Vijayawada is a city on the banks of the Krishna River, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Vijayawada (urban) mandal in Krishna district of the state.
The city is one of the suburbs of the state capital Amaravati, under the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region, and the headquarters of APCRDA.
The city is one of the major trading and business centres of the state and hence, it is also known as “The Business Capital of Andhra Pradesh”.
The city is one of the two metropolis in the state, with the other being Visakhapatnam. As of 2011 census, the city had a population of 1,048,240, making it the second largest city in the state in terms of population and it had an urban agglomeration population of 1,491,202.
The city has been recognized as a “Global City of the Future” by McKinsey Quarterly. It is one of the commercial hubs of Andhra Pradesh with a GDP of $3 billion in 2010, and is expected to increase to $17 billion by 2025.
Geography
Vijayawada is located at 16.5193°N 80.6305°E and has an altitude of 11 m (36 ft). It lies on the banks of Krishna River and is also surrounded on the north by Budameru River. The northern, northwestern, and southwestern parts of the city are covered by a low range of hills, while the central, southwestern and northwestern parts are covered by rich and fertile agriculture lands with three major irrigation canals. The topography of Vijayawada is flat, with a few small to medium-sized hills. The Krishna River runs along the city. These hills are part of the Eastern Ghats cut through by the Krishna river. Three canals originating from the north side of the Prakasham barrage reservoir, Eluru, Bandar and Ryves, run through the city.
Demographics
As of 2011 Census of India, the city had a population of 1,048,240. The total population constitute, 524,918 males and 523,322 females —a sex ratio of 997 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000. 92,848 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 47,582 are boys and 45,266 are girls—a ratio of 951 per 1000. The average literacy rate stands at 82.59% (male 86.25%; female 78.94%) with 789,038 literates, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%.
The Vijayawada urban agglomeration had a population of 1,491,202 The city’s population is expected to reach 2.5 million by 2025. The Muslims constitute about 250,000 or approximately 21% of the total 1.2 million population in Vijayawada.
Economy
Trendset Mall near Benz Circle
Agriculture, commercial trade, tourism, industries, transportation and tertiary sectors etc., are the major sectors that contribute to the economy of the city. Vijayawada is famous for processing of agricultural products, automobile body building, hardware, textile, consumer goods and small scale industries. GDP of Vijayawada for 2008 was stimated at Rs 55.26 billion and it was $3 billion (Rs. 180 billion) in 2010. The fact that Vijayawada is well connected through rail and road, makes it one of the main hubs of commercial activities.
The city is promoting the usage of renewable energy sources. It is one of the city in the state to use biodiesel, alongsideVisakhapatnam. The city is covered under Solar/Green Cities scheme launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and is one of the 15 cities in the country listed in Pilot Solar Cities.
Agro-based industries such as cotton, turmeric, and Virginia tobacco are located in the surrounding areas. There are also oil, dal and rice mills located at Kondapalli. Real Estate is another sector in Vijayawada which is very high in property prices and are comparable with top cities of India.
Industrial estates
The two well equipped industrial estates in Vijayawada are Auto-Nagar and other near Kondapalli. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Auto Nagar Industrial Estate in Vijayawada is one of the largest auto industry hubs of Asia. The industrial estate in Kondapalli suburb is spread over 450 acres (1.8 km2), and is base to more than 800 industries. The Kondapalli Estate houses thermal power plants, and is base to more than 800 industrial units. Kondapalli suburb also houses Andhra Pradesh Heavy Machinery and Engineering Limited (APHMEL) factory. It is also a hub for storage, bottling and transportation of petroleum products of all major companies like BPCL, HPCL, IOC etc.
Culture
Vijayawada – Kanaka Durga Temple
The city has good history in art, literature and culture. There exists many religions, languages with different traditions and festivals. Dussera celebrations are noticeable which involves Durga Pooja, Theppotsavam mainly due to the existence of self manifested Kanaka Durga Temple, other festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali etc., of Hindus, Eid ul-Fitr of Muslims and Christmas of Christians. The clothing includes traditional men wearing dhoti and women wearing saree and salwar kameez. Western clothing is also predominant in the urban areas.
Arts, crafts and artefacts
Vijayawada Art Society promotes Telugu arts. The city had hosted Poetic Prism-2015, a multi-lingual poet’s meet in the city on 19 September 2015. All these activities are organized in collaboration with organisations like the Cultural Centre of Vijayawada. Kondapalli Toys are an example handmade toys by local artisans at Kondapalli village, a suburb of Vijayawada. Victoria Jubilee Museum is an archaeological museum which has sculptures, paintings and artifacts of Buddhist and Hindu relics, dated back to 2nd and 3rd centuries.
Accolades and Awards
Won National Urban Water Award for the year 2009.
CRISIL has bestowed Best Practices Award for the “Siti e-Governance” Project.
CSI Nihilent runner-up award was conferred by Ministry of Information and Technology.
Finalist in stocholm challenge award.
First corporation in the state to receive ISO 9001 certification for Quality Management System.
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