Census 2011:Surat may become a city with fastest population growth

According to initial estimate of census 2011, made by Surat Municipal Corporation, the city of Surat’s population may well reach over 50.64 lakh. This shows population growth of 76% in last one decade(since 2001) in Surat, possibly the fastest population growth in any city in India in this decade. When final results of census will come out, Surat will most probably defeat all major cities including Mumbai and Kolkata, in this regard, according to Surat Municipal Corporation sources. Surat already has been declared the fastest growing city of India in various surveys in last decade.

Thanks to its textile and diamond industry, every year about 1 lakh persons come and settle down in Surat. In 1901, the population of Surat was 119306. In 1911 it was 114868. In 1921 it was 117434. 1931 – 98936, 1941 – 171443, 1951 – 223182, 1961 – 288026, 1971 – 471656, 1981 – 776583, 1991 – 14.98 lakh, 2001 – 24.33 lakh. This shows that in last thirty years, the population of Surat has increased from 7.5 lakh to 50 lakh.

Based on 2001 census, the local civic body had estimated the population of the city in 2002 – 3044696, 2003 – 3221646, 2004 – 3408955, 2005 – 3607197, 2006 – 3817235, 2007 – 4039358, 2008 – 4274429, 2009 – 4523022 and 2010 – 4786002. During this decade more areas were merged in the limit of the city of Surat.

In 2001 Surat had population of 21676 people per square kilometer. After Surat Municipal Corporation increased city’s limit and added new areas, the city became three times larger than its previous area in last one decade. Thanks o this, the population per square km is now 8812. In 1981, 1981 and 1991 census per sq km population of Surat was continuously around 13000.