Conceived as an extension of national capital 37 years ago, New Okhla Industrial Development Authority or NOIDA today is a transformed city by not just being a housing hub but also home to top institutions in the fields of health, education and entertainment.
"Noida is on fast development mode. Providing better civic amenities is on top priority beside developing new projects," NOIDA Chief Executive Officer Rama Raman said as the city celebrated its foundation day by organising cultural and sports events and holding a hawan ceremony.
The abbreviation NOIDA is more popular than the district's name of Gautam Buddh Nagar and much preferred reference for its residents and officials. The district police website too has been named as noidapolice.Com.
While the first decade saw the industrial development, in 1984 second industrial area Noida Phase II was set up on 126 hectare land to meet the rising demand.
In 1986-87 third industrial area NOIDA Phase III was developed on 281 hectare land and in 1988-89 Hosiery Complex was set up. A Golf course came up in sector 38. Noida Export Processing Zone (NEPZ)was set up in 1985 which has been earning thousands of crores foreign exchange for the country.
Multi-storied apartments soon came up. The second decade saw the institutional development as several corporate sectors set up their complexes in Noida such as Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Bhilwara , Kribhco, GAIL, NFL, FDDI.
Government of India Mint and Film City in sector 16 A was set up in 1988. Software Technology Park(STP) was set up in sector 29.
The third decade saw the commercial development. Till 1998 only 8.4 hectare land was developed as commercial. There was mushrooming of markets and several prominent malls have come up in the area.
While it is touted as one of the fastest growing areas of the country, Noida has seen various land scams since 1996.
The Metro Rail reached Noida in 2009 and Noida became the first NCR town to have such connectivity.
In 2010, it hosted the Commonwealth games cycling event.
The Authority is also planning a Metro link from Botanical Garden to Kalindi Kunj and City Centre to Sector 62 to link other sectors to Metro rail.
The Authority land price which was Rs. 120 per sqm in 1976 has touched Rs 22000 psqm today. "In 1976 people were hesitant to buy land in Noida but today investors are ready to pay five times the Authority price to buy a piece of land in Noida as appreciation is over 100 per cent in a year in last few years," said a businessman.
