Surat

SuratSituated on the banks of Tapi river, Surat is known as the economic capital of Gujarat. The city is popular for diamonds textiles and its food. More than 90 percent of the rough diamonds in the world are being polished in the city. Surat is the third cleanest city and eighth largest city in India. It is also world's fourth fastest growing city. Surat has been chosen as the first smart IT city of the country. The city has also been chosen to be developed as a smart city under PM Modi's Smart Cities Mission.

Demographics of Surat After Ahmedabad, Surat is considered as the second largest city in Gujarat with a population about 4.5 million as per 2011 census wherein male constitutes 53 percent and females constitutes 47 percent. Surat also comprises of a good amount of Parsi and Jewish population. The average literacy rate of Surat is about 89 percent

The older parts and the new regions of the city are divided by a moat. The civic infrastructure of Surat is maintained by the Surat Municipal Corporation. It is also responsible to carry out administrative duties for the city.

The main languages spoken in the city are Gujarati, Hindi, Sindhi, Marathi among others.

Infrastructure in Surat

Surat boasts of among the best water treatment plants in the country. The city has computerised drainage and water distribution system.the drainage system is attached to a sewage treatment plant that converts waste into energy. Surat is well equipped with proper drainage system and lighting. The authority has initiated eGovernance to speed up the overall administrative process.

One of the most crucial infrastructure development being the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) which is in return expected to boost jobs and land value. Another important development is the Diamond Research and Mercantile City or The Dream city. The work has already started for this project and will include 10,000 offices cover more than 90 lakh sq ft area while providing employment for over six lakh.

Another remarkable project being the bullet train project that will connect Ahmedabad and Mumbai. This project is expected to benefit Surat as well as Vadodara.

Economy of Surat : Surat is majorly popular for diamond and textiles. The city is world's largest diamond hub and comprises of major polishing factories for diamond. Talking about textiles, Surat is known as the Silk city of India. It is the biggest hub for man made fibre. The city comprises of 41,100 power loom units along with 381 printing and dyeing mills with overall turnover being about 5 billion rupees. It is responsible for producing about 9 million metres fabric annually. Surat is now focussing on exporting its textile.

It is considered to be the fastest growing GDP in the country. For seven fiscal years (2001 to 2008), the city registered 11.5 percent of GDP growth.

As stated in Wikipedia-the city accounts for:

Yeshwant ~ Club was established in 1934. It is a part of the Maratha legacy of the Holkar rulers and spread across 14 acres of land. Initially, it was opened for royal members of the Holkar state
But later it was opened for the business elite members as well.
90 percent of the world's total rough diamond cutting and polishing.
99.99 percent of the nation's total rough diamond cutting and polishing.
90 percent of the nation's total diamond exports.
40 percent of the nation's total man made fabric production.
28 percent of the nation's total man made fibre production.
18 percent of the nation's total man made fibre export.
12 percent of the nation's total fabric production.

Along with textile and diamond, the city also counts for other industries that include shipping, oil & gas, petroleum etc and several business majors like GAIL, ONGC, Ambuja Cement, ESSAR Group of Industries, Reliance Industries to name a few. IT companies like HCL, IBM also have branches in the city.

Air:- Surat airport is directly connected to all major parts of the country that includes Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa among others. Several airlines like SpiceJet, Air India operate regular flights from Surat to all other cities. SpiceJet has recently started a direct flight to Kolkata and Patna from Surat.

Railway:- Surat Railway comes under the Western Railways zone. It has been also selected to be developed as one of the smart railway stations.

Water:- As it is known as the port city, Surat's port is situated near Magdalla and have good facilities for industrial purposes.

Road:- Surat Municipal Corporation manages the infrastructure of the city and is connected to National Highway 8 with the help of 16 km highway connector. The major highways that pass through the city are Surat-Ahmedabad Highway as well as Udhana-Navsari Highway. Several roads, flyovers and BRTS (Bus rapid transit in Surat) system have been planned in the city to ease traffic. Surat is connected with all important cities and towns of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and much more through GSRTC. Shares auto rickshaws are one of the major mode of local transport in the city.

Metro rail project is also under pipeline connecting twin cities of Navsari and Surat.the project includes monorails as well as both overground and underground metro construction.

Festivals : The major festivals that are celebrated in the city with great joy are Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Diwali along with Kite flying festival which celebrated during Makar Sankranti. Another well known festival that is widely celebrated in Surat is Chandi Padvo that comes after two big full moon days.

Surat Smart City :

Surat has been selected to be developed as one of the smart cities under the Smart City Mission.

The main aim of the Surat Smart City will be offering high quality life led by smart interventions by transforming the area under consideration into a well planned and sustainable place.

Why invest in Surat: Being the fourth fastest growing city in the world, Surat is quite popular in terms of real estate investments as well. Here is why?

Surat offers more than 600 properties to choose from with a stable price for the past three years. The price of properties is also on the affordable side.
With major infrastructure like metro rail project, bullet train and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) already in the pipeline, the city is expected to give a good return on investment. Other major infrastructure plans include the DREAM City or the Diamond Research and Mercantile City, Smart city to name a few.
Several national and multinational companies along with the small scale and large scale businesses are making their footprint in Surat. This results in more migration of people to the city and will create more housing demand.
Already Surat is home to several large industries like diamond and textiles. Many IT, BPO and other corporates also have established themselves in the city. IT companies majorly prefer Surat due to its closeness to Mumbai, very good infrastructure facilities as well as public transportation facilities.
Moreover, Surat is strategically situated to various industrial towns like Valsad, Bharuch, Vapi and Ankleshwar which are known as Gujarat's industrial capital.
Looking at the growing housing demand and infrastructure development local builders are offering several commercial and residential projects with all amenities at affordable price range.