Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the
Indian state
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
History
Pre-indepen ...
of
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the
Vadodara district
Vadodara District also known as Baroda District is a district in the eastern part of the state of Gujarat in western India. The city of Vadodara (Baroda), in the western part of the district, is the administrative headquarters. Vadodara District ...
and is situated on the banks of the
Vishwamitri River
Originating from Pavagadh in the Panchmahal District of Gujarat, the Vishwamitri River flows mainly through the west of the city of Vadodara. The name of this river is said to have been derived from the name of the great saint Vishwamitra. Two o ...
, from the state capital of
Gandhinagar
Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mu ...
. The railway line and
National Highway 8
The following highways are numbered 8. For roads numbered A8, see list of A8 roads. For roads numbered N8, see list of N8 roads.
Route 8, or Highway 8, may refer to:
International
* Asian Highway 8
* European route E08
* European route E008
...
, which connect
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
with
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, pass through Vadodara. The city is named for its abundance of the
Banyan
A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
(''Vad'') tree. Vadodara is also locally referred to as the ''Sanskari Nagari'' () and ''Kala Nagari'' () of India.
The city is prominent for landmarks such as the
Laxmi Vilas Palace
The Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, was constructed by the Gaekwad family, a prominent Maratha family, who ruled the Baroda State. Major Charles Mant was credited to be the main architect of the palace.
Lakshmi Vilas Palace ...
, which served as the residence of the
Maratha
The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...
royal
Gaekwad dynasty
The Gaekwads of Baroda (also spelled as Gaikwads, Guicowars, Gaekwars) ( IAST: ''Gāyakavāḍa'') are a Hindu Maratha dynasty origin of the former Maratha Empire and its subsequent Princely States. A dynasty belonging to this clan ruled the pr ...
that ruled over
Baroda State
Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...
. It is also the home of the
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...
.
Etymology
![Street scene in Baroda (c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Street_scene_in_Baroda_%28c._1880%29.jpg)
The city in one period was called Chandanavati after the rule of
Chanda
Sanskrit prosody or Chandas refers to one of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic studies.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Chandas" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , page 140 It is the study of poetic metr ...
of the Dodiya
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s. The capital was also known as Virakshetra or Viravati (Land of Warriors). Later on, it was known as Vadpatraka or Vadodará, and according to tradition, is a corrupt form of the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word ''vatodar'', meaning "in the belly of the
Banyan
A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
tree". It is, as of 2000, almost impossible to ascertain when the various changes in the name were made; early English travellers and merchants of the 18th century mention the town as Baroda,
[
] and it is from this, that the name Baroda is derived; in 1974 (well after independence) the official name of the city was changed to Vadodara.
Geography
Vadodara is located at in western India at an elevation of . It is the tenth-largest city in India with an area of and a population of 3.5 million, according to the 2010–11 census. The city sits on the banks of the
Vishwamitri River
Originating from Pavagadh in the Panchmahal District of Gujarat, the Vishwamitri River flows mainly through the west of the city of Vadodara. The name of this river is said to have been derived from the name of the great saint Vishwamitra. Two o ...
, in central Gujarat. The Vishwamitri frequently dries up in the summer, leaving only a small stream of
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
. The city is located on the fertile plain between the
Mahi and
Narmada Rivers. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the cosmopolis falls under
seismic zone-III, on a scale of I to V (in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes).
Climate
Vadodara features a borderline
tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Aw'') that despite the roughly of rain that the city receives annually is due to the area's high
potential evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpira ...
very close to being classified as a
hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(''BSh''). There are three main seasons: summer,
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
and winter. Aside from the monsoon season, the climate is dry. The weather is hot during March to July, when the average maximum is , and the average minimum is . From November to February, the average maximum temperature is , the average minimum is , and the climate is extremely dry. Cold northerly winds are responsible for mildly chilly days in January. The southwest monsoon brings a humid climate from mid-June to mid-September. The average rainfall is , but infrequent heavy torrential rains cause the river to flood
like the
2005 Gujarat flood or the
2008 Indian floods which were catastrophic.
The highest recorded temperature was on 11 May 1960 crossed with on 19 May 2016, while the lowest recorded temperature was on 15 January 1935.
Demographics
![Ganesh Chaturthi -Waghodia Road-JKSP-25-08-2017-0192](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Ganesh_Chaturthi_-Waghodia_Road-JKSP-25-08-2017-0192.jpg)
At the time of the 2011 census of India, Vadodara Municipal Corporation and associated outgrowths had a population of 3,552,371. 9.45% of the population was under 6 years of age. Vadodara had a sex ratio of 920 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 90.48%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 6.63% and 4.07% of the population respectively.
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
was the main religion, practiced by 85.39% of the population.
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
was the second-largest religion (11.40%).
Jains
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
were 1.52%,
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
1.12% and
Sikhs
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
0.45%.
At the time of the 2011 census, 71.37% of the population spoke
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
, 14.83%
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
, 7.60%
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
and 1.91%
Sindhi as their first language.
Economy
In Vadodara various large-scale industries such as
Gujarat Refinery
The Gujarat Refinery is an oil refinery located at Koyali, Vadodara District in Gujarat, Western India. It is the third largest refinery owned by Indian Oil Corporation after Paradip and Panipat Refinery. The refinery is currently under proje ...
of
Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL; d/b/a IndianOil) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It is a public sector unde ...
(IOCL),
Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC),
Vadodara Manufacturing Division(VMD)(Formerly
IPCL
Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (IPCL) was a petrochemicals company in India. At the time of its divestment to Reliance Industries Limited, its turnover for the financial year 2005-06 had crossed the US $2 billion mark.
History
IPCL ...
) of
Reliance Industries Limited
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is o ...
,
Deepak Nitrite
Deepak Nitrite Ltd. is an Indian chemical manufacturing company. The company’s manufacturing facilities are located at Nandesari and Dahej in Gujarat, Roha and Taloja in Maharashtra and Hyderabad in Telangana. Deepak Nitrite produces a spec ...
, Parikh Industries, Linde Engineering India and
Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited
Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) is an Indian chemical substance manufacturing company, promoted by the Government of Gujarat. Its manufacturing facilities are located at Dahej and Vadodara in Gujarat. The company manufactures chemic ...
(GACL) have come up in the vicinity of
Gujarat Refinery
The Gujarat Refinery is an oil refinery located at Koyali, Vadodara District in Gujarat, Western India. It is the third largest refinery owned by Indian Oil Corporation after Paradip and Panipat Refinery. The refinery is currently under proje ...
. Other large-scale public sector units are Heavy Water Project,
Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL),
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the ...
(ONGC) & Gas Authority of India Limited (
GAIL
Gail may refer to:
People
*Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name
Surname
* Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar
* Max Gail (born 1943), American actor
* Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer and ...
). Vadodara, is also manufacturing hub of power equipments, rail coaches and defense aircraft.
Located in Vadodara are over 35% of India's power transmission and distribution equipment manufacturers and an estimated 800 ancillaries supporting the big players in Power Sector equipment manufacturing and engineering industry.
Larsen & Tourbo(L&T), has established “Knowledge City” in Vodadara. The L&T Knowledge City is the hub of several key businesses of the L&T Group. The Power business, Mid & Downstream Hydrocarbon, L&T Technology Services and the engineering joint venture L&T-Sargent & Lundy operate out of the facility. It also houses manufacturing facility for switchgears, air circuit breakers (ACBs) and moulded case circuit breakers (MCCBs).
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
, a Canadian company, has established rail coach manufacturing plant in
Savli
Savli is a village near Vadodara, Gujarat in Western India. It is located near one of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation centres, which includes companies such as Nirma Chemical, Bombardier Transportation (now acquired by Alstom) ...
along with other manufacturing companies such as
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
,
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
and
Voltas
Voltas Limited is an Indian multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Mumbai. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including air conditioners, air coolers, refrigerators, washing machi ...
. This plant manufactures coaches for
Delhi Metro
The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour-cod ...
and the
New Generation Rollingstock
The New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) is a class of individually-propelled carriages ("electric multiple units") manufactured by Bombardier Transportation in Savli, India for the Queensland Rail City network that entered service between December ...
for
Brisbane, Australia
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
. The plant is also manufacturing trainsets for
Delhi - Meerut RRTS. Beside this Vadodara holds a key position in pharmaceutical industry of Gujarat,as many small and big pharma companies are located in Vadodara.Vadodara is an strong economic pillar of Gujarat and India.
Tata Advanced Systems Limited
Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) is an Indian aerospace, defense, military engineering & construction and technology company. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, a holding company for the Tata Group.
History
TASL entered into a j ...
(TASL), a subsidiary of
Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
and
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
joint-venture has set up
C-295
The CASA C-295 (now Airbus C295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spain, Spanish aerospace company CASA (aircraft manufacturer), CASA.
Work on what would become the C-295 was started d ...
transport aircraft manufacturing facility at Vadodara as part of a Rs 22,000 crore deal to supply 56 such aircraft. The C-295 will replace the
Avro
AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broad ...
aircraft in service with the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
. This project will make Vadodara, a defense manufacturing hub. The first Made in India aircraft is expected in September 2026.
The revenue for the city is generated through taxes, service provision, and state government assistance. The taxes include general taxes, conservancy taxes, water taxes whereas the non-tax or service can be water charges, rent from municipal properties, public service charges, etc. The VMC budget for the year 2020–2021 against the proposed budget of Rs 3,554 crore last year, stood at Rs 3,770 crore this year.
Government and politics
![Vadodara Municipal Corporation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Vadodara_Municipal_Corporation.jpg)
The Vadodara city's municipal corporation or Maha Nagar Palika is a part of the Vadodara district. The district is set up in three distinct levels of administration, which are the collectorate - the district falls under the jurisdiction of a collector; the prant offices which take care of the affairs of taluka and other state government offices and the mamlatdar or taluka offices. The overall district administration has four departments: city survey, district supply office, district planning office, and district election office.
The City elects one
member to the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
(parliament) and five
to the Gujarat
Vidhan Sabha
The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...
(Assembly). All of the five assembly seats of Vadodara were won by the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
during the legislative elections in 2017. In the 2021 VMSS/VMC elections, the BJP won 69
seats, seven seats went to the Congress.
*Election wards: 19
*Seats (Corporators): 76
*Population per ward: 87,826
*Seats reserved for women: 38
*Total voters (as on 1 January 2019): 1,638,300
Civic administration
![Mandvi Gate01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Mandvi_Gate01.jpg)
According to the 2011 census, the total Urban Agglomeration (UA) population of Vadodara is 35,17,191. This is governed by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation which was founded in 1951. It was initially called the Baroda Municipal Corporation but later changed to Vadodara Municipal Corporation after the city's name was changed in the year 1974. The Bombay Municipal Corporation Act of 1951 was setup as the main legislation for the administration and governance of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.
The city limits of Vadodara have expanded since: an area of was added in the year 2002, followed by of additional expansion to the north of the city in 2006. The villages Sayajipura, Bapod, Kapurai, Khatamba, Tarsal Kalali, Gorva, Chhani and Vemali were added to the VMC boundaries in 2017 and the latest expansion notice has been given to the seven villages of Sevasi, Bhayli, Vemali, Bil, Karodiya, Undera and Vadadala in the year 2020.
City governance
![Baroda Museum01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Baroda_Museum01.jpg)
The Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 governs the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. The Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act of 1949 which is derived from the Bombay Act No. LIX of 1949 is another legislation which most municipal corporation, including Vadodara in Gujarat function under.
The highest body of power in the municipal corporation is the General Board, which is composed of elected members from each ward within the VMC. There are 19 wards under the VMC, each of which consists 4 seats of councilor which has a 50% reservation of seats for women. There are a total of 76 councilors elected for this VMC term where every councilor is appointed in various committees for a period of one year.
The VMC has twelve executive committees apart from the standing committee, which look after the specialized functions of VMC. These committees include public works committee, water work committee, drainage and sewerage committee, health committee, town planning committee, estate management committee, recreation and culture committee, electric committee, and legal committee. Each committee consists of 12 councilors each. The formulation of an additional ward committee is recommended by the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporation Act of 1949 for a city exceeding the population of three lakhs- which is above the current population of Vadodara.
Politics
Three
corporators are elected from each ward, who in turn elect a mayor. Executive powers are vested in the municipal commissioner, who is an
IAS IAS may refer to:
Science
* Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States
* Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis.
* Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...
officer appointed by the Gujarat state government. The mayor is responsible for the day-to-day running of the city services, municipal school board, the city bus service, the municipal hospital and the city library. The last municipal corporation election for Vadodara took place in the year 2015 where Bhartiya Janta Party won in the majority with 57 out of the total 76 seats, followed by the Indian National Congress (INC) with 14 seats.
There are six sitting MLAs who have VMC under their jurisdiction and are currently part of the state ministry. Rajendrabhai Trivedi is the BJP MLA and incumbent 14th Speaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly, who was unanimously elected on 9 February 2018. Jitendra Sukhadia is the Minister of Tourism, Non-resident Gujarati division as well as the Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs. Saurabhbhai Patel is the incumbent Energy Minister of Gujarat while Yogeshbhai Patel heads the Ministry of State for Narmada Development. The MLA Madhubhai Shrivastav is the state appointed Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation (GAIC) chief and Manisha Vakil is BJP's Vadodara City Assembly Constituency MLA.
Law and order
The Vadodara City Police are responsible for law enforcement and public safety in Vadodara, Gujarat. The Vadodara City Police is headed by a
Police Commissioner, an
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
officer. They are a subdivision of the state police force of
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
and are headed by a commissioner. The Vadodara police force is responsible for the protection and safety of Vadodara citizens. Shamsher Singh, a previous serving as the Additional Director General of Police (State Crime Record Bureau cum Computer Centre), Gandhinagar, is the current Police commissioner of the Vadodara. He formally took charge on 1 January 2021.
Civic services
![Flora Clock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Flora_Clock.jpg)
There are three civic service departments under the municipal corporation: the engineering department, the health department, and the support or administration department.
These departments together provide services, infrastructure and management for the entire city. The Engineering Department manages infrastructure and services provided through cells or sub-departments like bridge cell, drainage project, town development, streetlight, electrical sewerage, mechanical sewerage, building project, solid waste management, road, storm water drainage, water work, land and estate. The Health Department takes care of public health-related issues and services through its solid waste management, health and I.C.D.S. sub-departments. The health department also has a sub-department for managing Birth, Death & Marriage Registrations. The Support Department handles all IT and administration-related issues and services with cells like IT, accounts audit, census, P.R.O., election, land & estate (acquisition), shops & establishment, assessment, and U.C.D.-N.U.L.M departments.
Urban planning
The two main institutions involved in planning and development in Vadodara are VMSS and the Vadodara Urban Development Authority (VUDA). The responsibilities of both these agencies are demarcated clearly not only physically but also functionally. The governing acts for both institutions differ. The principal responsibility of VUDA is to ensure a holistic development of the Vadodara agglomeration covering an area of ,
whereas VMSS is involved in the development of area of .
Solid waste management
![Kalaghoda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Kalaghoda.jpg)
The municipal corporation under its health department provides the solid waste management for the Vadodara city. All zonal asst. municipal commissioners, zonal health officers, ward officers, sanitary inspectors are part of the solid waste management committee who need to be present during the weekly SWM coordination meetings. The department takes care of the sweeping, cleaning and maintenance along with complaint redressal. All zonal chief, assistant municipal commissioners, zonal health officers and other sanitary staff are expected to work on field between 7am to 11am on weekdays. The solid waste management also has a litter prevention system which carries out litter patrol and charges fines as administrative fees from the defaulters.
Water supply
An average of 53.2 million gallon (240 million litres) of water per day, or 38 gallon (190 litres) per person per day is provided the city daily to meets its daily water requirement.
The water supply is provided by the water works department of the municipal corporation along with other agencies like the Sardar Sarovar Narmada limited who directly supply water to VMC which is looked after the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board, and the Water and Sanitation Management Organization. The city receives its drinking water supply from 16 high rise water tanks and one busting station located within the city.
The Sardar Sarovar Dam which is the one of the drinking water source for city, had halted supply temporarily after receiving complains about the high sulphur content Narmada river, but was restarted again after a few days. The other sources of water are the Mahi River for which the water is obtained from French well which has naturally purified water through layers of sand. The Ajwa Sarovar is another source of drinking water, the water of which is filtered at Nimeta Water Purification Plant.
In January 2019, VUDA and GWSSB joined hands to reduce the acute shortage of drinking water for residential societies near close to the Vadodara city. A quantity of 3 MLD water per day for three years will be provided as a temporary measure until water from the Timbi pond and Narmada canal reaches these residences.
Drainage and sewage
![NyayM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/NyayM.jpg)
The drainage is provided under the Engineering department's drainage projects or the Public Health Engineering Laboratory (PHEL). The department provides planning, designing, estimating, tendering, executing and operating and maintaining the sewerage systems like the sewerage network, sewage pumping stations, sewage pumping mains, sewage treatment and effluent disposal works.
The sewage as of 2001 covered 55% area and 65% of the present population when the VMC limits extended to . The Public Health Engineering Laboratory (PHEL) has been working on a comprehensive sewerage system Master Plan for of sewers and nine sewage treatment works. The plan master plan is designed for the year 2021 where the project aims to increase the sewage coverage from 55% to 95% by area and 65% to 93% by population for an area of .
Electricity
Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited
Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. is an electricity company that was incorporated on 15 September 2003 by Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB). The Company obtained the Certificate of the Commencement of Business on 15 October 2003. The company was on ...
(MGVCL) is the main electricity provision company for the Gujarat state and Vadodara. Hydroelectricity is additionally being generated by water from Sardar Sarovar Dam with six units of river bed power houses of 200 megawatt each.
Fire and emergency
Fire and rescue operations are provided by the VMC under its fire department which is provided according to the Section 285 to 289 of the BPMC Act. VMC has fixed rates for rescue operations & fire extinguishing within the VMC limits and outside it. The VMC's fire department also provide additional services like water tanker provision for domestic, religious or marriage purposes, providing ambulance, dead body carrier.
Transport
The city is on the major rail and road arteries joining
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
with
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and Mumbai with
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
.
file:NEW BDQ AIRPORT.jpg, Vadodara Airport
File:Vadrail.jpg, Vadodara Junction Railway Station
file:Bus terminus in Vadodara.jpg, Bus terminus in Vadodara
file:Roads (Unsplash).jpg, Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway
Air
Vadodara Airport
Vadodara Airport is a Domestic airport serving the city of Vadodara, Gujarat, India in the suburb of Harni, located northeast of Vadodara. It is the third-busiest airport in Gujarat, after Ahmedabad and Surat airports.
Terminals
The existin ...
(
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
: BDQ) is located north-east of the city. Vadodara has flight connections with Mumbai, New Delhi,Hyderabad and Bangalore. Air India and IndiGo are currently operating their services from the airport. A new integrated international terminal has been constructed at the Vadodara airport and was inaugurated in October 2016. Vadodara is the first Green Airport in Gujarat and Second Green Airport in India after Kochi.
Railway
Vadodara was part of the historic
Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway
The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (reporting mark BB&CI) was a company incorporated in 1855 to undertake the task of constructing railway lines between Bombay to the erstwhile Baroda State, that became the present-day Baroda (Vadoda ...
(BBCI), which arrived in the city in January 1861.
On 5 November 1951 the BBCI Railway was merged with the
Saurashtra,
Rajputana
Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...
and
Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...
railways to create the
Western Railway.
Vadodara Railway Station
Vadodara Junction railway station (formerly Baroda City Junction, station code: BRC) is the main station in the Indian city of Vadodara, Gujarat. Due to its strategic location, it is the ninth-busiest railway station in India in terms of frequ ...
now belongs to the Western Railway zone of
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
and is a major junction on the Western Railway Main Line.
The under-construction
Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor
Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSR) or Mumbai–Ahmedabad HSR is an under-construction high-speed rail line connecting India's economic hub Mumbai with the city of Ahmedabad. When completed, it will be India's first high-speed r ...
, India's first
High-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
line will have a stop at the existing
Vadodara Junction railway station
Vadodara Junction railway station (formerly Baroda City Junction, station code: BRC) is the main station in the Indian city of Vadodara, Gujarat. Due to its strategic location, it is the ninth-busiest railway station in India in terms of frequ ...
. The station is planned for renovation to accommodate the new line.
Bus
Vadodara bus station
The Vadodara bus station or Vadodara Central Bus Terminal is the central bus station serving Vadodara city in Gujarat, India.
History
The bus station was built under a public-private partnership between the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporati ...
is also beautifully designed as a symbol of Banyan (Vad) trees and located near by Railway Station. It also has a market, food court and multiplex facilities.
Religions and festivals
The most followed religion in the city is Hinduism, practiced by 85% of the population. The second most followed religion is Islam, followed by 11% of the population. All other religious groups make up the remaining 4% of the population.
Sports
Vadodara has a professional cricket team, the
Baroda cricket team
The Baroda cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the city of Baroda. The home ground of the team is the Moti Bagh Stadium on the palace grounds.
The team is run by the Baroda Cricket Association. It has been one of the most success ...
, as well as the oldest cricket ground in Asia, called
Moti Baug.
The team has won the
Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...
six times.
Reliance Stadium
Reliance Stadium or Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd Sports Complex Ground also known as the IPCL Ground is located in Vadodara, Gujarat.
The stadium is owned by Reliance Industries and is also known as, Reliance Stadium. The stadium is ...
, a private cricket ground owned by
Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is ...
, hosts
ODIs. Some of the notable cricketer's from Baroda are
Vijay Hazare
Vijay Samuel Hazare (11 March 1915 – 18 December 2004) was an Indian cricketer. He captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953. In India's 25th Test match, nearly 20 years after India achieved Test status, he led India to its first ...
,
Anshuman Gaekwad
Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad (born 23 September 1952) is a former Indian cricketer and two-time Indian national cricket coach. He played in 40 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals. His father Datta Gaekwad also played Test Cricket for Ind ...
,
Kiran More
Kiran Shankar More (born 4 September 1962) is an Indian former cricketer and wicket-keeper for the Indian cricket team from 1984 to 1993. He also took up the position Chairman of the Selection Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in I ...
,
Nayan Mongia Nayan may refer to:
* Nayanthara (born 1984), Indian actress
* Nayan Desai (born 1946), Indian poet
* Nayan Mongia (born 1969), Indian cricketer
* Nayan Ghosh (born 1956), Indian musician
* Nayan Doshi (born 1978), British cricketer
* Nayan Shah, ...
,
Atul Bedade
Atul Chandrakant Bedade (born 24 September 1966) is a former Indian cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Baroda and represented India in 13 One Day Internationals, making his debut versus UAE at Sharjah in 1994.
He was credited to be a ...
,
Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan (; born 27 October 1984) is a former Indian cricketer turned Commentator, Cricket Analyst, Actor and Dancer. He was a bowling all rounder and a member of the Indian cricket team that won the inaugural 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup a ...
,
Yusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan (born 17 November 1982) is an Indian former cricketer. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. His younger brother, Irfan Pathan was also an Indian c ...
,
Hardik Pandya
Hardik Himanshu Pandya (born 11 October 1993) is an Indian international cricketer. An All-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium, Pandya has played in all 3 formats for India. He also plays for Baroda cricket team in do ...
,
Krunal Pandya
Krunal Himanshu Pandya (born 24 March 1991) is an Indian international cricketer who has played for Indian cricket team but currently plays for Baroda in domestic cricket and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League, IPL. He is an all-r ...
,
Deepak Hooda
Deepak Jagbir Hooda (born 19 April 1995) is an Indian International cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team. He also plays in the Indian Premier League for Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan in the domestic cricket. He is an all-rounde ...
.
Vadodara too have an International cricket stadium under construction at Kotambi.Vadodara would also have a sports university in Desar.
Media
The city has five local
FM stations:
Radio City (91.1
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
),
Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the ENIL, EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi f ...
(98.3
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
),
Red FM (93.5
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
),
Big FM (92.7
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
), and
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
,
Vividh Bharti
The Vividh Bharati Service (VBS; ) of All India Radio was conceptualized to combat Radio Ceylon in 1967. Due to the Indian Government stopping its short wave relay centers, VBS is only available on the Internet. Vividh Bharati radio channel wa ...
(93.9
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
)(Aakashwani).
Radio City (91.1
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
) is known all over Vadodara for its Rag Rag Ma Vadodara City profile. All India Radio is broadcast on the
AM band.
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...
was launched in nearby city of Ahmedabad by
WorldSpace
1worldspace, known for most of its existence simply as WorldSpace, is a defunct satellite radio network that in its heyday provided service to over 170,000 subscribers in eastern, southern and northern Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia wi ...
in 2005.
Vadodara News Magazine(VNM) is a local news TV channel that covers events in the city. Sandesh News is a local news TV channel.
Education
![Vadodara uni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Vadodara_uni.jpg)
The city houses many Schools and Colleges, including
Baroda High School
Baroda High School is a group of schools run by the Baroda Lions Club Education Trust in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.http://barodahighschool.com/
History
In June 1961 the Baroda Lions Club Education Trust was established. Baroda High School, Bagi ...
. Higher Education Institutions across various disciplines attract international students mainly from the African countries such as Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, and Kenya.
Universities
*
The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
* Sigma Group of Institute
*
Parul University
Parul University is a private university in Vadodara, Gujarat, India. It was established in 2009 as the Parul Group of Institutes, and was given university status in 2015.
Recognition
Parul University is recognized by University Grants Commi ...
*
Navrachna University
*
GSFC University
*
National Rail and Transportation Institute
Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV; formerly National Rail and Transportation Institute) is India's first transport University located in Vadodara, Gujarat, India. The University is presently located inside the lush green 55-acre campus of Minis ...
(Railway University)
*
Sumandeep Vidyapeeth
Sumandeep Vidyapeeth is private, deemed university located in Piparia, Waghodia, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. It is accredited "A++" grade by NAAC.
Institutes and departments
* K. M. Shah Dental College and Hospital
* Shrimati B. K. Shah Medical ...
*
ITM Vocational University
ITM Vocational University is a private university located in Waghodia, Vadodara district, Gujarat, India. The university was established in 2014 by the ITM Group of Institutions
The ITM Group of Institutions is a group of educational institut ...
See also
*
Jarod (a village in Vaghodia Taluka)
References
Further reading
*
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External links
{{Authority control
Metropolitan cities in India
Former capital cities in India