Gurgaon

Gurgaon (Gurugram) is a city in Haryana, India. It is located in the National Capital Region of India (NCR). As per year 2011, Gurgaon's population is 876,824. Due to rapid urbanization, Gurgaon city has become one of the major financial and industrial hubs of the nation. It has the third highest per capita income in the nation. The economic growth story of the city commenced when the automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited established a manufacturing plant in the Gurgaon City in the year 1970. Current data reveals that Gurgaon has local offices for over 250 Fortune 500 companies. The average land elevation of Gurgaon city is 217 metres (712 ft) above sea level. The public school system of Gurgaon is managed by the Haryana government. The administration is taken care by the Haryana Board of School Education. There are a large number of private schools in the city. Education in Gurgaon is expensive and quality of education is better in comparison to the government schools. Schools like The Shri Ram School - Aravali, The Heritage School, DAV Public School Sector 14, the Ardee World School, Sector 52 and Amity International School are among the top 10 schools in Gurgaon as per 2013 Hindustan Times - C Fore Top Schools Survey. A large number of institutes and universities are located in Gurgaon and its outskirts. Some of the renowned educational institutions of Gurgaon include Ansal Institute of Technology, GD Goenka University, ITM University, KR Mangalam University, Apeejay Stya University, BML Munjal University, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Amity University and National Brain Research Centre, Manesar. The city also houses one of India’s top ranked business school, Management Development Institute.

Gurgaon was once a small agricultural village. It has now become the city having the third highest per capita income in the nation and is often reffered to as Millennium City. There are many reasons associated to the ascension of Gurgaon as a major economic centre for the country. Before 1970, the city’s primary economic activity was centred on agriculture. However, in 1970, Maruti Udyog set up its industry in the region, giving a strong impetus to the industrial sector.  Following the industrial growth, the city, which is also located rather close to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, saw the development of many infrastructural facilities and a strong boost to the real estate prices. The first major American brand General Electric set up a unit in Gurgaon in the year 1997. As soon as the General Electric was setup in Gurgaon, other domestic and international companies followed. At present, Gurgaon has become an important off shoring centre of the world. It provides outsourcing solutions in Information Technology, software, sales and service by delivering facilities and call centres. The city quickly became the hub of outsourcing companies in the region. Today, the city is considered as the centre of all important activity. Today, Gurgaon is not only the home of business process outsourcing and IT sectors but also provides room to other companies that focus at domain expertise. Many international companies, including Pepsi, Coca Cola, Agilent Technologies, BMW have chosen Gurgaon to be their Indian corporate headquarters. It is also strategically located on the National Highway 8, which is the major highway that links Gurgaon to New Delhi on one side and Mumbai on another makes it a strategic location. Delhi-Gurgaon border-Kherki Dhaula stretch is an expressway which is expanded to six lanes. Another highway linked to Gurgaon is the Dwarka Expressway. It starts from Gurgaon and is linked to various major Inter cities of New Delhi. Keeping up with the burgeoning infrastructure requirements of the city, Delhi Metro was also connected to Gurgaon. The yellow line of Delhi Metro stretches to Gurgaon covering major stations namely HUDA City Centre, MG Road, Sikanderpur, Guru Droncharya and IFFCO Chowk. A private arm of Rapid Metro further connects the main metro station to the hub of this city.

In Gurgaon, electricity is provided by government owned by Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. There is a power consumer base of 360,000 in Gurgaon with average power load of 700-800 MW. There are many hospitals and medical research centers in Gurgaon. Some private hospitals include Medanta, Fortis Hospital, Columbia Asia Hospital and Max Hospital. Gurgaon is a popular destination for medical tourism.  

Gurgaon is officially Gurugram now. The Centre has given a nod for the name change of the city on September 27 2016. The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr. Manohar Lal Khattar stated that from now onwards both the city as well as the district of Gurgaon would be referred to as Gurugram based on its historical references. Historically, Gurgaon got its name from Guru Dronacharya. Guru Dronacharya was the master of archery for Pandavas and Kauravas  as per the epic Mahabharata. He groomed the Kauravas and Pandavas in war tactics and it is said that the village was given as ‘gurudakshina’ to Guru Dronacharya by the Pandavas. The city thus came to be referred at Guru Gram which literally translated to "Teacher's he Village". Over the years the name was anglicised to Gurhegaon. While there was a strong public putcry for the name, the state government spokesperson was quoted, "The decision to change the name of Gurgaon as Gurugram was taken on the basis of the representations received at several fora that it would be appropriate to rename Gurgaon as Gurugram."