Bapunagar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bapunagar | |
|---|---|
town | |
  Bapunagar Location in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India  Bapunagar Bapunagar (Gujarat) | |
| Coordinates: 23°02′18″N 72°37′50″E / 23.038350°N 72.630528°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Gujarat |
| District | Ahmadabad |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Gujarati, Hindi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Vehicle registration | GJ 01 and GJ 27 |
| Website | gujaratindia |
Bapunagar is a neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is in the eastern part of the city, in the Bpunagr ward. Its name derives from the word bapu, which refers to Gandhi, who was popularly called bapu, or 'father'.
Bapunagar was established in the early 1960s as a residential area for the poor mill workers, when Ahmedabad was a flourishing textile centre. Many of these mills had closed by the late 1980s, reducing the now unemployed mill workers to home businesses, such as making incense sticks or candles. The present day detergent giant Nirma began as just one such home industry; the owner started by making household detergents and selling them door to door.
Industry and business
In the early 1990s, diamond cutting arose as an industry in the absence of the textile mills. At present, Bapunagar ranks second in India as a diamond cutting centre, after only Surat. Diamond cutting has absorbed many of the workers who used to be employed by textile mills, and attracted additional people from the Saurashtra region. This influx of new residents caused a resultant increase in the housing sector and construction is causing a second more recent employment boom. Bapunagar Darpan is local bi-weekly newspaper operated from Bapunagar, Ahmedabad.
