Surat facts for kids

Surat
Quick facts for kids Surat ; Suryapur
	Metropolis
	Nickname(s): Diamond City of India
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District	Surat
Zone	7
Government
• Type	Mayor–Council
• Body	Surat Municipal Corporation; Surat Urban Development Authority;
Area
• Metropolis	326.515 km2 (126.068 sq mi)
• Metro	326.600 km2 (126.101 sq mi)
Elevation	13 m (43 ft)
Population (2011)
• Metropolis	4,467,797
• Rank	8th(in India) 2nd (in Gujarat state)
• Density	13,683.283/km2 (35,439.54/sq mi)
• Metro	5,935,000
• Metro rank	9th
• Demonym	Surti
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Pincode(s)	394 XXX, 395 XXX
Area code(s)	91-261-XXX-XXXX
Vehicle registration	GJ-05, GJ-19, GJ-28
Sex ratio	1.27 ♂/♀
Coastline	35 kilometres (22 mi)
Literacy rate	86.65%
Language	Gujarati

Surat is a city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It used to be a large seaport and is now the commercial and economic center in South Gujarat, which is famous for its diamonds and textile Industries and as a shopping centre for apparels and accessories . It is the eighth largest city and ninth largest urban agglomeration in India. It is the administrative capital of the Surat district. The city is located 284 kilometres (176 mi) south of the state capital, Gandhinagar; 265 kilometres (165 mi) south of Ahmedabad; and 289 kilometres (180 mi) north of Mumbai. The city centre is located on the Tapti River, close to Arabian Sea.

Surat will be the world's fastest growing city from 2019 to 2035, according to a study conducted by Economic Times. The city registered an annualised GDP growth rate of 11.5% over the seven fiscal years between 2001 and 2008. Surat was awarded "best city" by the Annual Survey of India's City-Systems (ASICS) in 2013. Surat is selected as the first smart IT city in India which is being constituted by the Microsoft CityNext Initiative tied up with IT services majors Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro. The city has 2.97 million internet users, about 65% of total population. Surat was selected in 2015 for an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant. Surat has been selected as one of twenty Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modi's flagship Smart Cities Mission. In 2017, Surat was the fourth cleanest city of India according to the Indian Ministry of Urban Development.

Surat, famous for its diamond cutting and polishing is known as the Diamond City of India.

Economy

Metropolitan Surat economic centers and industries map

Surat ranked 10th in India with a GDP of 2.60 lakh crore in fiscal year 2016 ($37 billion in 2016). Surat GDP in 2020 will be around $57 billion estimated by The City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank on urban affairs.

Diamond polishing

Diamond polisher

Surat is a major hub of diamond cutting and polishing. The first diamond workshops in Gujarat appeared in Surat and Navasari in the late 1950s. The major group working in this industry is people from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Because of demand in the American market from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s (with only a brief recession in 1979), Surat's diamond industry grew tremendously. Currently most of the diamond polishing workshops are running in the Varachha area of Surat, mostly by the people of the Patel community.

Around the world, 8 out of 10 diamonds on the market were cut and polished in Surat. This industry earns India about US$10 billion in annual exports. A legacy of old Dutch trade links, it began after a Surti entrepreneur returned from East Africa bringing diamond cutters. The rough diamonds are mined in South Africa and other regions of the African continent, and go from here as smooth gems to Antwerp, Belgium where the international diamond trade is run mainly by Hasidic Jews and Jains from Palanpur in North Gujarat.

Textiles

Surat's Textile District Ring Road

Since it is known for producing textiles, including silk, Surat is known as the textile hub of the nation or the Silk City of India. It is very famous for its cotton mills and Surat Zari Craft. Surat is the biggest centre of MMF (man-made fibre) in India. It has a total of 381 dyeing and printing mills and 41,100 power loom units. There are over a hundred thousand units and mills in total. The overall annual turnover is around 5 billion rupees. There are over 800 cloth wholesalers in Surat. It is the largest manufacturer of clothes in India, and Surti dress material can be found in any state of India. Surat produces 9 million metres of fabric annually, which accounts for 60% of the total polyester cloth production in India. Now the city is focusing on increasing the exports of its textile.

Information technology

There are many SME Domestic IT Companies present in Surat. MNC IT companies like IBM, HCL have satellite or virtual branches in Surat. On 14 February 2014, Government of Gujarat DST had handover STPI Surat at Bhestan-Jiav Road, Bhestan Near Udhana-Sachin BRTS Route.

Surat city administration will demand for setting up of an Information Technology (IT) hub and an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) on the outskirts of the city.

Microsoft CityNext initiative has tied up with IT services majors Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro to leverage technology for sustainable growth of cities in India. The first smart IT city in India is being constituted by the Microsoft CityNext Initiative in Surat, Gujarat. In 2011, Surat hosted India's first Microsoft DreamSpark Yatra (a tech event) with speakers from Microsoft Headquarters at Redmond, Washington. The event was organised by Ex-Microsoft Student Partner Samarth Zankharia.

In May 2015, Tech giant IBM has chosen Surat among 16 global locations for its smart cities program to help them address challenges like waste management, disaster management and citizen services. Under the program, IBM will send a team of experts to each of the chosen cities where they will spend three weeks working closely with city staff analysing data about critical issues faced by its local bodies; the co-operation continued into 2016.

Diamond Research And Mercantile City (DREAM)

Rough diamonds getting checked for quality

The government of Gujarat plans another project near Surat similar to Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). The Chief Minister has suggested that the government wishes to develop DREAM to have a five-seven star hotel, bank, IT, corporate trading house, entertainment zone and other facilities while the Surat Diamond Bourse (SBD) will be based there. Allotment of Khajod land for the project is convenient for the state government because they have 2,000 acres (810 ha) of available land. The Trade Centre, located near Sarsana village, will have a 100,160-square-metre (1,078,100 sq ft) pillar-less air-conditioned hall with a 90-by-35-metre (295 by 115 ft) pillar-less dome.

Transport

Surat Railway Station

Built in 1860, Surat railway station falls under the administrative control of Western Railway zone of the Indian Railways. In early 2016, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation rated the facility the best large station in India based on cleanliness.

The Sitilink or Surat BRTS is a bus rapid transit system in the city. Initiated by Bharat Shah, additional city engineer of Surat Municipal Corporation. It is operated by Surat Municipal Corporation and as of August 2017, had a network of 245 buses connecting major localities.

Surat International Airport located in Magdalla, 11 kilometres (7 mi) southwest of Surat. It is the 2nd busiest airport in Gujarat in terms of both aircraft movements and passenger traffic. Currently airlines such as Air India, Alliance Air, AirAsia India, SpiceJet, IndiGo Airlines, Air Odisha, Ventura AirConnect provide flight services from the Surat to various major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Goa, Jaipur,Visakhapatnam. There are also running international flight for Sharjah route of Air India Express. Apart from main city, Surat Airport also caters to various localities of south Gujarat including Navsari, Bardoli, Valsad, Bharuch, Ankleshwar.

Surat Metro is a proposed rapid transit rail system for the city.