of the current population consists of Yadavs. During the British rule in India, Gurgaon was integrated into the Punjab Province where it served as district and tehsil headquarters. After India's independence, Gurgaon, rather every part of what today is Haryana was a part of the state of Punjab until the reorganization of Punjab in 1966, when Punjab was divided into Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh thus forming Haryana.

Gurgaon remained a small farming village while neighbouring Delhi emerged as India's political capital. Delhi's economic rise attracted a large influx of laborers from neighboring regions like Rajasthan and Bihar rapidly increasing Delhi's population. ^[7] By early 1990s, Delhi was one of the most populous 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 areas of land from farmers in Gurgaon and developed residential and commercial sectors.

In the 1990s the Government of Haryana reformed their tax laws, thereby attracting private companies to build world-class buildings in Gurgaon.^[8] The close proximity of Delhi International Airport also attracted private firms.^[9] The recent completion of the privatized Delhi-Gurgaon expressway provides Gurgaon with world-class connectivity to Delhi International Airport, which has in turn attracted even more firms to locate their offices in Gurgaon.^[10]

Geography and Climate

Sarus Crane at Sultanpur National Park

Gurgaon is located at 28°28′N 77°02′E / 28.47°N 77.03°E / 28.47; 77.03.^[11] It has an average elevation of 220 metres (721 ft). Gurgaon district, comprising four blocks Pataudi, Sohna, Gurgaon and 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 three 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^[12].

The Sultanpur National Park, located exactly at 15.32 km from the centre of the city, is a protected migratory bird sanctuary for the Sarus Crane, Indian Peafowl, Eurasian Wigeon and other birds.

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census^[13], 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.

Ethnicity

The original Gurgaon residents were people from different communities, but around 49% of the resident were Yadavs as biggest community and remaining 40% are Gujjars, Jats, Saini and Rajputs and every village small or big have Dalits community. Gurgaon was home to a significant Muslim population before partition; most were settled here after the bloody 1857 War of Independence from Delhi and Northwestern Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). They migrated to Pakistan after partition (though many remained in the Patuadi and Firozpur Jhirka states); later on thousands of Punjabis (Hindu Immigrants from Pakistan's Punjab) who came here after partition of the country in 1947 made their home here, but today it is populated by people from across the globe.^[14][15]

Government and politics

Haryana has five seats in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's national parliament, and ten in the Lok Sabha, the lower house. The largest political parties in Haryana are the Indian National Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Haryana Janhit Congress, Bhartiya Janata Party and Indian National Lok Dal. It has a stable government under Bhupinder Singh Hooda who is the Chief Minister of the state and Rao Inderjit Singh as newly elected Member of Parliament from Gurgaon.

Economy

A major office complex in Gurgaon. IT Services form the largest sector closely followed by retail

DLF City Phase III, Cyber Greens

Favorable tax policy by the Haryana government, the construction of buildings by private companies after pressure was placed on the Haryana government by Rajiv Gandhi, improvement in the city's infrastructure by Haryana Urban Development Authority after pressure from the media, and its proximity to Indira Gandhi International Airport saw the emergence of Gurgaon as one of the most prominent outsourcing and offshoring hubs in the world. Real estate, automobiles, retail and banking are other major industries. Gurgaon contributes over 50% of Haryana's income tax revenues along with Faridabad. ^[16]

The distribution of outsourcing companies is skewed towards non-IT services^{[citation needed]}. 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^{[citation needed]}. In 2005, GECIS became an independent company - Genpact, which is now headquartered in Gurgaon. This trend continued after several other firms established themselves in the city. Gurgaon also has a major manufacturing industry. Car manufacturing facilities include India's largest passenger car company, Maruti Suzuki, and BMW. Hero Honda, the motor cycle company is based in Gurgaon.

Retail is another big industry in Gurgaon, where there are 43 malls, including the biggest, Mall of India, giving Gurgaon the 3rd highest number of malls in an Indian city. ^[17]

Urbanism

Most of the residents in Gurgaon work in the city's booming BPO and KPO industries.

Initially a small farming village located southwest of Delhi, Gurgaon saw a massive increase in its population and economy after the real estate developer, DLF Group, bought farms owned by local people^{[citation needed]} and started developing housing societies.

In 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 encompassing every settlement around the original city, and expanding even further with the establishment of new neighbourhoods and districts.

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Transportation

8 Lane Expressway between Gurgaon and Delhi

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

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Air

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi is 10 km from the city center.

Road

An eight lane expressway runs between Delhi and Gurgaon and connects to NH8 (Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai national highway). The expresswayconnects to Dhaula Kuan in Delhi over a distance of 28 km. Buses connect Gurgaon bus station to Delhi and to cities and towns in Haryana and neighboring states.

The expressway is being extended to Jaipur (225.6km) and will be completed in June 2011.^[18][19]

Train

The Gurgaon railway station located at western end of the original city connects to Rewari towards the south and Delhi.

Local transportation

Radio Taxi

Soon to come Delhi Metro

Buses

The main bus depot of the city connects to neighboring towns including Delhi, Jaipur, Alwar and Chandigarh. There are also buses to Rohtak, Jammu, Faridabad, Dharuera and others. Recently, the Gurgaon administration and Haryana Roadways have bought a number of Ashok Leyland low floor bus and started some new city bus service routes in New Gurgaon that connect MG Road to the many business parks like DLF City and Unitech International Business Park. ^[20]. The Delhi Transport Corporation also runs buses on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway ^[21].

Metro

Two Metro projects are under way in Gurgaon. The Yellow Line of the Delhi Metro is being extended into Gurgaon, with five stations along MG Road. The line is expected to be completed by June 2010.^[22]

In addition, the privately owned and operated DLF-financed Gurgaon Metro Rail Link is planned to connect the Delhi Metro's Sikanderpur Station to NH-8, with six stations on a 6-km elevated link.^[23]

Education

Schools and higher educational institutions in Delhi are administered either by the Directorate of Education, the NCT government, or private organizations.

The city is home to the Management Development Institute; ITM (Institute Of Technology and Management); Gurgaon Institute of Technology and Management; ILMS (Institute of Law & Management Studies formerly known as National Law College); IILM Institute for Higher Education, Dronacharya college of Engineering, JK Business School(Sohna Road).

The city also has prestigious primary, middle, secondary and high schools. Delhi Public School and Mother's Pride are two such examples.

Life in Gurgaon

Shopping mall

Trident Hotel Gurgaon

MG Road, the shopping district

Shopping

Gurgaon is considered the "Mall Capital of India" as it is home to over 40 malls including the biggest, Mall of India ^{[24] [25]}

In March 2008, a 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 so all malls and shopping centers are closed on Tuesday.

District administration

Delhi and Gurgaon Police are responsible for public safety.

• 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. Since June 2007 the Police System has been converted into Commissioner system of policing like Delhi and Pune have. Gurgaon now has a Police Commissioner and three Assistant Commissioner (ACP) of IPS Cader.

• 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 [Haryana] state services.

• Gurgaon has its own member of parliament (even though the city itself makes up only a small portion of the Gurgaon parliamentary Constituency and in state assembly it is represented by Gurgaon and Badshahpur Assembly constituencies). Any Indian citizens living in the city can vote.^[26]

Media

Due to its proximity to the capital city, Gurgaon shares media outlets with nearby Delhi.

Sports and recreation

Gurgaon has two 18 hole golf courses and hosted the 2008 Johnnie Walker Classic at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

In August 2009, DLF Limited obtained a 350 acre (141.64 ha) plot for 1750 crore INR ($361.6m) to build a recreation and leisure park.^[27] DLF will spend 7 years and another 1700 crore INR to complete the project.^[28]

See also

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Gurgaon.

• 2010 Commonwealth Games
• Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway
• Manesar

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gurgaon

• Gurgaon administration web site
• Gurgaon travel guide from Wikitravel
• VPRO's Backlight documentary: I am Gurgaon