Nagpur District

Vehicle Registration : Vehicle registration MH31 – Ngp West; MH49 – Nagpur East; MH40 – Nagpur Metro * Nagpur is the winter capital of the state of Maharashtra. * a fast growing metropolis and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune. * With a population of 2,405,421[4] (2011) Nagpur Metropolitan Area is the 13th largest urban conglomeration in India. * It has recently been ranked as the cleanest city and the second greenest city of India. * In addition to being the seat of annual winter session of Maharashtra state assembly “Vidhan Sabha”, * Nagpur is a major commercial and political center of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and is famous throughout the country for Nagpur Orange.

Thus it is known as “Orange City” for being a major trade center of oranges that are cultivated in the region.[8] * In addition, the city derives political importance from being the headquarters for the Hindu nationalist organisation RSS and an important location for the Dalit Buddhist movement. * Nagpur is declared “Tiger Capital of India”[9][10] as it connects many tiger reserves in India to the world. * It is among the important cities for IT sector in Maharashtra after Pune. * Nagpur lies precisely at the center of the country with the Zero Mile marker indicating the geographical center of India The city was founded by the Gonds and later became part of the Maratha Empire under the Bhonsles. The British East India Company took over Nagpur in the 19th century and made it the capital of the Central Provinces and Berar. After the first reorganisation of states, the city lost its capital status but, according to the informal “Nagpur Pact” between political leaders, it was made the second capital of Maharashtra.

Etymology : The Nag River, a tributary of the Kanhan River, flows in a serpentine path and is therefore named “Nag”, the Marathi word for snake. Hence, the river and city is named as Nagpur. During British times the city used to be referred to as Nagpore. Others says that the river flows through the old city of Nagpur, and the city is named after this river. “Pur” is a “city.” History: From 1853 to 1861, the Nagpur Province (which consisted of the present Nagpur region, Chhindwara, and Chhatisgarh) became part of the Central Provinces and Berar and came under the administration of a commissioner under the British central government, with Nagpur as its capital. Berar was added in 1903. Tata group started the country’s first textile mill at Nagpur,[17] formally known as Central India Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd. The company was popularly known as “Empress Mills” as it was inaugurated on 1 January 1877, the day queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. The non-cooperation movement was launched in the Nagpur session of 1920.

The city witnessed a Hindu–Muslim riot in 1923 which had profound impact on K. B. Hedgewar,[18] who in 1925 founded the RSS, a Hindu nationalist organisation in Nagpur with an idea of creating a Hindu nation. After the 1927 Nagpur riots RSS gained further popularity in Nagpur and the organisation grew nationwide. At a formal public ceremony on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur B. R. Ambedkar with his supporters converted to Buddhism starting Dalit Buddhist movement which is still active. In 1994, the city witnessed its most violent day in modern times in form of Gowari stampede deaths. Nagpur is a city with great capabilities to grow and prosper in the coming days. It is very important for State and Central Governments to contribute to the growth, development, prosperity of Nagpur. Nagpur completed 300 years of establishment in the year 2002. A big celebration was organised to mark the event.

Climate : As it is located at centre of Indian peninsula far from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, Nagpur has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) with dry conditions prevailing for most of the year. It receives an annual rainfall of 1,205 mm (47.44 in) from monsoon rains during June to September.[24] The highest recorded daily rainfall was 304 mm on 14 July 1994. Summers are extremely hot lasting from March to June, with maximum temperatures occurring in May. Winter lasts from November to January, during which temperatures can drop below 10 °C (50 °F). The highest recorded temperature in the city was 48.6 °C on 29 May 2012, while the lowest was 3.9 °C

Geography (for AGRICULTURE): Nagpur lies on the Deccan plateau of the Indian Peninsula and has a mean altitude of 310.5 meters above sea level. The underlying rock strata are covered with alluvial deposits resulting from the flood plain of the Kanhan River. In some places these give rise to granular sandy soil. In low-lying areas which are poorly drained, the soil is alluvial clay with poor permeability characteristics. In the eastern part of city crystalline metamorphic rocks such as gneiss, schist and granites are found, while in the northern part yellowish sand stones and clays of the lower Gondwana formations are found.

Agriculture in Nagpur also contributes significantly to the economy of the city. The principle crops that are abundantly grown in the city of Nagpur include sugarcane, wheat, soya bean, pulses, mung, wheat, gram, jowar, bajra, linseed, cotton, groundnut, sunflower, tur and others. Kharif crops include the following:

Sugarcane: This is chiefly grown abundantly the month of November and is generally marketed in Nagpur. Mung: This variety of pulse is cultivated from the month of June to the month of October. Soya Bean: Cultivated from the months of June to the month of October along with the other varieties of the Kharif crops which include Cotton, Groundnut, Sunflower and Soya Bean. Rabi, which include:

Gram: Principally cultivated from the month of September to the month of February. Linseed: Cultivation of this particular crop commences from the month of September to the month of January. Jowar are also extensively cultivated during this time of the year. The major plantations of Nagpur include the extremely tasty and luscious citrus fruit, orange. Soya bean is considered to be the chief cash crop of Nagpur.

Ambazari being the largest. Other natural lakes include Gorewada Lake and Telangkhedi lake. Sonegaon and Gandhisagar lakes are man-made, created by the city’s historical rulers. Nag river, Pilli nadi along with nallas form the natural drainage pattern for the city. Nagpur is known for its greenery and was judged as the cleanest and second greenest in India after Chandigarh. Recently,[when?] the government of India selected Nagpur as a Model City for the ‘National Clean Air Mission’ by allocating 25 crores for the plan. This project will be handled by Nagpur’s own NEERI.

Nagpur is headquarters of national level scientific and governmental establishments like the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute NEERI, the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), the National Research Centre for Citrus, the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Aluminium Research and Development Centre, and the Petroleum And Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) NEERI : The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by Government of India. It was established in Nagpur in 1958 with focus on water supply, sewage disposal, communicable diseases and to some extent on industrial pollution and occupational diseases found common in post-independent India. NEERI is a pioneer laboratory in the field of environmental science and engineering and part of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). NEERI has five zonal laboratories at Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. NEERI falls under the Ministry of Science and Technology (India) of central government.

Civic administration : Nagpur is administered by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) which is a democratically elected civic governing body. Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) works with NMC and carries out works like development of the civic infrastructure and new urban areas on behalf of NMC.[28] The city is divided in 10 zones which are in turn divided into 145 wards. Each ward is represented by a corporator, majority of whom are elected in local elections.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation : The corporation is headed by a Municipal commissioner, an IAS officer. He wields the executive power of the house. A quinquennial election is held to elect corporators to power. They are responsible for overseeing that their constituencies have the basic civic infrastructure in place, and that there is no lacuna on the part of the authorities. The mayor heads the party with the largest vote. A largely ceremonial post, he has limited duties. NMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.

1. Building and Maintenance of roads, streets and flyovers.
2. Public Municipal schools
3. Water purification and supply
4. Hospitals
5. Street lighting
6. Maintenance of parks and open spaces
7. Sewage treatment and disposal
8. Garbage disposal and street cleanliness
9. Urban development and city planning of new areas.
10. Registering of births and deaths.

Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) is a local civic government body with the task of developing new areas within city limits of Nagpur, India and maintaining existing city infrastructure. NIT has played a major role in expansion and maintaining Nagpur in its past 65+ years of work. Trust works along with Nagpur Municipal Corporation(NMC) which is an elected body of city representatives(Corporator). NIT itself is not a democratically elected civic body and has members appointed in it from various levels like Government of Maharashtra, NMC and other representatives of Nagpur city. NIT holds the planning and development authority for Nagpur city but does not receive any funds from state government. Funds needed for development work is raised by NIT through the auction of newly developed areas. Work: NIT act of 1936, allows NIT to acquire land from surrounding rural areas to develop into new urban layouts. Once a new area of the city is developed by NIT it is handed back to NMC for maintenance. NMC then recovers the money in form of various taxes from the residents of which two percent is given back to NIT. NIT in turns has the responsibility to provide drinking water and sewage disposal for these areas.[6] NIT also distributes significant land acquired to weaker sections of the society at considerably lower rates.

NIT also undertakes the work of regularization of unauthorized residential zones. NIT is also responsible for maintaining the 8 major gardens and 40 mini gardens in Nagpur.[7] Various lakes and city monuments that come under the jurisdiction of local bodies are maintained by NIT. It has recently started a project to rejuvenate the Lake Futala in city.[8] NIT is also working on rejuvenating the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis.[9] Nagpur is the home of National Academy of Direct Taxes (N.A.D.T.) where officers of Revenue Services are trained and National Academy of Defense Production (N.A.D.P), where officers of ordnance factories are trained.

Military: Nagpur is an important city for the Indian armed forces. The city is the headquarters of Maintenance Command of Indian Air Force. The Indian Army’s ordnance factory and staff college are in the western part of the city. Nagpur’s suburb Kamptee has cantonment of regimental center of Indian Army’s Brigade made up of National Cadet Corps’ (NCC) Officers’ Training School, Institute of Military Law and other establishments. Nagpur’s National Civil Defense College provides civil defence and disaster management training to pupils from all over India and abroad. Indian Air Force’s giant IL-76 transport planes nicknamed “Gajraj” are also based in Nagpur.

Demographics: As of the 2011 census, Nagpur municipality had a population of 2,405,421 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 2,523,911. The municipality had a sex ratio of 961 females per 1,000 males . Effective literacy was 93.13%; male literacy was 96.16% and female literacy was 89.99%. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Jainism are four major religions in Nagpur with 66.0%, 11.0%, 20.0% and 1.5% of the population following them. Others are 1.5. Economy

* Nagpur is an emerging Metropolis of India and the fastest growing crorepati city.[33] Nagpur has been the main center of commerce in the Vidarbha region since early days and is an important trading location. However, Nagpur’s economic importance had gradually declined relative to Mumbai and Pune after the merging of Vidarbha into the Maharashtra because of a period of neglect by the state government.[34] During the slowdown, state and central government offices were a major source of employment. * Nagpur’s economy is currently recovering from past slowdowns[35] and the city has attracted Rupees 5,000 crore in investment in 2004.It was ranked the 11th most competitive city in the country by the Institute for Competitiveness in its 2012 report.

The city is important for the banking sector as it hosts the regional office of Reserve Bank of India, which was opened on 10 September 1956. The Reserve Bank of India has two branches in Nagpur in which one of it houses India’s entire gold assets. MARKET : Sitabuldi market in central Nagpur, known as the Heart of the city, is the major busiest commercial market area. Itwari and Mahal areas also host large number of small businesses and are very famous for shopping and crowded especially during holidays. Shopping: Markets are spread throughout as in most Indian cities covering almost all articles. Major retail markets are Sitabuldi, Itwari, Jaripatka, Dharampeth and Sadar. Most of the national retailers have their stores located at Nagpur: * Gaysons-The Fashion Mall (Sitabuldi)

* Lifestyle
* Pantaloon Retail India (2 stores)
* Big Bazaar (3 stores)
* Brand Factory (2 stores)
* Globus (clothing retailer) (2 stores)
Major malls in Nagpur include:
* Empress City Mall, Nagpur
* Poonam Mall- Wardhaman Nagar
* Eternity Mall- Sitabuldi
* Jaswant Tuli Mall-Indora
* Landmark-Wardha Road
* Shriram Towers-Sadar
* Poonam Chambers-Chhindwara Road
Upcoming malls are:
* Buty Mall-Sitabuldi
* Poonam Mall-VIP Road
* Celebration Mall[66]-Umred Ring Road

Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is an airport project for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur. It is the biggest economical development project currently underway in India in terms of investments. The project aims to exploit the central location of Nagpur and convert the present airport into a major cargo hub with integrated road and rail connectivity. This project consists of two parts: An international airport to act as a cargo hub and A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with residential zone covering an area of 40.25 km² on the southern end of Nagpur. The government of Maharashtra formed a special-purpose entity in the name of Maharashtra Airport Development Company for development of MIHAN.

The project is financed by multiple Indian banks with total loan amount of INR 3,000 million along with investment from state government and Airports Authority of India. With a projected target of serving 14 million passengers and handling 0.87 million tones of cargo this is one of largest aviation project in India. The estimated capital cost of the project is INR 2581 crores (by year 2035) and is supposed to generate revenues INR 5280 crores.TCS, india’s largest IT company is constructing its development centre in mihan and is to be operational by 2014. BOEING has also constructed its MRO in MIHAN.Lupin, a pharma company is constructing its new R&D division here. IT majors like wipro, infosys, mahindra satyam and hcl hv acquired lands in mihan.

Economic and Social Impact : The project has already spurred a real estate boom in Nagpur with property prices increasing 25 to 40 percent.[4] Project is expected to add 12 million people to city’s population by means of direct and indirect employment.[5] The project aims at boosting the economy of under developed Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and stop the brain drain to other parts of Maharashtra and India.[1] From environmental perspective half a million trees would be planted and there would be no polluting industries in MIHAN. The Maharashtra government has already taken care of infrastructure availability like roads, water, power etc. Also to meet the manpower demand, Nagpur University has given sanction to 43 new Engineering colleges in and around Nagpur only. Singapore Changi Airport has been selected as the consultant for this project.

International Airport : The existing airport of 400 hectares would be expanded to 1364 hectares. The project consists of widening and extending the present runway (3200 meters × 45 meters) to (3600 meters × 45 meters) to meet international standards. Also it will have provision for a similar runway (4000 × 60 m) in the future. The airport will have parking space for 50 aircraft at any time with 50 additional bays at fringe areas.[8] An airport terminal building in semi-circular shape with conductive weather dynamics will have total area of 3,000,000 sq ft (280,000 m2). Project is also building a separate cargo complex for handling and transferring cargo to-and-fro from airport.

Special Economic Zone (SEZ): A new SEZ of 2086 hectares, the largest multi-product SEZ in India, would be built alongside the airport. Out of 2086 hectares, 1472 hectares would be used by various processing units to be set up and remaining 614 hectares for service sector units.[9] Like all SEZs it will have financial incentives and soft taxation policy to attract investment. The initial setup material for these units and later raw material will be duty-free.[10] Major sections of SEZ would be – * Information technology park spread over 500 hectares and would include all necessary infrastructure for IT companies.[9] * Health city spread over 40 hectares that will have multi-specialty hospitals along with training institutes for nurses and medical technicals.[9] * Manufacturing industry unit that would include industries from sectors like textile and garment, gems and jewelry, food processing, pharmaceuticals and bio-medical. It would also have units for finance and insurance service companies.[9]

SEZ will have residential zone adjoining it to take advantage of the various developments in SEZ. An international school would impart education to MIHAN employee children. It would have other recreational facilities like golf course, flying club, multiplex theatre complex. Controversies: Year 2008 onwards, this project has been mired into numerous controversies including legality of MIPL (MIHAN India Private Limited) itself and manner in which excessive land acquisition was carried out without any progress on the ground. Besides Satyam scandal[11] link to MIHAN, a major housing project by private developer within MIHAN[12] has come under cloud. The Hitavada a prominent regional newspaper has published numerous investigative reports on this issue. The Butibori industrial area is the largest in all of Asia in terms of area.[39] The estate’s largest unit is of Indo Rama Synthetics, which manufactures synthetic polyester yarn. Other units in Butibori include the power transmission company KEC, Hyundai Unitech, ACC Nihon Castings Ltd.[40] Koradi Thermal Power Station and Khaparkheda Thermal Power Station are the two major thermal power stations located near Nagpur and operated by MSPGCL. NTPC has a super thermal power plant in Mauda around 40 km from Nagpur whose first plant is commissioned.

The Mahanirmiti or Mahagenco (Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited – MSPGCL) is the major power generating company in the state of Maharashtra, India. With a total generation of 10,400 MW, it is the second largest power producing company in India.[2] The power generated by MSPGCL is supplied to the State of Maharashtra. It was a part of Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) until 6 June 2005.

Koradi Thermal Power Station (KTPS) is located at Koradi near Nagpur, Maharashtra. The power plant is one of the four major power plants in Vidarbha – a power surplus region of India.[3] The power station began operations in 1974 and is one of the nine active power stations operated by Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MahaGenco), a subsidiary of Government of Maharashtra owned Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). The plant operates 7 units and has a total power generation capacity of 1080 MW.[1] A proposed 440 kilovolt high power transmission line from Koradi to Bhusawal would join Nagpur with Mumbai. KTPS campus also contains training institute of MahaGenco for middle and senior level engineers, technicians and other staff.[6] KTPS is located on the northern side of Nagpur and is spread across an area of 30,337 km2. Coal for KTPS comes from various nearby collieries of Western Coal Fields, Nagpur (WCL) located at Silewara, Pipla, Patansaongi, Kamptee, Inder, Walni, Gondegaon and Saoner.

These are at an average distance of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. The plant approximately requires 16,000 to 17,000 tonnes of coal per day. The water for KTPS comes from water reservoir of nearby Totaladoh hydroelectric power station. Also, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) provides treated water from its sewerage treatment plant. MSEB has finalized further expansion by increasing the capacity of 3 units to 660 MW thereby taking the total capacity of KTPS to 1560 MW. The work is expected to finish by 2014.[10] Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is expected to get equity participation by supplying important equipments in the 8,000 crore (US$1.46 billion) expansion plan.[11] In order to reduce air pollution the plant’s units are equipped with electrostatic precipitators.

Kaparkheda Thermal Power Station is located in Nagpur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The power plant is one of the coal based power plants of MAHAGENCO. The coal for the power plant is sourced from Saoner and Dumri Khurd mines of Western Coalfields Limited [1]. Source of water for the power plant is from Pench reservoir through a pond of Koradi Thermal Power Station.

Major Industries in Nagpur: The Hingna industrial estate on the western fringes of the city is made up of around 900 small and medium industrial units. The major ones among them are: * tractor manufacturing plant of Mahindra and Mahindra,

* casting units of NECO Ltd. (the country’s largest casting group),
* units of International Combustion,
* Bajaj Auto group,
* Candico (the second largest confectionery manufacturing plant in India[42]), * Ajanta toothbrushes,
* Sanvijay Group (largest steel rolling group of companies for long products in Central India).[43] * Nagpur is home to ice-cream manufacturer Dinshaws,
* Haldiram’s,
* Indian Ready to Cook food manufacturer Actchawa and Ayurvedic product company Vicco and Baidnath. Haldirams: is one of India’s largest sweets and snacks manufacturers, based in Nagpur, India. It was founded in 1937 by Gangabisenji Agrawal (aka Haldiram), as retail sweets and namkeens shop in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. The credit for that, according to history, goes to Tansukhdas, his grandfather who made bhujiayas earlier. From a small corner shop to a brand worth Rs.1500 Crores, Haldiram has hit the right chords with its customers over the past 76 years.The name Haldiram was taken forward by his youngest son Rameshwar Lal who opened a shop in Calcutta, West Bengal by the name, ‘Haldiram Bhujiawala’. Haldiram’s products in Delhi and the NCR are sold under the brand name of “Haldiram”, which is the original Haldiram family. Products in the Kolkata region are sold under the brand name of “Haldiram’s Prabhuji” or “Haldiram Bhujiawala” while products in the Nagpur region are sold under the brand name of “Haldiram’s Nagpur”.

Haldiram despite captures by Nathu’s, Aggarwal’s and Bikanerwala still retains a market share of 25% with a total turnover of Rs.400 Crores. Credit goes to it’s USP of serving authentic Indian snacks prepared with unmatched hygeine and standardized quality.Haldiram has not been free from controverises as in 2010, Prabhu Shankar Aggarwal, eldest son of Rameshwarlal, owner of the Kolkata unit was booked for murder of a tea-stall owner who was coming in the way of a grand restaurant setup and was given life-imprisonment. Haldiram’s is also a member of APEDA (Agriculture and Processed food Products Exports Development Association). Haldiram’s products are exported to several countries worldwide including US, UK,Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Libya, South Korea, Nigeria, Mauritius, United Arab Emirates, Zambia and Bahrain. Best product – Raj kachori. http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/newsmaker-prabhu-shankar-agarwal-110020500012_1.html

Dinshaws :

Vicco : Founded in 1952 by late Shri K.V.Pendharkar, the VICCO Group has emerged today as makers of the best internationally known products of the Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of natural medicines. Having production units at Dombivli, Nagpur and Goa in India. Their best known products are Vicco Turmeric skin / sun screen cream, Vicco Vajradanti powder and paste and Vicco SF (Sugar free) paste. About 15% of company’s total production goes to overseas market. Under the able guidance of Shri. G.K.Pendharkar, Chairman, the company has established strong foothold in almost every developed country in Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Australia.

Baidyanath : is one of the oldest and most popular pharmaceutical firm specialising in Ayurvedic medicines.It has been manufacturing many highly popular items like Chyawanprash and Dashmularishta for several years. Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan (p) Limited was founded in 1917 by Late Pt. Ram Dayal Joshi. Its registered office is in Kolkata. To encourage and boost research in Ayurveda, Baidyanath established Pt. Ram Dayal Joshi Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute at Patna in 1971. Baidyanath Group awards two hundred thousand rupees every year for the best research paper or book on Ayurveda. Education : Nagpur is a major education centre in Central India. College of Agriculture, Nagpur is the oldest college in the country founded in 1906 by the then British Government. The college is held at the historic and heritage Victoria Building (built in 1856 for stay of Queen of England Her Highness Victoria at Nagpur) at Maharajbagh, Nagpur.[45] Founded in 1923, Nagpur University[46] is one of the oldest in the country.

The Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, one of the premiere colleges of science and technology in the country is located in Nagpur. Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur, one of the reputed B-schools of India is located on a sprawling campus on way to Katol. Culture and places of interest : The city contains people from other Indian states as well as people belonging to the world’s major faiths, and yet is known for staying calm during communal conflicts in India. The Hitavada is one of the oldest and largest circulated English daily newspapers published in central India. The Nagpur Central Museum (estb. 1863) maintains collections are mainly for Vidarbha region. Another daily Tarun Bharat is a Marathi language daily published in Nagpur since 1948 AD by NarKesari publication, Ramdaspeth. Lokmat, the largest circulated Marathi daily of the World published from and headquartered at Lokmat Bhawan, Ramdaspeth, Nagpur, was started by Late Sri Jawaharlal Darda and publishes in 3 languages- Lokmat Times-English daily, Lokmat Samachar-Hindi daily and Lokmat-Marathi daily. The Times of India, The Economic Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Maharashtra Times, Navabharat, Sakal, Loksatta and Deshonatti are the other dailies published from Nagpur.

There are 5 FM stations operating from Nagpur : Radio Mirchi, My FM. Radio City, Red FM, All India Radio Mosque: Three brothers Ghulam Ali (Kotwal), Mohammad Saaduddin (Subedar) and Mohammad Saladuddin (Minister and Kotwal) founded ‘Jhajjar Bagh’ at Hansapuri (Now Mominpura). In this location, they built their residence ‘Aina-e Mahal’, a well and a Masjid (now Masjid Ahle Hadith). ‘Jhajjar Bagh’ also known as ‘Subedar ka Bada’ was located where nowadays Mohammad Ali Road at Mominpura, Jamia Masjid, Mohammad Ali Sarai and Furqania Madrasa are located.[57] The Raman Science Centre promotes scientific knowledge and has a 133 seat planetarium.[58] The present day Maharajbagh zoo was originally a garden developed by the Bhonsle rulers.[59] The state government has approved a new safari park of international standards besides Gorewada Lake. Deekshabhoomi : is a sacred monument of Buddhism at the place where Babasaheb Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his about 3,80,000 followers on October 14, 1956.

Deekshabhoomi is famous for its architectural beauty and historical importance. It is the largest hollow stupa among all Buddhist stupas in the world.The stupa of the sacred Deekshabhoomi was designed by famous architect Sheo Dan Mal. Construction of the stupa started in July 1978, but it took a long time to finish. Sagar Enterprise of Mumbai, (Mr. H. C. Vakharia and Mr. Sandip Vakharia,) has completed structural work. The stupa was opened for the people on December 18, 2001 after a formal inauguration by the then President of India K. R. Narayanan. Design of the stupa at Deekshabhoomi is based upon the architecture of the world famous stupa of Sanchi. But unlike the stupa of Sanchi, Deekshabhoomi stupa is completely hollow from inside.

At the ground floor, there is a 211 x 211 feet large square hall. At the centre of this hall, an idol of Buddha is placed. This idol was donated to Deekshabhoomi by Thai students learning in the university of Nagpur. Besides the Vihara, there is the Bodhi Tree, which is a sacred fig tree. This Bodhi Tree was planted at Deekshabhoomi from three branches of the Bodhi Tree at Anuradhapuram in Sri Lanka. Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan had brought these branches from Sri Lanka as the memoir of Buddha’s enlightenment. It is also one of the main centers of tourism in India especially from Buddist nations like Japan, Thailand. Babasaheb selected Nagpur for his conversion ceremony, as he explained in his speech at that occasion, because Nagpur was the homeland of Nag people who embraced Buddhism and supported it with great efforts in its early period.

The most famous Temple in Nagpur is Tekdi Ganesh Mandir, and is said to be one of the Swayambhu (means Self-Manifested) temple in city. Sri Poddareshwar Ram Mandir and Shri Mahalaxmi Devi temple of Koradi are important Hindu temples.[61] Religious events are observed in the city throughout the year. Ram Navami is celebrated in Nagpur with shobha yatra with a procession of floats depicting events from the Ramayana.[62] Processions are also held on important festivals of other religions such as Dharma chakra privartan din, Vijayadashami, Eid E Milad, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Mahavir Jayanti, Durga puja, Ganesh Chaturthi and Moharram. Celebrations lasting for several days are held on Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja festivals in virtually every small locality in the city. The city also contains a sizeable Muslim population, and famous places of worship for Muslims include the Jama Masjid-Mominpura and Bohri Jamatkhana-Itwari.The most famous Dargah of Hazrat Tajoddin Baba at Taj Baug.The St. Francis De Sales Cathedral is located in Sadar as well as the All Saints Cathedral church.

Zero Mile Stone : is a monument locating the geographical center of India in the south east of Vidhan Bhavan, Nagpur, Maharashtra. The Zero Mile Stone was erected by the British who used this point to measure all the distances. The English rulers considered Nagpur as the centre of India and hence identified this point and constructed the Zero Mile Stone. Being at the center of the country, they also had a plan to make Nagpur the second capital city. [2] The Zero Mile Stone consists of four horses and a pillar made up of sandstone. In 2008, The Times of India undertook to maintain the monument for the next 5 years.

Hyderabad-493; Pune -734; Mumbai-798; Ahmedabad-851;Delhi-1029;Bangalore-1062; Chennai-1117; Kolkata-1118kms The Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground (VCA) in Nagpur is one of the nine test venues in the country. A new stadium of VCA has been built on Wardha road with a seating capacity of 45,000 people at cost of 75 crore (US$13.65 million) by architect Shashi Prabhu and was one of the venues for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.Nagpur have one more cricket stadium named as VCA, Civil Lines which also hosted international matches.Thus Nagpur is one of the few cities, having more than one international cricket stadium in India. Entertainment and leisure : Nagpur boasts vast forests and tiger sanctuaries within a radius of few hundred kilometers. Some famous national parks surrounding Nagpur are:

* Tadoba
* Pench
* Nagzira
* Melghat
* Kanha

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a Tiger reserves in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in central India. It is notable as Maharashtra’s oldest and largest National Park. It is one of India’s 41 “Project Tiger” – Tiger reserves. Legend holds that Taru was a village chief who was killed in a mythological encounter with a tiger & so the name. Aside from around 65 of the keystone species Bengal tiger, Tadoba Tiger Reserve is home to other mammals, including: Indian leopards, sloth bears, gaur, nilgai, dhole, striped hyena, small Indian Civet, jungle cats, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, chital, and chausingha. Tadoba lake sustains the Marsh Crocodile, which were once common all over Maharashtra. Reptiles here include the endangered Indian python and the common Indian monitor. Terrapins, Indian star tortoise, Indian Cobra and Russel’s viper also live in Tadoba. The lake is an ornithologist’s paradise with a wide diversity of water birds, and raptors. 195 species of birds have been recorded, including three endangered species.

The Grey-headed fish eagle, the Crested Serpent Eagle, and the Changeable Hawk-Eagle are some of the raptors. Other interesting species include the Orange-headed Thrush, Indian Pitta, Crested Treeswift, Stone Curlew, Crested Honey Buzzard, Paradise Flycatcher, Bronze-winged Jacana and Lesser Goldenbacked Woodpecker. Warblers and the black-naped blue flycatcher exist here and the call of the peacock may often be heard. 74 species of butterflies have been recorded including the pansies, monarch, Mormons and swordtails. Insect species include the endangered danaid egg-fly and great eggfly. Dragonflies, stick insects, jewel beetles and the praying mantis are other insects located in the reserve. The signature spider, giant wood spider and red wood spiders are often seen during the monsoon and soon after. Some hunting spiders like the wolf spiders, crab spiders and lynx spiders are also common.

Pench National Park : is situated to the south of Satpura Hills. It is named so after the name of the river Pench which flows through this area. This is the 19th project tiger reserve in India and was declared so in 1992. It has tropical moist deciduous forest. The Pench National Park is located in Southern Madhya Pradesh in India, about 70 km from the city of Nagpur. Spread over an area of 275 km² 90% of area is in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh rest 10% in Maharashtra. The common animals which can be seen are the gaur, sambar (deer)s, blue bulls , macaque, langur, wild boar, bears and ( indian)wild dogs and the Park is well known for its axis deers and leopards. A few tigers and civets can also be spotted sometimes. As per 2011 Tiger Census ; There are 25 tigers under this umbrella of the Park. 39 species of mammals, 13 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians.

Nagzira wildlife sanctuary is located in the Gondia district of Maharashtra, 120 km. away from Nagpur. The invertebrate fauna includes, besides a number of insects and ant species. Wild animals found here are the tiger, bison, sambar, nilgai, chital, wild boar, sloth bear and wild dog. Nearly 30,000 tourists visits this sanctuary annually. Wild animals to spot are the tiger, panther, bison, sambar, nilgai, chital, wild boar, sloth bear and wild dog. Melghat was declared a Tiger Reserve and was among the first nine Tiger Reserves notified in 1973-74 under the Project Tiger. It is located in northern part of Amravati District of Maharashtra.

It is 225 km west of NagpurThe main fauna found here are tiger, leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, jackal, sambar, gaur, barking deer, nilgai, chital, chausingha, ratel, flying squirrel, wild boar, langur, Rhesus monkey, porcupine, pangolin, mouse deer, python, otter and blacknaped hare. Kanha National Park Nagpur (260 km) is a national park and a Tiger Reserve in the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh, India. In the 1930s, Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 km² . Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955. Today it stretches over an area of 940 km² in the two districts Mandla and Balaghat. It is the largest National Park in Central India. The park has a significant population of Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, the sloth bear, Barasingha and Indian wild dog. The lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel “Jungle Book “.

Tiger tourism is witnessing a good growth in the city. Nagpur is attracting lot of foreign tourists as it holds the advantage of having an international airport. Cuisine :The Vidharbha region has its own distinctive cuisine known as the Varhadi cuisine or Saoji cuisine. Saoji or Savji cuisine was popularised by the Savji community. This traditional food is famous for its spicy taste. The special spices used in the gravy include black pepper, dry coriander, bay leaves, grey cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and ample use of poppy seeds (khus-khus). Rail : A total of 160 trains stop at Nagpur. These include passenger, express, mail, Duronto, rajdhani, garib rath trains. Of these 65 are daily trains and 26 terminate/originate from Nagpur. Almost 1.5 lakh passengers board/leave Nagpur Railway Station daily.

The city is the Divisional Head Quarters for the Central Railway and South East Central Railway Zone of Indian Railways. Nagpur Metro Rail : The Nagpur Metro Rail project is announced by the state government of Maharashtra for the city with the expenses of 4,400 Cr and 3,800 Cr Rupees for its two phases of 25 km (from Sitabuldi to MIHAN and Butibori via Airport) and 20 km (Sitabuldi to Automotive Square in Kamptee) respectively. Consultants Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) will study the alignment and submit a detailed project report. The site inspection has already begun in March 2012 with the initiatives from NIT. The Rs 10,000-crore project will be executed by a new company called Nagpur Metro Transport Co Ltd (NMTCL) formed under the NIT. NMC, Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) — that is currently developing the MIHAN project – MIDC and CIDCO are the other participating organisations. MIHAN vice-chairman UPS Madan will be the chairman of the new company and NIT chairman Parvin Darade will be its executive director.

Road : Nagpur is a major junction for roadways as India’s two major national highways, Kanyakumari-Varanasi (NH 7) and Hajira-Kolkata (NH-6), passing through the city.[74] One more highway number 69 connect Nagpur to Obaidullaganj near Bhopal. Nagpur is at the junction of two Asian Highways namely AH43 Agra to Matara, Sri Lanka and AH46 connecting Kharagpur, India to Dhule, India. The new state highway, Nagpur–Aurangabad–Mumbai express highway, built on the national highway basis is also sanctioned by the state and central government.

This highway connects the state capital Mumbai to Nagpur via Aurangabad and significantly reduces the distance travelled by NH 6 and NH 3 between two cities. State and Central government (NHAI) also approved the extension of NH 204 from Kolhapur to Nagpur via Solapur, Tuljapur, Latur, Nanded, Yavatmal, Wardha and Butibori, which mainly covers all the portion covered by the current Major State Highway, MSH 3 between Butibori and Tuljapur. Bus: Maharashtra State road transport Corporation (MSRTC) runs cheaper transport service for intercity, interstate, interstate travel. It has two bus stations in Nagpur: Nagpur Bus Sthanak (CBS-1) at Ganeshpeth and MorBhawan (CBS-2) at Jhansi Rani Square, Sitabuldi.

Air transport: Nagpur’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) is the busiest in India,[74] with more than 300 flights flying over the city every day in 2004.[76] In October 2005, Nagpur’s Sonegaon Airport was declared an international airport and was renamed Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.[77] Nagpur is well connected by daily direct flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Ahmedabad, Goa, Jaipur, Kochi, Nanded, Aurangabad, Raipur operated by Air India, Jet Airways, JetLite, IndiGo, GoAir, SpiceJet. Air Arabia operates a 4 times a week to and fro flight between Nagpur and Sharjah. Indian Air Force has its base at Sonegaon near Nagpur International Airport. It houses Mi8 Helicopters and the IAF carriers IL-76.