Current Time in Gandhinagar, India

Gandhinagar is the capital of the western Indian state of Gujarat, laid out on the west bank of the Sabarmati River about twenty five kilometres north of Ahmedabad. The setting is a flat, semi arid plain, and the climate brings very hot dry summers, a short but intense monsoon and pleasantly mild winters. The city forms the northern half of a rapidly growing urban corridor that links it to Ahmedabad and its airport.

Around three hundred thousand people live in Gandhinagar. It was conceived in the 1960s, after the state of Bombay was divided and Gujarat needed a capital of its own, and the plan was prepared by Indian architects and planners rather than by a foreign hand, in deliberate contrast to Chandigarh. The result is a grid of thirty numbered sectors, each with its own shopping centre, schools and open space, separated by broad avenues and an exceptionally generous quantity of trees. Gandhinagar is often described as one of the greenest cities in Asia, and the tree cover per resident is unusually high. The capital was formally transferred here in 1970, and the city carries the name of Mahatma Gandhi, who was born in Gujarat.

The Vidhan Sabha, the secretariat complex and the state government offices dominate the central sectors, but the best known building is the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple, a monumental structure of intricately carved pink sandstone set in landscaped gardens, with exhibitions, a musical fountain and large numbers of pilgrims and visitors. Mahatma Mandir, a vast convention centre, hosts the Vibrant Gujarat global investment summit and other major events, and the adjoining Dandi Kutir museum tells the story of Gandhi's life in an unusual conical building.

Indroda Nature Park, on the riverbank, combines a zoo, botanical collections and a remarkable field of fossilised dinosaur eggs and bones, earning it a reputation as one of the few dinosaur parks in the country. Sarita Udyan, the Punit Van botanical garden and the riverfront provide quieter recreation, and the celebrated Adalaj stepwell, a five storey masterpiece of fifteenth century water architecture, stands just outside the city.

Gandhinagar has become a serious centre of higher education and research. The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, the National Forensic Sciences University, the National Institute of Design and the Pandit Deendayal Energy University are all based here, and Gujarat International Finance Tec City, known as GIFT City, has established an international financial services hub with high rise towers on the Sabarmati.

Transport links are good, with a metro line to Ahmedabad, a new railway station, expressways and the international airport half an hour away. Cultural life includes the Cultural Forum programme, craft fairs and the Navratri celebrations, which in Gujarat are among the most spectacular in India.

Gandhinagar is important as a well planned modern capital that combines government, education, finance and unusual amounts of green space.