Vadodara - an upcoming city

No changes in the last 15-20 years:

I was in Baroda for 15 years. Then moved to Bangalore in Jan 2004. And came back in Dec 2006. I did not notice any major changes in Vadodara in the 3 years I was in Bangalore.

Lot of changes in last 6-8 months:

But in the last 6-8 months, I found the place to have changed a lot. So thought of putting down a few thoughts of the new face of Vadodara. This is a good read for those who were in Vadodara during some time and want to know what has changed in the last few months/years. Even if you've never been to Vadodara, you can still read on to get an idea of how a Tier-2 city is fast catching up with bigger cities.

Malls:

This place is suddently full of malls / multiplexes now:

a) The first that comes to mind is 'Vadodara Central' near Genda circle. This place is choc-a-block, especially on weekends. The fully air-conditioned mall is a delight for anyone wanting to escape the Vadodara heat.

b) Inox - Situated near Ellora Park market, opp Indraprasth flats. Good place to watch movies (Rs 120 per ticket). Has been around since quite some years now. McDonalds opened here even before it opened in Bangalore - can you beat that? The other shops and chat joints took some time to open here, but now most of them are functional.

c) Weekender - this one is a huge outlet, right next to Inox. Lovely colleciton of clothes, house hold articles (nice bedsheets n decoration items) and toy section for children. Ground floor is for ladies, 1st floor and the above floors are for men and children.

d) Deep multiplex - Located near Channi jagat-naka. Is home to PVR cinemas. PVR has some small screens too. The tickets are priced at Rs 90 (Rs 30 less than Inox). Even food items are priced lower, so a good bargain for a family out to watch a movie. Only thing is the car-parking seems inadequate and gets filled up fast.

e) There's one coming up near Fatehgunj post-officef) Reliance is opening a huge one - somewhere near Sarabhai / Alembic. News is that they have bought a huge chuck of land there.

h) There's a huge mall by Dev Associates - their billboard say it will the biggest mall in Vadodara - this is near Bhayali fatak.

i) One or more coming up near Akshar chowk (near old Aim-Oxygen / Ambrosia restaurant)

Gyms:

a) Talwalkars - Rs 14000+ per year. In Akota

b) Gold Gym - Again in Akota - Rs 14000-24000

c) A new one on Old Padra Road - Sterling Health Mall (with an attached restaurant which serves Calorie Lunches and salads !)

d) And many more new gyms - all with latest equipments and physical trainers.

Prices of gyms keep varying - based on offers and season. But the charges range from from Rs 10000 to 24000 Rs.

Transport:

Whats new here is that all the transport buses are off the roads - due to loss making. Now, most ppl have two-wheelers or cars. Of course there are smaller buses (very less frequency and routes) and shared rickshaws (which are the saviour to many who cannot affort two-wheelers).All this private transport has make the roads bad, espcially in monsoons.

But I still find some roads in good condition - RC Dutt Road (Alkapuri), Old Padra Road, Vasna Road, Gotri road, Airport Road, Fatehgunj-Chaani road, etc.
Roads in bad condition are those in Akota, Bhayali-Makarpura GIDC road, Iskon Road, etc.

Housing:

a) Lots of new row houses n huge bungalows coming up. Gotri road is choc-a-block, especially the place after TB hospital (near Yash complex). This concentrated construction activity creates traffic jams on Gotri road, during peak hours.

b) Other places of construction actity are Bhayali / Vasna Road / Old Padra Road / Akota, etc.Places towards interior of Aims-Oxygen are home to Pratham Vatika, Pratham this, Pratham that, etc.

c) 2 BHKs available for less than 10-15 lakhs. 3 BHKs available in the 10-20 lakhs range. Row houses / duplexes - available for 20-25 lakhs. Luxury bungalows price range is 30-50 lakhs.

Connectivity:

Air connectivity is improving between Vadodara and other cities. Till now, only about 10 flights (approx) were operating from Vadodara - 6 of them between Vadodara and Mumbai and about 4 flights on Delhi-Vadodara route. Last week (Aug-07 first week) Indigo has started a direct Baroda-Bangalore flight at 3500 Rs (this includes tax of Rs 1575)

Trains - to Mumbai - two good trains are Baroda express (starts at 10:50 PM and reaches Dadar at 5 AM) and August Kranti (from Mumbai at 5:30 PM and reaches Baroda at 10:45 PM - ticket fare includes soup, dinner and dessert).

Other changes:

a) Lot of road digging happened before monsoon this year - especially in Akoka and Makarpura to lay down large draingage pipes. The roads remained dug n in bad condition for close to a year. Some of the roads are still in bad condition.

b) Lots of cars on roads - you can see all models !

c) Baristas and Cafe Coffee Days are full during evenings. You can see lots of girls smoking at Baristas at night.

d) Traffic police is almost absent on the roads at most times.

e) Old city is still the same. Did not find much of a change.

f) Ajwa Fun world and Gujarat fun world provide small relief to kids. They are near Ajwa Gardens. The musical fountains still happen at Ajwa and the water fountains are a great place to get drenched during the summer.

g) Aims-Oxygen is gone. In its place are coming malls, shots, commercial complexes, etc.

i) Strangely, there does not seem to be much IT / BPO activity here. Wonder where all the money is coming in from.

j) Ginger hotels (no-frills self-help hotels) have come up at Fatehgunj. These hotels provide cheap staying options (mostly less than 1000Rs rooms) - by Tatas.

Eating out:

a) Goodies - still serves superb good and mocktails. Their chole-bhature, chicke-thanshak and aloo-paratha are to die for. This is my favourite hangout.

b) Sayaji Hotel still serves yummy good at good prices. The best place if you are entertaining guests to a dinner.

c) Millenium has opened a new branch in Alkapuri and their biryanis leave you wanting more.

d) Sans Sizzlers is still there, though I am not sure if its still doing well.

e) A few high-end eatiries have come up in the gully next to Welcome Group hotel in Alkapuri. Never saw much rush there.

f) Road-side larries still serve good Chinese food

g) The dosa-guys near Manisha chowkdi make delicious dosas and idlis.

h) McDonalds has opened a 2nd outlet at Manisha chowkdi. Their first outlet was at Inox multiplex, many years ago.

i) Alka restaurant also has their nth restaurant at Manisha chowkdi (where Vasna road meets Old Padra Road).

j) 'Only Parathas', 'Kebab and Kurries' and 'Anjoy' are new eateries near Jetalpur Road / Akota

k) Amantran seems to have lost out in this race. Their Gujarati thaali is no longer served on a silver thali. And the food quality is also not as good. Prices have increase from Rs 75 to Rs 110 for a thaali.

All in all, Baroda still continues to be a good place for eating out.

To conclude, Vadodara has a small-town charm combined with all the benefits of an urban lifestyle.