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reversed since 1990s with large investments in weaker section housing and also relocation of slums along with slum growth of peripheral areas beyond the city limits.
The early development of slums in Surat was not mainly from the pull factor as is the story with many of the urban cities and Class-I and Class-II towns but it is more to do with the
“push” factor from the villages, where the size of land holdings and the need for alternate employment pushed the population from the villages to look for employment in Surat Das,
1998. The major slum population in the city consists of people from Semiarid and arid regions of Kachchh and Saurasthra Gujarat, Khandesh region of Maharashtra, Orissa and
parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Rests of the states have very little proportion in the total population of the slums. As is apparent from Table 27, the increase in the growth rate of the
population of the slums 1973 onwards has always been higher than the population of the city as a whole the period from 1992-2001 being an exception and this has continued to
grow over time. The extending of the city limits to 326.5 sq km in 2,006 has changed the population profile of the city and this will need further analysis.
City growth: Surat city area before 1961 was only 8.12 sqkm, while in 2009 it had expanded to 326.5
sqkm. The oldest part of the city developed in the area between the train station and the area known as Athwa lines. Since the 1990s, most of the new development including the most
desirable location for the citys burgeoning middle and upper class is the area between the Athwa lines and Arabian Sea.
Since the inception of Surat Urban Development Authority SUDA in late 70s, the City is growing at a rapid pace; though the development in the peripheral areas was not that rapid
until 2001. Population growth rate between 1991 and 2001 did not result in the horizontal urban sprawl; on the contrary, it densified the core city areas, which were part of the
Municipal Corporation.
Surat, like other industrial towns with labor intensive employment opportunities, has grown very fast over the last five decades especially with the textile sector and the diamond sector
providing ample opportunities for the migrant population coming to the city. The diamond sector started picking up in 70s when the low wage rate and other problems shifted the trade
from Mumbai to Surat.
The city claims to be zero unemployment city, which is to true to a great extent due to demand for labour across the various sector of industry.
5.4 Economic Base of Surat
The evolution of the power loom and handloom sectors led to gradual growth of textile industries gradually. Another important addition since the 1950s is the diamond cutting and
polishing industry. In the last two decades, especially during the eighties large-scale industries have come up in Surat and its peripheries. The economic base of Surat consists of
textile manufacturing, trade, diamond cutting and polishing industries, intricate Zari works, chemical industries and the petrochemical and natural gas based industries at Hazira
established by leading industry houses such as ONGC, Reliance, ESSAR, and Shell. The City accounts for:
42 of the world’s total rough diamond cutting and polishing, 70 of the nation’s total rough diamond cutting and polishing,
40 of the nation’s total diamond exports, 40 of the nation’s total man made fabric production,
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28 of the nation’s total man made fiber production 18 of the nation’s total man made fiber export, and
12 of the nation’s total fabric production.
As estimated 1997-98 the industrial sector in the city contributed a gross amount of Rs.14667 million to SMC as taxes, Rs.27512 million as Excise Duty, Rs.6050 million as
Income Tax and Rs.6976 million as Sales Tax. The region is one of the leading city-regions in the country that has attracted massive investments of which substantial proportion is under
implementation. According to CMIE 2002, the Surat City region has a proposed investment of about Rs. 11,817 Crores. In addition projects worth Rs. 2,022 Crores are under
implementation in Hazira SEZ.
Resources Base Water
The city exploits both surface and ground water sources, though 90 percent of the gross daily water supply is from Tapi River through several pumping stations. Tapi River also provides
the drinking and industrial water for the Hazira Industrial area. To prevent the sea water ingress, a weir was constructed during the last decade. Another weir at Kakrapar upstream in
1954 and the Ukai dam at the Madhya Pradesh border was constructed in the year 1972 respectively to harness the river basin for irrigation, flood control, and power generation.
Surat gets about 373 million liters of water daily Figure for 1999, supplied through various surface water sources NIUA, 2009. The current supply is about 120 liters per capita per day
lpcd. At present, SMC is serving about 97 percent of its total populated area and 95 percent of its population. For the areas outside the municipal corporation SUDA area, there is no
centralised water supply system. The drinking water is fetched from open wells or from various water supply scheme implemented by GWSSB Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage
Board.
SMC is at present augmenting the existing water supply scheme. Increased water supply is expected to result in a corresponding increase in wastewater generation. For this purpose,
SMC had a master plan prepared for the augmentation of the wastewater disposal system in 1997. Of the total 112.274 sq. km of area, 92.19 percent of the habitable area has a
comprehensive sewerage system. This was 29.45 percent in 1997. The augmented sewerage system under seven drainage zones has also resulted in the increase of population coverage
from 56 percent to 97.10 percent at present within a span of eight years. The numbers of sewage pumping stations have also been increased from 18 in 1996 to 28 in 2005 with
another two proposed at Pisad, and Bhesan-Jahangirabad. There are six sewerage treatment plants serving each of the six zones of the city. At present, the peripheral areas outside
Municipal Corporation do not have any sewerage system implemented. SUDA has proposed water supply and sewerage projects in Pal and Vesu areas. Despite facing number of
problems including low number of sewerage connections, ingress of storm water drain and solid waste in the sewers, old and dilapidated systems in some parts of the city, they are some
of the best run sewage treatment plants in the country. The city today boasts of setting up three captive generation STPs which generates its own electricity for functioning of the STP.
In addition SMC has applied for carbon credits for all these units.
Energy The energy needs of the Surat are very high especially because of the textile, diamond and
the industrial units in the city. Technological up-gradation of Diamond industry by laser machine technology has led to a sharp increase in electricity consumption. In the textile
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segment also, rapid modernization through concerted efforts, introduction and increased usage of Two-For-One Twisting TFO machines by the major players has contributed to
higher electricity consumption.
The Surat Electricity Company Limited SEC, established in 1920, supplies 2.6 billion units of power to more than 0.4 million customers spread across the 52 sq km of Surat city. The
Company is known for having one of the lowest levels of transmission and distribution losses in the country. It sources its entire bulk power requirement from the Gujarat Electricity Board
GEB. GEB feeds power to SEC at 66 kV voltage levels at its various receiving stations, strategically located all over the city. SEC’s consumers are supplied power either at 11 kV to
its HT Consumers or at 400230 volts to its LT Consumers. Still there are attempts being made to minimize the losses as the electricity needs of the city continue to grow. Rest of
Surat is served by Gujarat Electricity Board.
Land With the establishment of the Surat Urban Development Authority SUDA the development
plan for its entire area including SMC’s area was prepared, as provided under the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976. The planning area includes SMC and 148
villages of Choryasi, Kamrej, Palsana and Olpad Talukas. The urban sprawl has already been started outside of Surat city limits, along the radial roads and different corridors such as
Udhana corridor, Dindoli corridor, Rander – Adajan – Olpad corridor, Nana – Varachha – Kamrej corridor etc CDP 2006. The land use changes since the formation of SUDA is
presented in the following Table 28.
Table 28: Land use in SUDA Planning area over years
SI. No
Type of Zone Area in
1978 Sq km
Area in 1995
Sq km Area in
2004 Sq km
1 Residential
26.96 39.96
61.89 46.77
98.06 57.54
2 Commercial
1.41 2.09
2.56 1.93
4.16 2.44
3 Industrial
10.06 14.92
27.84 21.04
30.23 17.74
4 Educational Public Purpose
5.40 8.00
7.35 5.55
5.80 3.40
5 Recreation Garden
Public Space 0.22
0.33 0.58
0.44 1.07
0.63 6
Transport communication 7.91
11.72 16.61
12.55 15.61
9.16 7
Agriculture 15.50
22.98 15.50
11.71 15.50
9.09
Urbanised Area 67.46
100.00 132.33
100.00 170.43
100.00 Non Urbanised
654.54 589.67
551.57 Total
722.00 722.00
722.00
Source: Surat CDP 2006.
As shown the above table, the urbanized area nearly tripled from only 67 sq km in 1978 to 170 sq km in 2004. The decadal growth of more than 80 over this period is largely
responsible for this growth. After the addition of peripheral areas in 2006, SMC area has expanded to 326.515 sq km. After the expansion of the limits of the Surat Municipal
Corporation, the green area is bound to increase.
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5.5 Administration, Governance Urban Management, Stakeholders
