Jaipur

India COUNTRY

2,690,000 CITY POPULATION

Mayor-Council GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Jaipur, popularly known as the “Pink City”, and “Paris of India”, is the capital of Rajasthan state, India. Jaipur is famous worldwide for unique Architecture, Vastu, Astrology, Forts, Monuments, Palaces, Art and Craft, Culture and last but not least for unique Food. Rajasthan's beautiful Pink City Jaipur, was the stronghold of a clan of rulers whose three hill forts and series of palaces in the city are important attractions. Known as the Pink City because of the color of the stone used exclusively in the walled city, Jaipur's bazaars sell embroidered leather shoes, blue pottery, tie and dye scarves and other exotic wares. Western Rajasthan itself forms a convenient circuit in the heart of the Thar desert which has shaped its history, lifestyles and architecture.

Data and facts

The city was painted entirely in pink color in order to honor and welcome the visit of Edward, the Prince of Wales. It was done in the year 1876 by Maharaja Ram Singh and since then, Jaipur has been called the Pink City of India.
As of 2011, the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in India.
Jaipur has a monsoon influenced hot semi-arid climate with long, extremely hot summers and short, mild to warm winters.
Jaipur has been touted as one of the royal cities in India, housing luxurious and lavish hotels is common. It is also home to some of the famous hotel suites in the world.
Jaipur is a part of the Golden Tourism Triangle of the country; the other two cities that form this triangle are Delhi and Agra. It means that Jaipur is one of the most visited places in India.
Jantar Mantar is one of the two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Jaipur, the other being the Amer Fort. Therefore, it has gained popularity all over the world. It is a complex of 19 architectural astronomical instruments that were built in the year 1734 by the king of Jaipur so that astronomical positions of the solar system could be observed with the naked eye.
Commenced in 2006, the Jaipur Literature Festival is the world's largest free literary festival, which is attended by people from all over the world. From writers to filmmakers, lyricists to novelists, it witnesses thousands of artists from several countries. The last edition of this grand festival was celebrated from 25th to 29th January in 2018.
Over a period of time, Hawa Mahal has become one of the most recognized historical monuments in India. Hence, it is a synonym to Jaipur today. Therefore, a trip to Jaipur is always considered incomplete without capturing the captivating beauty of this grand structure. This architectural marvel has a total of 953 windows . It is called Hawa Mahal (the Breeze Palace) because it was constructed in the late 18th century.
If you think Chandigarh is the first-ever planned city in India, then you certainly need to correct your facts. Jaipur is believed to be the first planned city in the country as it was completed in the year 1730. The fact that Jaipur is the only city that has been planned as per the rules and regulations of the Vastu Shastra and the Shilpa Shastra will certainly amaze you. Jaipur was constructed within 4 years.

Administration

Jaipur Municipal Corporation is responsible for maintaining the city's civic infrastructure and carrying out associated administrative duties. The Municipal Corporation is headed by a mayor. There are 91 wards and each ward is represented by an elected member. Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) is the nodal government agency responsible for the planning and development of Jaipur. Jaipur consists of two parliamentary constituencies Jaipur and Jaipur Rural. In January 2019 Vishnu Laata was elected Mayor of Jaipur.

Economy

In addition to its role as the provincial capital, educational, and administrative centre, the economy of Jaipur is fuelled by tourism, gemstone cutting, the manufacture of jewellery and luxury textiles, and information technology. Three major trade promotion organizations have their offices in Jaipur. These are: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, (FICCI) the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which has its regional offices here. In 2008, Jaipur was ranked 31 among the 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing cities. Jaipur Stock Exchange is one of the regional stock exchanges in India and was founded in 1989. Jaipur is a major hub for arts and crafts. It has many traditional shops selling antiques, jewelry, handicrafts, gems, bangles, pottery, carpets, textiles, leather and metal products. Jaipur is one of India's largest manufacturers of hand-knotted rugs. Jaipur leg, a rubber-based prosthetic leg for people with below-knee amputations, was designed and is produced in Jaipur.

Infrastructure

Communication

Jaipur has offices of companies like Airtel, Vodafone, Jio, Reliance, Idea, BSNL, V-Guard and Tata which are providing mobile telephony and there are also various internet service providers in the city. The government of Rajasthan has started free WiFi at various public places like Central Park, Jantar Mantar among others.

Media

Major daily newspapers in Jaipur include Amar Ujala, Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Navajyoti and The Times of India.[62][63] The state-owned All India Radio is broadcast both on the medium wave and FM band in the city. Private FM stations include Radio Mirchi (98.3 MHz), Radio City (91.1 MHz), My FM (94.3 MHz), FM Tadka 95 FM (95.0 MHz), Red FM 93.5 (93.5 MHz) and Gyan Vani (105.6 MHz). The city has a community FM channel in FM Radio 7 (90.4 MHz) by India International School Institutional Network. The public broadcaster Doordarshan (Prasar Bharati) provides a regional channel in addition to the private broadcasters.

Roads

Jaipur is located on National Highway No.8 connecting Delhi and Mumbai. National Highway 12 links Jaipur with Kota and National Highway 11 links Bikaner with Agra passing through Jaipur. RSRTC operates bus service to major cities in Rajasthan, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat. City buses are operated by Jaipur City Transport Services Limited (JCTSL) of RSRTC. The service operates more than 400 regular and low-floor buses. Major bus depots are located at Vaishali Nagar, Vidyadhar Nagar and Sanganer.

Rail

Jaipur is the headquarters of North Western Zone of Indian Railways. Jaipur Junction railway station is well connected to all major cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Indore, Lucknow, Visakhapatnam and Ahmedabad. Other stations include Gandhinagar, Durgapura, Jagatpura, Ninad Benad and Sanganer.

Metro

Jaipur Metro commenced commercial operation on 3 June 2015. Phase-1A is operational between Mansarovar and Chandpole consisting of nine stations namely Mansarovar, New Aatish Market, Vivek Vihar, Shayam Nagar, Ram Nagar, Civil Line, Railway Station, Sindhi Camp and Chandpole. Phase-1B is under construction. The estimated cost of the project is ₹550 crore (US$77 million) and it is expected to be completed by 2020.

Air

Jaipur International Airport is in Sanganer, 12.2 km (8 miles) from the centre. The airport handled 363,899 international and 2,540,451 domestic passengers in 2015–2016. Jaipur Airport also provides air cargo services. During winter, sometimes flights towards Indira Gandhi International Airport are diverted to Jaipur Airport due to heavy fog in Delhi. The airport operates regular domestic services to major Indian cities including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Raipur, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Udaipur and Varanasi. International destinations served include Dubai, Muscat, Bangkok, Sharjah and Kuala Lumpur.

Technology

Jaipur, the capital & the biggest city of Rajasthan has seen tremendous development in the last 2 decades. Contrary to other tier-2 cities, Pink City offers great potential for innovative ventures in terms of market size, cash flow, employee cost & quality, educated consumers, technology users etc. Lack of homegrown brands adds seasoning to the need of homegrown brands. The millennial Jaipurites noticed this opportunity. And boom, we have over 10,000+ startups in Jaipur in less than 10 years. The government of Rajasthan has built asia's largest startup incubator in Jaipur, where they have seated 700 young entrepreneurs to build future technologies. With this kind of infrastructure, Jaipur is now bound to see a lot of small ventures become million-dollar companies.