Gandhinagar () is the capital of the state of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled 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 ...

, on the west central point of the industrial corridor between the megacities of

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Gandhinagar lies on the west bank of the Sabarmati River, about 545 km (338 miles) north of

and 901 km (560 miles) southwest of

. The Akshardham temple is located in Gandhinagar. There was a determination to make Gandhinagar a purely Indian enterprise, partly because the state of Gujarat was the birthplace of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. For this reason, the planning was done by two Indian town planners: Prakash M Apte and H. K. Mewada, who had apprenticed with

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Etymology

The name of the city means "Gandhi's city" and it is named after

History

The city was planned by Chief Architect H.K. Mewada, a

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

graduate, and his assistant Prakash M Apte. It was developed in the 1960s.

Demographics

census of India, Gandhinagar had a population of 208,299. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Gandhinagar has an average literacy rate of 90%. Male literacy is 91%, and female literacy is 89%. In Gandhinagar, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. Over 95% of the population of Gandhinagar are

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Geography

Gandhinagar has an average elevation of . The city sits on the banks of the Sabarmati River, in north-central-east Gujarat. The 20,543 km² area around Gandhinagar is defined by Gujarat capital territory. Gandhinagar spans an area of . The river frequently dries up in the summer, leaving only a small stream of water. Gandhinagar is India's tree capital with 54% green cover on its land area.

Climate

Gandhinagar has 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 sem ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSh'') with three main seasons: summer, monsoon and winter. The climate is generally dry and hot outside of the monsoon season. The weather is hot to severely hot from March to May when the maximum temperature stays in the range of , and the minimum in the range of . It is pleasant in the winter days and quite chilling in the night during December to February. The average maximum temperature is around , the average minimum is , and the climate is extremely dry. The southwest

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

brings a humid climate from mid-June to mid-September. The average annual rainfall is around .

Governance and politics

On 1 May 1960, Gujarat was created out of the 17 northern districts of the former State of Bombay. These districts were further subdivided later on. There are 33 administrative districts in the state. Gandhinagar is a political hub for the state of Gujarat. Congress won the first municipal election in 2011. Mahendrasinh Rana became the first mayor of the city. The current Member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

for Gandhinagar is Amit Shah from the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP). Gandhinagar is also situated near the west command post of the Indian Army and Indian Air force and also has a command centre in the city. Gandhinagar has recently developed the Gujarat State Emergency Disaster Management centre.

Transport

Air

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport located in

is 18 km away from Gandhinagar, providing both domestic and international flights.

Rail

Gandhinagar Capital railway station (GNC) is located in Sector 14. Many trains running on the western zones pass through Gandhinagar. Currently, there are five trains running from this station in which three are express trains and two are MEMU trains. Jaipur-Bandra Garib Rath, Haridwar mail for

and Haridwar and Shanti Express for Indore Junction BG are main express trains running through this station. Ahmedabad Railway Station (ADI) in Kalupur

is the nearest rail junction (25 km away) which provides connectivity with all the major cities and towns of India. The Indian Railways transports are available for moving in northern India and eastern India from Kalol Junction railway station (KLL). File:Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station.jpg, Gandhinagar Capital railway station File:GandhinagarCityBus.jpg, Gandhinagar City Bus File:Academic Area, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar.jpg, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar File:Mahatma Mandir as seen from Swarnim Park.tif, Mahatma Mandir as seen from Swarnim Park

Metro

Under Phase II of the Ahmedabad Metro, total 22.8 km long network connecting Gandhinagar with Ahmedabad is being constructed. The north–south line of the Ahmedabad Metro is being extended from Motera station to Mahatma Mandir station. A branch line will connect GNLU station to GIFT City station.

References

External links

Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority

Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Gandhinagar district Indian capital cities Memorials to Mahatma Gandhi Planned capitals Planned communities in India Smart cities in India