City profile- Surat
The city of Surat has a glorious history dating back to 300 B.C and owes its name to the old Hindu Town ‘Suryapur’. During the 15th century, the city of Surat emerged as an important port town and a trade centre. The city was at the height of prosperity till the rise of Bombay port in the 19th century. While there was a down slide in Surat’s economy since 1901, the foundations for the growth in the city was laid in the 60’s with the expansion of diamond trade, the gradual shift in the economic base into zari and textiles (power looms), and the intensification of oil and gas exploration activities. Today, apart from the traditional industries of textile manufacturing, trade, diamond cutting and polishing industries, intricate zari works, the base has expanded to gas based industries at Hazira.
Location and regional setting
Surat is situated in south Gujarat, 250 Km north of Bombay, on the banks of river Tapi. The city is well connected regionally with the important cities of the western part of india through NH-8 and NH-6.
The city is a pivotal centre on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai regional corridor as well as on the 225 km long industrial belt, having direct linkages with the industrial urban centres of Vadodara, Ankleshwar and Vapi.
Surat also has a domestic airport connecting the city to other cities. Daily flights to Delhi,Jaipur and Ahmedabad are provided from Surat. The summers are quite hot with temperatures ranging from 37.C to 44.C. The climate is pleasant during the monsoon while autumn is temperate. The average annual rainfall of the city is 1143 mm.
Demographic Profile
Surat is India's eighth (2011) and Gujarat’s second most populous city (2011). It became a metropolis in 1991, along with eleven other major cities across the country.The city has been experiencing rapid growth in population during past four decades. (as given in table below)The decadal growth rates have been one of the highest in the country and the highest in the state of Gujarat.
It also still has the lowest sex ratio (778) as compared to Ahmedabad (903), Rajkot (924) and Vadodara (934) (Census,2011) directing towards tremendous increase in the male migration in the city in last decade giving the city of Surat a predominant migrant city status.
Table 5.2-1:Demographic Profile
Economy
Surat is known for its textile manufacturing, trade, diamond cutting and polishing industries,intricate zari works, chemical industries and the gas based industries at Hazira established by leading industry houses such as ONGC, Reliance, ESSAR,and Shell. Much of the industrial development is located within the limits of Surat city. In fact Surat is truly an industrial city with over 50% of work force engaged in manufacturing activity. While the problem of unemployment is almost non-existent, the wages are also lower and the workers are generally deprived of social and other benefits. Out of the total 3,12,782 small scale units registered (up to Sept 2006) in the state,Surat had the highest GDP growth rates in India at 11.5 percent as of 2008. The major employment zones in the study area are primarily located in the industrial belts of Pandesara, Udhna, Sachin, Bhestan, Varachha, Kapodara,Fulpada and Katargam.
Physical growth pattern
The city was originally established on the southern bank of the River Tapi with a castle on the eastern bank of the river. The activities were concentrated within the inner wall, construction of which was started in the year 1664. The physical expansion of the town was radial and rapid along five major corridors on the north, south, east, west and south-west till the end of 1980 s. Since the 1990 s the city has been growing rapidly on the eastern, southern and south-western sides where large area was brought under residential use by SUDA.
Map 5-1 spatial expansion
