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FARIDABAD (Haryana)

Faridabad is the largest city of the state Haryana. It is about 25 km from Delhi. The district is bounded by Union Territory of Delhi on its north, Palwal district on the south, state of Uttar Pradesh on its east and Gurgaon on its west side.

The Yamuna river separates the district from eastern side if Uttar Pradesh. Delhi-Agra national highway no.2 passes through the center of the district.

The area of the district is about 742.90 square kilometers with the population of about 1798954.

Faridabad is about 25 km from Delhi in 28° 25' 16" north latitude and 77° 18' 28" east longitude. [1]

History

Faridabad was founded in A.D. 1607 by Shaikh Farid, treasurer of Jahangir with the object of protecting the highway which passes through the town. Shaikh Farid constructed a fort, a tank and a mosque which are in ruins.

It becomes the headquarters of a pargana which was held in jagir by the Ballabgarh ruler.  The district Faridabad came on the map of Haryana on 15th August 1979 as the 12th District of the state.  The new District was cut away from former Gurgaon District. [1]

Demography

As per census 2011, the district has total population of around 1809733. This contributes 7.14% to the total Haryana population. Out of this 966110 are males and remaining 843623 are females. 

Faridabad district population constitutes 7.14% of total Maharashtra population. Population density of the district is about 2442 per square kilometers.

Average literacy rate is 81.70%. Male and female literacy rate are 88.61% and 73.84% respectively. Total number of literates in the district are 1272739 of which male and female are 734940 and 537799 respectively.

Sex ratio per 1000 is 873. Child (0-6 years) population of the district is 251955. Of total 251,955 male and female are 136,679 and 115,276 respectively. Child Sex Ratio is 843 per 1000. School age kids’ population is 13% which is about 251955 in number.

Total 834 families live on footpath or without any roof cover in the district. The number of people living without roof are 3523 which makes approximately 0.19% of total population of the district. 91.2% of the people have permanent houses from which 42.5% people have strong roofs.

94.4% people have electricity connected. And 12.3% people have internet facility.

Household density is about 515 houses per square kilometers. Rural and urban household densities are 129 and1437 houses per square kilometers respectively.

People living in urban areas of the district are about 79.51%. Total number is 1438855 from which 768007 are males and 670848 are females. People living in rural areas of the district are 20.49%. The number of people is 370878 of which males and females are 198103 and 172775 respectively.

School age kids living in urban and rural areas are 191302 and 60653 respectively.

The literacy rate is 61% in rural area and 72% in urban areas.

48.5% people are having facility of piped water. Whereas 41.5% population have sewerage connection.

People from different religions like Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian live in the district. [2]

Administration

Earlier, the Faridabad district was divided into five sub divisions. i.e. Faridabad, Ballabgarh, Hathin, Palwal and Hodal.

On 15thAugust 2008 Faridabad district is divided to form a new district i.e. Palwal. Now Palwal, Hathin and Hodal are the part of Palwal. The district is divided for the administrative purpose as follows:

There are 2 panchayat samitis, 1 nagarnigam and 105-gram panchayats. There are 150 revenue villages and 6 assembly areas in the district. [1]

Religions [2]

Hinduism: 87.77%

Muslim:     8.93%

Sikh:           1.91%

Christian:   0.54%

Others:       0.85%

Languages spoken in Faridabad

Hindi is the official language of the state. Haryanvi is also widely spoken here. There are some Punjabis living in Faridabad. Therefore, Punjabi language is also spoken and well understood by the people.

Topography

The district shares its boundary with the national capital and union territory of Delhi to its north, Uttar Pradesh to its east & south and Gurgaon to the west. Faridabad has an important geographical and political location. [1]

Weather

Summer starts in the month of March and lasts till June. The temperature during summer ranges between 22° C and 40° C.

November to February is the winter season. The temperature ranges between 7° C and 25° C. The weather becomes cold and pleasant during this time. This is the best time to visit the city.

Most rainy months in Faridabad are July, August and September. The temperature ranges during this time is from 27° C to 34° C.

Forest cover

There are no thick forests in the area. Forest area in the district are largely along road, rail and canal strips. Forest cover is about 4.32% of the total area.

At present forest production extracted from forest is in the shape of round timber, wood, fuel, pulpwood and charcoal. Round timber is further processed for furniture and packing cases and building construction works.   

Forest area in the district: 70 square kilometers.

Total geographical area: 741 square kilometers.

Forest area to total geographical area: 9.45%.

Forest area per lakh of population: 3.87 square kilometers.

Crops grown in Faridabad are rice, jowar, maize, wheat, barley, gram, mustard, cotton and sugarcane.

Vegetables grown are radish, cauliflower, carrot and tomato. Some fruits grown are guava, ber and citrus fruits.

Some common livestock are cows, buffaloes, goats, pigs, dogs and bitches. [1]

Industries and enterprises

Faridabad is one of the leading industrial districts of Haryana, a popular choice for setting up industry due to its proximity to Delhi and its location on the Delhi-Mathura Road. Much before the origin of Gurgaon as the choice for Industrial Development in Haryana, Faridabad was the favorite destination of Industries. There are about 15000 small, medium and large industries which provide direct and indirect employment to nearly half a million people and ranks 9th largest industrial estate in Asia.

Faridabad is famous for manufacturing of Tractors, Switchgears, Refrigerators, Shoes, Tyres, Readymade Garments, construction machineries, Auto Mobile Parts and Light Engineering Products.

Although, in the recent times, it has fallen much behind the neighboring towns of Noida and Gurgaon in attracting new investment in IT sector. It stills occupies an important place in the list of manufacturing hubs.

Details of existing micro & small enterprises and artisan units in the district

Large scale industries/ public sector undertakings           

List of the large units in Faridabad & Nearby Area

1. Bata India Ltd.                          2. Bhartia Cutler Hammer

3. Eicher Tractor Ltd.                   4. Escorts JCB Ltd.

5. Escorts Ltd.                               6. Escorts Yamaha Motors India Ltd.

7. GKN Invel Transmission Ltd.  8. Goodyear India Ltd.

9. Hindustan Wires Ltd.              10. Hyderabad Industries Ltd.

11. Hyderabad Industries Ltd.   12. Jindal Strips Ltd.

13. Lakhani India Ltd.                  14. Nuchem Ltd.

15. Tecumseh India P. ltd.          16. Whirlpool India Ltd. etc.

17. National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd., Faridabad, Haryana

18. National Handicapped Finance & Development Corp, Faridabad, Haryana

19. Indian Oil Corporation Limited, R&D Centre, Faridabad, Haryana

Major Exportable item

Auto parts, Shoes, Refrigerators Tractor Printing Machines, Fans, Auto Parts, Tube Mill, Tractors Tyres, Excavators etc.

Medium scale enterprises

List of the units in Faridabad & Nearby Area

1. Amforge Industries Ltd.           2. Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.

3. Auto Ignitions P. Ltd.                4. Auto Pins India Ltd.

5. Avery India Ltd.                          6. Batra Associates Ltd.

7. Castrol India Ltd.                        8. Clutch Auto Ltd.

9. Delton Cables Ltd.                     10. Escorts Employees 

11. Escorts Ltd.                               12. Frick India Ltd.

13. GE Motors India P. Ltd.          14. General Engineering Works Ltd.

15. Haryana Coated Paper Ltd.   16. Havells India Ltd.

17.Hindustan Leather Ltd.           18. JV Electronics Ltd.

19. KG Khosla Compressors Ltd. 20. Knorr Bremse India P. Ltd.

21. Larsen & Turbo Ltd.               22. North West Switchgear Ltd.

23. Orient Fans                              24. Plasser India Ltd.

25. Precision Stampings               26. Sanden Vikas India Ltd.

27.SPL Industries Ltd.                   28. Sterling Tools (P) Ltd.

29. Usha India Ltd.                        30. VXL Engineers Ltd.  

Major Exportable item

Electric fan, auto component, Garments, Footwear, Medicines, Syringes etc.

Service Enterprises

Engineering Workshops, fabrication units, beauty parlors, Computer repairing & servicing units, fast food restaurants, dry cleaning.

Potentials areas for service industry

1. Computer based training centers              2. Computer/Laptop servicing repairing

3. Mobile repairing                                           4. Electrical/electronic gadget repairing

5. Railway/air ticket booking                          6. Internet Cafe

7. Automobile repairing & servicing units    8. Tyre retreading unit

9. Hiring of taxi services                                  10. TV repairing units

11. Workshop facilities                                    12. IT enabled services

13. Knowledge based industries                    14. Health/Fitness Centers

15. Beauty Parlors                                            16. Real Estate Services

17. Tailoring/Boutiques                                   18. Day care centers/crèches 

Potential for New MSMEs

1. Herbal beauty care products                      2. Instant fast food

3. Nutraceuticals                                               4. Specialty food

5. Manufacturing of CD/DVD                          6. Healthcare products

7. Toiletries                                                         8. Automobile spare parts

9. Defense oriented garments                        10. Concrete furniture

11. Bread/ Bakery Products                             12. Processed Food Items

13. Readymade Garments                                14. General Engineering Items

15. Automobile, Auto Parts & Accessories     16. Domestic home appliances

17. Steel Fabrication                                           18. Electrical items

19. Electronics items                                           20. Computer peripherals etc.

Public health

In Faridabad, there are 2 allopathic hospitals with 250 beds. There are 8 Ayurvedic hospitals too.

There are 6 community health centers in which 2 are in rural and 4 are in urban areas. The district has 10 primary health centers, 3 dispensaries and 57 sub health centers. [1]

Banking commercial

The Faridabad district has 256 commercial banks, 47 rural banks and 16 co-operative banks. 

Education and research

There are about 306 primary schools. From these 241 are government and 65 private schools in the district. 274 middle (43 government and 231 private) schools, 241 secondary (38 government and 203 private) schools and 170 Senior secondary (53 government and 117 private) schools.

The district has 7 colleges and technical universities. 

Some colleges in Faridabad are Aggarwal P. G. college, B.M.S. institute of technology, Bio engineering research Centre, Faridabad institute of technology, National power training institute.

Top sports education colleges in Faridabad are sports academy, Dronacharya boxing academy, the roller-skating academy, industrial training institute, Base tennis academy. [1] [3]

Transport and connectivity

Being one of the largest districts of the state, Faridabad has various transport facilities.

Road transport

The district is well connected with Delhi and rest of NCR with good roads including the Delhi-Mathura highway which runs through the city. The district has 38 km of national highway and 484 km of state highway. The city of Faridabad is placed itself on national highway 2 (NH2).

Faridabad runs about 133 buses within the district with 0.13 lakh passengers travelling to various destinations. The bus stands are located in NIT Faridabad, Ballabgarh and Hodal.

Other private transport includes taxi services.

Rail transport

The district is well connected with various railway stations spread across. The three major stations in the city are old Faridabad, New industrial town Faridabad and Ballabgarh.

The city also has 14 more stations for daily rail services.

Faridabad is at distance of 28 km from New Delhi railway station and around 30 km from Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station respectively.

Metro rail

Faidabad highly relies on metro rail for day to day life and business purpose. The metro rail is not well connected but it goes till Badarpur i.e. the Faridabad border.

Air transport

Faridabad does not have its own airport. But Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is only 22 km from the city. One can choose various means like city buses, metro rail, private taxies to reach the airport. The airport has facility of frequent buses from the various parts of the city. It takes about 45 minutes to reach at the airport. [4]

Sports

Aravalli golf course: It is owed by Haryana tourism. The name derived from the oldest mountain range Aravalli that runs across Haryana. It was the first golf green to be laid in Faridabad. The building was designed by the famous architect Joseph Allan Stein and the course was laid by the popular golf architect Stephen Kay from U.S.A.

Gymkhana club: it is a perfect refreshing place. It has a swimming pool, tennis courts, a well-equipped gymnasium, badminton courts and a billiard room.

Nahar Singh cricket stadium: It has honor of hosting many international and domestic cricket matches. It has capacity of 25000 people and it is one of the best stadiums in north India.

Mohit Sharma and Rahul Tewatia are cricketers from the district. [3]

Places to visit in Faridabad

Surajkund: Literal meaning of Surajkund is ‘Lake of Sun’. it is an artificial lake built Tomar king of Suraj Pal of Tomar dynasty in the 10th century. King Tomar was a worshipper of Sun. So, he had built a Sun temple on western bank of Surajkund. Surajkund is constructed in the backdrop of Aravalli hills and has an amphitheater-shaped embankment constructed in semicircular shape. It is an ideal picnic spot because it is only 8 km away from south Delhi. It is believed that there are ruins of sun temple around the lake. The compound includes a garden and a pool- Siddha kund.

Raja Nahar Singh palace: It is located at Ballabgarh. This fort was built by the forefathers of Jat raja Nahar Singh. Today the beautiful pavilions and courtyards of raja Nahar Singh palace glow once again with royal aura carefully highlighted by six delightfully decorated guest rooms, lounge, restaurant, bar and public areas. The palace is beautified with stone jallies, antiques and intricately carved arches.

Mughal bridge: It is located on Delhi-Mathura road in Sarai khwaja village on budhiyawalanala. There is a mention in the annals of Mughal emperor Jahangir that he ordered large or small but convenient bridges to be perpendicular at the passage of every river. So, the travelers can have their comfortable journey without any obstacle. This bridge is one of those built during Jahagir`s reign.

Badkhal lake: The lake is a natural lake surrounded by the mountain range of Arvalli hills. It is about 32 km from Delhi. Nature lovers can spend time here. The water of lake has dried up due to low rainfall, poor maintenance and illegal mining around the area. Still the place is attracting visitors because of its natural beauty and migratory birds. Bird lovers find the place very interesting as one can watch flocks of migratory birds of various species here in winter. [3]

Festivals and fairs

The festivals celebrated here are Deepawali, Christmas, Baisakhi, Holi and Lohri. Along with these festivals, there are some fairs that are celebrated here.

Surajkund international crafts mela(fair) is organized at Surajkund every year during 1st to 15th February. The fair displays the Indian handicrafts, handlooms and folk traditions. The fair offers a lot of fun, entertainment and opportunity of shopping. The exclusive ethnic items offered here are delicately embroidered fabrics, hand woven furnishings, terracotta artefacts, jewelry, metal and cane-ware. National and state awardee craft persons come here at the fair to participate every year.

Gangore festival is celebrated during spring season to worship Gauri (goddess of abundance). The procession is taken out with the water immersion of Gangore and Ishar images.

Basant Panchami: The festival is dedicated to goddess Saraswati (deity of education and wisdom) it is celebrated by flying kites. 

Flower fair: It is organized at the Badkhal lake during monsoon. Different varieties of flowers are displayed. [3] [4]

Shopping areas

There are street shops, local shopping markets and shopping malls in the district. In addition to these, Surajkund fair is one of the most important shopping destinations in Faridabad. Various art and craft products are sold in the fair.

Some local markets in Faridabad are Ballabgarh market, sector 17 market and NIT (new industrial town) market. Ballabgarh market is famous for furniture shopping, its artfacts and other household items. Sector 17 market is the oldest and one of the largest markets in the city. It has retail stores as well as wholesale shops. NIT market is famous for various industries to buy their raw materials and inventory.

Some popular shopping malls in Faridabad are Ansal crown plaza, Pristine mall, SLF Mall, Crown interior Mall, Radhika Mall, MB Mall, Senior destination Mall etc.

Food and cuisine

Faridabad being a cosmopolitan city, it has a perfect blend of different cuisines. The city was founded by Baba Farid who was a Sufisaint. Therefore, cuisines here have influence of Mughlai dishes.

Non-vegetarian people enjoy mutton, beef and chicken with their respective biryani, kababs and curry.

Vegetarian people have lesser choice of food that includes paneer and koftas.

Some street foods include samosa, momos, puri sabzi, chats, pakoras and many more.

Rajasthani food festival and Awadhi food festival are also conducted every year in Faridabad.

Art and music

Sonu Nigam, Richa Sharma, Himani Kapoor and Tulika Ganguly are well recognized playback singers from the district.  

Film actor Kunal Kumar is from Faridabad. 

Srishti Rana is an Indian model from the district. She is a titleholder of beauty pageant. [4]

References

[1] http://dcmsme.gov.in/dips/2016-17/DIP%20Faridabad.pdf

[2] https://www.census2011.co.in/census/district/227-faridabad.html

[3] http://faridabad.nic.in/fbdnew/district.html

[4] http://www.faridabadonline.in/city-guide/