Raipur () is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the most populous city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chhattisgarh was formed on 1 November 2000. It is a major commercial hub for trade and commerce in the region. It has exponential industrial growth and has become a major business hub in Central India. It has been ranked as India's 6th cleanest city as per the Swachh Survekshan for the year 2021. (In the Swachh Survekshan Awards-2023, Chhattisgarh secured the third rank in the ‘Best Performing States’ category). Raipur is ranked 7th in India's Ease of Living Index 2022 and 7th in the Municipal Performance Index 2020, both by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
It is among the biggest producers of steel and iron in the country. There are about 200 steel rolling mills, 195 sponge iron plants, at least 6 steel plants, 60 plywood factories, 35 ferro-alloy plants, and 500 agro industries in the city. In addition, Raipur also has over 800 rice milling plants.
History
Raipur district, like the rest of the Chhattisgarh plain, was once known as Dakshina Kosala and considered to be under Maurya Empire. In Arang near Raipur, a Gupta inscription dated to the 6th century CE shows Gupta hegemony over the region. In the 7th century CE, the region was ruled by a Buddhist kingdom in Bhandak in modern-day Maharashtra and was described by Xuanzang. A branch of this family later migrated to Sirpur in present-day Mahasamund district, and later took control of the entirety of Dakshina Kosala. This kingdom's prosperity reached its height with Tivaradeva. His son inscribed almost all temples in Sirpur. They were later ousted by the Sharabpuriyas, who took control of the rest of Chhattisgarh and ruled for several centuries.
By the early 9th century the Kalachuris gained control of the region. The Kalachuris of Ratnapura ruled Ratnapur until the 13th century. By the 14th century, the Kalachuris of Raipur branch gained power. One king of the Raipur branch conquered 18 garh, or forts, of the enemy - lending an etymology to Chhattisgarh, the 36 forts. By the 18th century Kalachuris became the overlords of entire Chhattisgarh region.
Demographics
<!-- There is a separate article for the district, so statistics should be for the municipality only!! -->
2011 census, Raipur Municipal Corporation had a population of 1,010,433, of which 519,286 are males and 490,801 are females—a sex ratio of 945 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000. 124,471 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 64,522 are boys and 59,949 are girls—a ratio of 929 girls per 1000 boys. There are 769,593 literates (420,155 males, 349,438 females). The effective literacy was 86.90%; male literacy was 92.39% and female literacy was 81.10%, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%.
The urban agglomeration had a population of 1,122,555, of which males constitute 578,339, females constitute 544,216—a sex ratio of 941 females per 1000 males and 142,826 children are in the age group of 0–6 years. There are a total of 846,952 literates with an effective literacy rate of 86.45%. The Mahanadi River flows to the east of the city of Raipur, and the southern side has dense forests. The Maikal Hills rise on the north-west of Raipur; on the north, the land rises and merges with the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which extends north-east across Jharkhand state. On the south of Raipur lies the Deccan Plateau.
Climate
Raipur has a tropical wet and dry climate, and temperatures remain moderate throughout the year, except from March to June, which can be extremely hot. The temperature in April–May sometimes rises above . These summer months also have dry and hot winds.
The city receives about of rain, mostly in the monsoon season from mid June to early October. Winters last from November to February and are mild, although lows can fall to making it reasonably cold.
Raipur has been ranked the eighth-best National Clean Air City (under Category I: Cities with population above 10 Lakhs) in India according to the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 Results.
Government and politics
Civic administration
Raipur city has a Municipal corporation. It was initially established by the British on 17 May 1867, initially named Raipur Municipal Committee. It was upgraded to Raipur Municipal Corporation in the year 1973. RMC is governed under the guidelines mentioned in the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961. In addition to taking the responsibility of constructing basic civic infrastructure, flyovers, and roads, it is also developing recreational centres such as museums, community halls, and parks. Along with basic civic infrastructure, flyovers, and roads. The Municipal Commissioner of Raipur is Vishwa Deep (I.A.S). The current mayor is Meenal Choubey from BJP. The Mayor in the council consists of the Mayor who is the ex officio chairperson of the MIC. Among elected councillors, the mayor elects them to the council.
The recent municipal elections were held on 11 February 2025. The political parties in the majority at the municipal level are BJP and INC. The estimated municipal budget for the 2017-2018 period is 2,612,667. Key revenue sources are tax income, fees and charges, sanitation charges, grants and donations, and capital income.
The city is a part of Raipur District with Gaurav Kumar Singh, IAS/Collector and DM. The collector heads the district administration department.
Master plan
Raipur Master Plan 2021 recognizes the need for planned development to take the pressure off the downtown core and meet the need for green spaces and bodies of water in that area. The plan calls for dense housing in new subdivisions on the outskirts and well-planned high-rise commercial and industrial development along with the NH-6 as well as on the north side of the city.
Legislative assembly and state agencies
Raipur is a Lok Sabha/Parliamentary constituency in central Chhattisgarh. Raipur's Lok Sabha seat is unreserved. Brijmohan Agrawal of BJP is the current Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from the city. There are seven Vidhan Sabha seats in Raipur district, including three in Raipur City, one in Raipur Rural and three in Outer Tehsils.
Economy
Raipur, being the capital city of Chhattisgarh, has attracted large amounts of industrial development. As it is the state capital, the government and service sectors make up a large part of the city's economy and workforce. Manufacturing industries are also well-developed in the city, with a large number of industrial zones. Raipur is also regarded as one of the best cities to do business. It is abundantly rich in mineral resources and is among the biggest producers of steel and iron in the country. There are about 200 steel rolling mills, 195 sponge iron plants, at least 6 steel plants, 60 plywood factories, 35 ferro-alloy plants, and 500 agro-industries in the city. In addition, Raipur also has over 800 rice milling plants. A South Korean multinational Sung Ha Telecom is also planning to set up a plant in Naya Raipur. JSW Steel has a steel plant in Raipur. APL Apollo's in joint venture with a Singaporean company has planned a manufacturing plant in Raipur. Grasim Industries operates a cement plant at Rawan in Raipur. Ambuja Cements has a plant in Bhatapara. In addition, Raipur has a large chemical plant which produces and supplies formalin all throughout the country. LPG bottling plants owned by Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are also in Raipur. Godavari - E - Mobility is planning to set up a manufacturing plant in the city as well. A heavy machinery plant of Jindal Group is in Raipur.
Functioning as an information technology (IT) and cyber hub, a technology park in Chhattisgarh's new capital city Naya Raipur was built. Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) will be developing a new industrial area in Tilda near Raipur to provide facilities for small and medium industries. Two new industrial parks for apparel and metal industries are coming up in Raipur.
Civic utilities
Transport services
The superintendent of Engineers Executive Engineers, the team of Engineers, and the staff responsible for the related activities of the road department head the public works department.
Fire service and electricity
The city's electricity is supplied by Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited. Fire and emergency services were set up in 2016 to protect fire incidents in the state. As per the directions of the government, the Fire Station of the urban body are being taken under fire and emergency services. but the number of households with septic tanks is 1,44,882 and the households without any outlets for toilets is 5,649. Raipur's major waste disposal site is the Sarona site, which is 12 km away from the city centre.
Railways
thumb|Main side of Railway station
thumb|[[Raipur Junction railway station|Raipur Junction Railway Station]]
Raipur Junction railway station is the primary railway station of the city, which is situated on the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Indian Railways, running through the cities of Bhusawal, Nagpur, Gondia, Durg (Bhilai), Bilaspur, Rourkela and Kharagpur. Thus, it is connected with many major cities. It is categorized in the A-1 category of railway stations by the Indian Railways. Raipur has some smaller railway stations in Sarona, Saraswati Nagar, and the WRS Colony railway stations which also lie on the same railway route.
Airport
thumb|[[Swami Vivekananda Airport|Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur]]
Swami Vivekananda International Airport, (Formerly called the Mana Airport), is the primary airport serving the state of Chhattisgarh. The airport is located south of Raipur and from Naya Raipur. The airport is well-connected, having daily direct flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Goa, Lucknow, Indore, Jaipur, Patna, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Prayagraj, and Jagdalpur, operated by Alliance Air, IndiGo and Vistara airlines.
List of mayors
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|-
! scope="col" | S. No.
! Name
! Term start
! Term end
! Duration
! Party
! style="width:4px;" |
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|1
|Swaroop Chand Jain
|27 February 1980
|27 February 1981
|
|rowspan=5|Indian National Congress
|rowspan=5 style="background-color: ;" |
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|2
|S.R. Murthi
|27 February 1981
|27 February 1982
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|(1)
|Swaroop Chand Jain
|27 February 1982
|27 February 1983
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|3
|Tarun Prasad Chatterjee
|27 February 1983
|10 September 1984
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|4
|Santosh Agarwal
|11 September 1984
|26 February 1985
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
| rowspan="7" | –
|Omkar Prasad Dubey
|27 February 1985
|26 February 1987
| rowspan="7" | 9 years, 311 days
| rowspan="7" | Administrator<br/>(Government of Madhya Pradesh)
| rowspan="7" style="background-color: white;" |
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Ajay Nath
|27 February 1987
|26 February 1988
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Bajrang Sahay
|27 February 1988
|26 February 1989
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Mohan Rao
|27 February 1989
|4 June 1989
|- style="text-align:center;"
|B. S. Shrivastava
|5 June 1989
|4 January 1990
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Manoj Shrivastava
|5 January 1990
|4 January 1993
|- style="text-align:center;"
|G. S. Mishra
|5 January 1993
|4 January 1995
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|5
|Balbir Juneja
|5 January 1995
|4 January 2000
|
|rowspan=2|Indian National Congress
|rowspan=2 style="background-color: ;" |
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|(3)
|Tarun Prasad Chatterjee
|5 January 2000
|25 December 2003
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|6
|Sunil Kumar Soni
|5 January 2004
|5 January 2010
|
|Bharatiya Janata Party
|style="background-color: ;" |
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|7
|Kiranmayi Nayak
|5 January 2010
|7 January 2015
|
|rowspan=3|Indian National Congress
|rowspan=3 style="background-color: ;" |
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|8
|Pramod Dubey
|7 January 2015
|7 January 2020
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|9
|Aijaz Dhebar
|7 January 2020
|6 January 2025
|
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
| –
|Dr. Gaurav K. Singh
|7 January 2025
|15 February 2025
|
|Administrator<br/>(Government of Chhattisgarh)
|style="background-color: white;" |
|- style="text-align:center; height:60px;"
|10
|Meenal Choubey
|15 February 2025
|Incumbent
|
|Bharatiya Janata Party
|style="background-color: ;" |
|}
Points of Interest
- Mata Kaushalya Temple is the only temple in the world dedicated to the deity Mata Kaushalya.
- Purkhouti Muktangan, Naya Raipur an open-air Cultural garden that exhibits the Culture of Chhattisgarh.
- Nandanvan Jungle Safari, Naya Raipur is Asia's largest man-made Jungle Safari.
- The Shree Ram temple, VIP square.
- The Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum, Ghadi chowk.
- Swami Vivekananda Sarowar (Budha Talab).
- Telibandha Lake (Marine Drive).
Education
Raipur has become a big educational hub of Chhattisgarh due to the presence of many institutes of national importance in engineering, management, medical and law, including IIM, NIT, AIIMS, Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), CIPET, Raipur, NIPER(Proposed) and IIIT.thumb|View of the [[Rajkumar College, Raipur]]
Premier institutes
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- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur (AIIMS)
- Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology
- Hidayatullah National Law University
- Indian Institute of Management Raipur (IIM)
- International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur
- National Institute of Technology, Raipur(NIT)
- National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) (Proposed) at Naya Raipur
Government universities
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- Chandulal Chandrakar Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya
- Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwavidyalaya
- Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University
- Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University
- Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Memorial Health Sciences and Ayush University of Chhattisgarh
Private universities and deemed universities
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- Amity University
- ITM University
- Kalinga University
- MATS University
Commerce, engineering, and management colleges
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- Government Engineering College (GEC)
- Pragati College of Engineering and Management
- Raipur Institute of Technology
- Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Professional Management and Technology (SSIPMT)
Secondary education
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- Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
- DAV Public School
- Kendriya Vidyalaya
- Rajkumar College, established in 1882, one of the Chief's Colleges that were set up during the British Raj
- Ryan International School
- Delhi Public School
Media
News channels
Many local news channels are telecast from Raipur in Hindi:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! News channels !! Language
|-
| CG 24 news channel CG || Hindi
|-
|IBC24|| Hindi
|-
| Khabar Bharti|| Hindi
|-
| Grand News (Cable Network)|| Hindi
|-
| News18 MP CG || Hindi
|-
| Sadhna News|| Hindi
|-
| Sahara Samay Channel|| Hindi
|-
| Zee MP CG || Hindi
|-
| India News MP CG || Hindi
|-
| Bansal News || Hindi
|-
| Abhi Tak (Cable Network)|| Hindi
|-
| Inh News || Hindi
|}
Newspapers
Many national and local newspapers are published from Raipur in both Hindi and English:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Newspaper !! Language
|-
| Dainik Bhaskar || Hindi
|-
| Dainik Vishwa Pariwar || Hindi
|-
| Patrika || Hindi
|-
| Nava Bharat || Hindi
|-
| Deshbandhu || Hindi
|-
| Nai Duniya || Hindi
|-
| Haribhoomi || Hindi
|-
| The Times of India || English
|-
| The Central Chronicle || English
|-
| Hindustan Times || English
|-
| Hindustan || Hindi
|-
| The Hitavada || English
|-
| The Pioneer || English
|-
| Business Standard || English, Hindi
|-
| Business Bhaskar || English, Hindi
|}
Radio
Raipur city has five FM Radio Stations -
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Frequency Modulation !! Channel !! Slogan
|-
| 94.3 FM || MY FM || Jio Dil Se
|-
| 95.0 FM || FM Tadka || Sound's Good
|-
| 98.3 FM || Radio Mirchi || Mirchi Sunane Wale Always Khush
|-
| 101.6 FM || All India Radio Raipur & Vividh Bharti || Desh Ki Surili Dhadkan
|-
| 104.8 FM || Radio Rangila || Jamm ke suno
|-
|}
Notable people
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<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they are from Raipur city, not elsewhere in Raipur district ♦♦♦--->
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
- Lucky Ali, Bollywood singer/composer/actor, did a part of his schooling from Rajkumar College, Raipur
- Teejan Bai, traditional performing artist for Pandavani.
- Anurag Basu, a noted Bollywood movie director, was born in Raipur and later moved to the neighboring city of Bhilai.
- Harinath De, an Indian historian, scholar, and polyglot, later became the first Indian librarian of the National Library of India (then Imperial Library), spent his childhood and did his initial schooling in Raipur.
- Mohammad Hidayatullah, former Chief Justice of India and former acting president of India, received his primary education at the Government High School of Raipur until 1922.
- Akhtar Husain, Pakistani scholar, journalist and lexicographer.
- Harshad Mehta, an infamous stockbroker, spent his childhood in Raipur after his parents moved here from Mumbai.
- Rajneesh, an Indian philosopher, stayed in Raipur and taught philosophy in Raipur Sanskrit College in 1957.
- Shekhar Sen, musical mono-act player, born and raised in Raipur.
- Ravishankar Shukla, the first chief minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh, spent his childhood and was educated in Raipur.
- Vidya Charan Shukla, former Union Minister and a nine-term parliamentarian, born in Raipur
- Veer Narayan Singh, freedom fighter, jailed at Raipur by the British Army.
- K. S. Sudarshan, former chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, born in Raipur in 1931.
- Habib Tanvir, a noted theatre artist and playwright, was born in Raipur in 1923.
- Swami Vivekananda spent two of his teenage years in Raipur from 1877 till 1879 when his father was transferred here.thumb|right|Swami Vivekananda spent 2 of his teenage years in this building at Raipur
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦--->
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
See also
- Nava Raipur
- Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium
- Samta colony
- Raman Singh
- Bhupesh Baghel
- Largest Indian cities by GDP
Notes
References
External links
- Raipur District Administration
- DPR Chhattisgarh
- DPR Raipur District