Government and politics

The Surat Municipal Corporation, is responsible for the city’s civic infrastructure as well as carrying out associated administrative duties. BJP is at present having majority and is the ruling party. Surat Mahanagar Sewa Sadan is one of the wealthiest municipal corporation in India which really works hard for Surat and providing necessary amenities. The Surat city also has maximum numbers of FLY-OVERS in India which also makes it as fly-over capital of India.

Transportation

Air

Air Transportation of Surat

Till May 2006, Surat was the only city in the world with a population of over 4.6 million people without a functioning airport. The Surat Airport was closed down due to technical reasons in 2001. The new airport finally became functional with Surat-Delhi IA flight on 6 May 2007. Currently daily flight is operated to Delhi (Except Saturday). By June 2012, Surat will get a full fledged International Airport which is under construction at Magdalla-Dumas near Surat. The current plan proposed by Air India is to serve the Jeddah flight from Surat which will decrease pressure on Ahmedabad Airport in the peak season of Hajj.

Rail

Rail Transportation of Surat

Surat railway station is under the administrative control of the Western Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It connects Surat with Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Indore, Jaipur, Jabalpur, Satna, Patna, Bhopal and other cities of North India. There is also a connection to the Central Railway zone through Udhana Railway Junction and the Tapti line which connects Surat with cities of central India namely Jalgaon, Amravati and Nagpur. Passenger trains range from local trains that stop at all stations on the way to express trains like the August Kranti Rajdhani Express and the Mumbai Rajdhani Express. In addition, there are freight trains that move the goods produced by the city to the rest of the country and beyond, and bring supplies into the city. Surat Railway Station which was built by the British is one of its kind in India, as the railway platform is on the first floor of the railway station and the train reaches the platform through an inclined ramp.

Sea

Surat has its own port which is used for shipping freight. A plan to connect Surat with Mumbai, Goa, Dubai, Bhavnagar through ferry services is moving forward. The Surat-Bhavnagar ferry service is much awaited by the citizens. This would help Surat connect with the Saurashtra region of Gujarat state reducing commuting time by at least 6 hours.

Road

Due to heavy traffic congestion on major highways passing through Surat city New expressways are planned and will be completed by 2013. Surat has excellent roads according to Business Today Magazine. Surat Municipal Corporation tries to improve road infrastructure of the city. The major highways passing through Surat are the Udhana-Mumbai Highway also known as Udhana-Navsari Highway, Surat-Ahmedabad Highway also kown as Varachha Main Road, Surat-Kolkata Highway also known as Dhulia Highway. Due to rapid urbanization and to get rid of fatal accidents Surat Municipal Corporation and Surat Urban Development Authority has planned to develop an Outer Ring Road and Middle Ring Road which are under construction to decongest the traffic from the major Highways passing through city. The city has recently seen the completion of a large number of road projects, particularly elevated roads, flyovers, in the diamond and textile zones of the city. This has significantly cut down the commuting time for many people traveling to the diamond and textile districts. One of the very few “Multi-Layer Flyovers” in India is now in Surat over Majura Gate. The Eastern expressway also known as Varachha Flyway of Surat is one of India’s longest flyover under city municipal limits in the four lane category.

The Golden Quadrilateral highway system passes through Surat. The city is connected to the National Highway 8 through a 16 km connector highway. National highway 6, also known as Surat – Kolkata Highway, starts from Hazira and passes through surat city and connects the city to Dhule, Amravati, Nagpur, Raipur, Sambalpur, Kharagpur and Kolkata. The National Highway 228, also known as Dandi Heritage highway, starts from Sabarmati in Ahmedabad and passes through Anand, Kheda, Ankleshwar and passes through Surat city to Navsari and ends up in Dandi. National Highway 50 also known as Surat-Pune(Poona) Highway starts near a Junction known as Kharvarnagar Junction and passes through Sachin,Gujarat, Navsari, Gandevi, Dharampur, Nasik and Pune.

Local transport

On 22nd August 2008, the SMSS bus service was opened by the city Mayor Dr. Kanubhai Mavani. It is considered the best city bus services in India. These buses are CNG-fueled and have an LCD screen in the front giving details about the journey. The conductor uses an electronic machine to print out the tickets. The bus stops are modern and comfortable. The bus service in general is relatively hi-tech and modern. Bus rapid transit system is planned for the city and the project is expected to be completed by 2010.