Vadodara, a City of Culture and Industry
The city of Vadodara, also popularly known as Baroda, used to be the seat of the Gaekwad or Gaikwad monarchs. It was formerly called by many names. The city was referred to as Chandravati, then Viravati, and Vadpatra due to the great quantity of banyan trees on the River banks of Vishwamitri. It was from Vadpatra that the current name Baroda or Vadodara is derived.Vadodara is fondly called by its people as a Sanskari Nagari or a cultured metropolis. It is made very evident with everyday interaction with their people, their lifestyle and steadfast hold to their traditions. Culture is a legacy for them.The eastern part of Vadodara consists of the old city, with crammed full market fleas and multihued pol. Pols are traditional blocks of wooden houses where thousands reside. The city is also the home of the renowned Maharaja Sayajirao University which develops research, science and arts. The institution offers courses that include law, commerce, social work, fine arts, and medicine.Vadodara takes pride of its well designed gardens, multitude of shrines and temples as well as copious notable palaces and museums. Some of the historical sites worth the trip especially for history enthusiasts are Pratap Villas Palace, Baroda Museum, Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum, Nazar Baug Palace and the elegant Laxmi Vilas Palace. And if you are simply exhausted after a day’s tour and sightseeing, you can always slow down at gardens such as Jubilee Gardens, Sayaji Baug, and Lal Baug.Contemporary Vadodara is also an illustrious monument to its dear departed late ruler, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad III. He inspired Vadodara to be an industrial, cultural and educational hub. His dream came true as Vadodara is the leading industrial city in Gujarat, India today. Until the onset 1960′s the city was regarded to be an education capital.The Alembic Pharmaceuticals is the first modern factory and was built in 1907. Consequently in 1940s, other manufacturing firms like Jyoti, Sarabhai Chemicals, and others followed suit. By early 1960s, the prevailing industrial units include pharmaceuticals, textiles and machine tools factories.In 1962, the city experienced an abrupt advancement in industrial exploits as the Gujarat Refinery was founded. This processing plant set off into the initial stage of manufacturing products in 1965. Its being a fundamental business created critical offerings on some facades at both national and regional levels. There were 288 industrial units providing jobs for 27510 laborers in 1962.There were quite a few dynamics that made Vadorada grow to be of the primary industrial hubs in the country. It needs availability of materials, ample financial supply, and adept mobilization of human resources to be dynamic in quality production. Moreover, the breakthrough of fuel and oil in North Gujarat and Ankleshwar greatly paved the way to the industrial expansion of Gujarat. The region of Vadorada is the foremost recipient in the industrialization development.Different wide-ranging industries that include Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd., Gujarat State Fertilisers & Chemicals, and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited all arose in the surrounding area of Gujarat Refinery. This also made all of these firms reliant on Gujarat Refinery for their supply and gas. Other widespread public firms are Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd. and Heavy Water Project. Products of these manufacturing firms have broad relevance in a variety of sectors of India’s economy.