''For Greater Noida see
Greater Noida''
'New Okhla Industrial Development Authority' is a department of the government of
Uttar Pradesh in
Gautam Buddha Nagar District,
India. The acronym is also the name of the area (New Okhla Industrial Development Area), that is under the management of the department. NOIDA came into existence on 19 April 1976 and celebrates 19 April as "NOIDA Day".
Sanjay Gandhi set up NOIDA as part of an urbanisation thrust during the controversial
Emergency period (1975-1977). The city, which was created under the ''UP Industrial Area Development Act'', has first-class amenities and is considered to be one of the more modern
suburbs of Delhi in the
National Capital Region. It is also home to the
NOIDA Film City.
History
The land within the NOIDA city limits was initially under the
Bulandshahar District (approx. distance 37 km), but was later transferred to the
Ghaziabad district (approx. distance 16 km). Later still, NOIDA was made into a separate administrative zone as a separate district by Chief Minister, Ms
Mayawati. This decision of the Mayawati government came under review from the next government of
Mulayam Singh Yadav, who reversed it in 2003, and remerged NOIDA with Ghaziabad. After a period of some 9 months, the decision was reversed yet again in 2004 and the city was once again made into a separate district. There were some allegations of political favours through low-priced land deals due to these decisions. Presently, the city is a separate district, called Gautam Budh Nagar, with its administrative HQ at
SurajPur, a nearby town. However, the highest government official, the District Magistrate (DM) stays in Noida. The city falls under the NOIDA-Dadri legislative assembly seat (''
Vidhan Sabha'') and Khurja Parliamentary seat (''
Lok Sabha'').
Geography
noida is situated towards the north of India close to
Delhi. it is bound on the west and south-west by the river
Yamuna, on the north and north-west by
Delhi, on the north-east by
Delhi and
Ghaziabad and on the north-east, east and south-east by the river
Hindon. NOIDA falls under the catchment area of the
Yamuna river and is based on the old river bed. The soil is mainly sand and clay mixed, called "Khadar" in the local language and is suitable for growing seasonal vegetables, grains like wheat and cash crops like sugarcane. With the advent of urbanisation, vegetables and fruits are now the main crops .
Demographics
As of 2001 India
census[1], Noida had a population of 293,908. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Noida has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74%, and female literacy is 61%. In Noida, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Spread across 203.16 km², NOIDA today has a population of more than 500,000, about 50% of whom commute to
Delhi daily, solely for the purpose of work. NOIDA has a large expatriate population of migrant labour from
Bihar despite
Uttar Pradesh itself being the largest contributor of immigrants to rest of India (census 2001).
The famous
DND Flyway connecting NOIDA with Delhi runs across the river Yamuna and receives a good patronage from office-goers in the city. The road is well known among the locals as the Toll Bridge.
The
NGN Expressway is seeing a lot of residential complexes coming up over the last 3 years with expats working for Japanese companies renting flats.

The DND Flyway or Toll Bridge as it is commonly known as connects NOIDA with
New Delhi, the
capital of
India

Picture shows the Sector-18 junction with SabMall in the background.
Economy
Lately NOIDA has become a hub for multinational firms outsourcing IT services. Many large Software and
BPO companies have their offices in the city, notable being
Birlasoft,
Perot Systems,
Fiserv,
Adobe Systems,
TCS, while leading
BPO and largest in Asia 'iEnergizer'
[1] is also there.
ATC Labs , Interra,
AgreeYa Solutions,
GlobalLogic (previously Induslogic), Patni Computer Systems Ltd,
CSC,
HCL,
Hewitt Associates,
EXL,Impetus
STMicroelectronics,
MtronPTI,
Adobe Systems,
Parwan Telecom Technologies ,
Freescale Semiconductor,
Sopra Group,
Grail Research and
Xansa. Many other companies have their Indian branch offices in Noida, because of the Special Economic Zone, the better, suburbian atmosphere in NOIDA and its closeness to Delhi. NOIDA also has the head office of the Software Technologies Park, in Sector 29, Ganga Shopping Complex. In industries, the famous music publishing company T-Series is based in NOIDA. NOIDA is fast emerging as a hub for automobile ancillary units, with companies like
Daewoo, Escorts, Honda-SIEL and
New Holland Tractors (JV of
FIAT with
Ford) opening up shop in the city. Of these
Daewoo is currently closed. Major Manufacturing and other companies like ISGEC , LG , SAMSUNG , have their corporates in the city.
There is more to NOIDA than just industries.
Film city established by Sandeep Marwah situated in Sector 16A is the hub of all the major news channels and famous studios. NOIDA's proximity to Delhi, which is the political hub of the country, makes it an attractive destination for news channels. Commercial activities have also risen in the past couple of years due to a sudden spurt in malls and multiplexes.
All the development in the areas of Industry, Commerce and Trade have led NOIDA to be a model city in
UP. It is a major revenue earner for the government through taxes. The NOIDA model is now being replicated across various cities in
UP, with a proactive development agency working to achieve high growth rates for business, industry and commercial ventures.
NOIDA is famous for the Sector 18 market. The Centerstage Mall which has the Wave Cinema is a famous landmark. Wave stages many film premieres with popular Bollywood stars making their appearances. In December 2005, North India's largest cineplex opened in Spice Mall. It has 8 screens and a
seating capacity of 1821 people, second in India to PVR in Bangalore. The old market also exists in NOIDA, called the Atta(अट्टा) Market by the locals.and the main market in noida
Services and Institutions
Almost every sector in NOIDA and every sector constructed before 1995 has a school and hospital in it.
Prominent schools in NOIDA include
Amity International School, Cambridge School,
Apeejay School,
DAV School, Army Public School, Ryan International, Vishwa Bharti, Delhi Public School (DPS), Rockwood School, Modern School (not related to Modern School, New Delhi) and many others.
NOIDA is home to many old and new hospitals. Prominent among them are Kailash Hospital and Research Center (Sector 27), Max Hospital (Sector 19), Apollo Hospital (Sector 26), Metro Heart Hospital (Sector 12), Prakash Hospital (Sector 32) and Fortis Hospital (Sector 62). The city also has the district hospital, in a fairly decrepit condition, and the ESI hospital, which is in better condition.
NOIDA is also home to
Amity University, which has two campuses located in NOIDA. The campus in Sector-44 is home to the
Amity Business School and the
Amity International School; whereas the larger 60-acre campus in Sector-125 is home to the
Amity School of Engineering and other Amity Institutes. Besides Amity Business School, there are other MBA colleges like
Indian Business Academy.It is also home to the
Asian Academy Of Film & Television (AAFT),
JSS Academy of Technical Education and JIITU (
Jaypee Institute of Information Technology University).
Other institutes in Noida include
FDDI, (an institute designed to push the cause of the footwear and leather industry with local talent) and
VV Giri National Labour Institute in Sec 24. The Power Finance Corporation has its training facilities in NOIDA. EDCIL (Education Development Consultants India Ltd.) is also located in the city.
Other landmarks
Another famous landmark in the area is the 'War Memorial' inside the Golf Course, that commemorates the
1803 Battle of Patpargunj for the control of
Delhi. NOIDA was in the news during the
Kargil War with
Pakistan, for the war heroics of
Lt. Vijayant Thapar, a local resident. NOIDA is home to many houses owned by Army Personnel, and is the largest colony in Asia for serving or retired Defence Personnel. Arun Vihar (Sectors 28, 29 & 37) and Jalvayu Vihar (Sectors 21 & 25) are the main focus areas of Defence Personnel. These have been constructed by
AWHO and
AFNHB respectively. A
Noida Shaheed Smarak is located in Sector 37.
Shopping and Deals
Noida is a number of shopping centres including CentreStage, Shoprix Mall in Sector 61, Mosaic and Great India Place, which is the the biggest mall of India .
Sports and other infrastructure
In 2005, the city was under focus for a NOIDA Half
Marathon which did not live up to its expectations and the city's maiden international exposure, the
Queen's Baton Relay for the
Commonwealth Games.
The city currently boasts of a stadium, which is being upgraded to international standards for the
2010 Commonwealth Games, some of which are likely to take place in NOIDA.
NOIDA has been put on the fast track for the
Delhi Metro.
The Metro which was slated to enter NOIDA in 2011 has now been planned for 2009, a year before the games in 2010. NOIDA will be connected to the Connaught Palace station, via the
Barakhambha Road-IP Estate-
Akshardham Complex link.
A part of this link opened on 11th November, 2006.
The Greater NOIDA area is emerging as a new hot spot for infrastructure builders.
In 2006, the NOIDA Authority took up the job of widening and re-metalling of roads, which has led to some reduction of jams on the choked roads of the city.
Miscellaneous
Property rates, as a consequence, are on the rise in the township. Land rates which were in the Rs. 3,000-15,000/m² range till about 5 years ago have soared to Rs. 30,000-85,000/m² (US$ 75 - 150 / sq foot).
The Authority came under fire recently, for their controversial decision to build the world's tallest building. However, the decision was shelved after protests from citizens through the media, as the city does not have the infrastructure to handle a 1 km tall building. NOIDA comes under seismic zone 4, which along with loose soil and sand of the
Yamuna river bed, means building collapse in an
earthquake situation is a distinct possibility. It was felt that the city needs to focus on improving water quality, security, traffic management and power problems before looking at grandiose projects of little real value.
In 2006, the massive sealing drive by the
MCD in adjoining
Delhi, has forced traders to shut shops in Delhi and move to other locations.
Gurgaon and NOIDA are the favoured destinations for such people, pushing property rates, both commercial and residential, further up. In November 2006, the Sector 18 market, a prime commercial area, set a new record for land rates in the NCR region with a plot of land being sold at an astounding Rs. 650,000 per square meter, (approx $1350 per square foot), a rate that compares favourably with the highest rates of real estate across the major cities of the world including
New York,
Tokyo,
Singapore and
Hong Kong.
''The locals sarcastically refer to the Authority as "No idea" due to the daily 3-6 hour load shedding (scheduled power outages), water shortages and high pollution.
''
Schools
NOIDA has some of the finest schools in the NCR such has Amity International School, Army Public School(Sector 37), DPS (Sector 30), etc.
External links
★
★
Official site
★
Noida business directory
★
Noida Police
★
Noidadaily.com Noida daily news, events and blogs