Vadodara, formerly Baroda, is the third most-populated city in the Indian state of Gujarat with an estimated population of over 3 million people. Vadodara or Baroda, formerly the capital city of the Gaekwar State, is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri, a river whose name derived from the great saint Rishi Vishwamitra. It is located southeast of Ahmedabad. It is the administrative headquarters of Vadodara District. More >>

It is now almost impossible to ascertain when the various changes in the name were made; but early English travelers and merchants mention the town as Brodera, and it is from this that the name Baroda is derived. In 1974, the official name of the city was changed to Vadodara. It is also rumored that the name Baroda originated from two words Vat which means the Banyan tree and Aodh, which means a tent or a canopy. According to a popular legend, the region in and around present day Baroda was full of Banyan trees that formed a dense cover that looked like a huge tent canopy from a distance. Thus the name Baroda stuck.

In 1907, a small village and township in Michigan, United States was named after Baroda.

The greatest period in the Maratha rule of Vadodara started with the accession of Maharaja Sayajirao III in 1875. It was an era of great progress and constructive achievements in all fields. Maharaja Sayajirao III did much to modernize Vadodara, establishing compulsory primary education, a library system, a university, and model textile and tile factories, which helped to create Baroda's image as a modern industrial hub. Modern Vadodara is a great and fitting memorial to Maharaja Sayajirao. It was the dream of this able administrator to make Baroda an educational, industrial and commercial centre and he ensured that his dream would come true. For this reason, the city is also referred to as Sayaji Nagari (Sayaji's City).

Vadodara enjoys a special place in the state of Gujarat. Until the early 1960s Vadodara was considered to be a cultural and educational centre. The first modern factory was established in Vadodara in 1907 and subsequently companies came up in the 1940s. By 1962 there were 288 factories employing 27,510 workers. At that time, the dominant industrial groups were chemicals and pharmaceuticals, cotton textiles and machine tools. The establishment of Bank of Baroda by Sayajirao III in 1908 also helped industrial growth.

In 1962, Vadodara witnessed a sudden spurt in industrial activity with the establishment of Gujarat Refinery and Indian Oil Corporation Limited at the nearby village of Koyali. Several factors like raw material availability, product demand, skillful mobilization of human, financial and material resources by the government and private entrepreneurs have contributed to Baroda becoming one of India’s foremost industrial centers.

The discovery of oil and gas here has led to the industrial development of Gujarat in a big way. The Vadodara region is the largest beneficiary in the process of this industrialization. Gujarat Refinery went into the first phase of production in 1965. The refinery being a basic industry made vital contributions on several fronts at the regional and national levels.

In Vadodara various large-scale industries such as Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC), Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (IPCL, now owned by Reliance Industries Limited) and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) have come up in the vicinity of Gujarat Refinery and all of them are dependent on it for their fuel and feedstock. Other large-scale public sector units are Heavy Water Project, Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) & Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). In addition to these public sector enterprises, a number of other large-scale enterprises have come up in the private sector such as Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian company manufacturing the Delhi Metro.

The establishment of large industrial units in a region automatically brings into existence a number of smaller enterprises. Vadodara is no exception and the city along with the surrounding areas is today humming with industrial activity. The industrialization of Vadodara has attracted entrepreneurs not only from Vadodara but also from all over Gujarat and the rest of India.

A cynosure with the 'Knowledge City' vision of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Vadodara is gradually becoming a hub in Gujarat for IT and other development projects.

Vadodara is also known as ‘Sanskari Nagari’, i.e. Cultured City. Vadodara is one of India’s best cosmopolitan cities. Thanks to the vision and broadmindedness of the Gaekwads, the subsequent industrialization, the proliferation of academic activities and a strategically important geographical location, Baroda has welcomed a wide variety of people from all over India and also from all over the world. In all of this, the sprawling and cosmopolitan MS University campus and the large number of local, national and foreign industries act as a catalyzing and unifying force.

The patronage of education started with Maharaja Sayajirao and the city has built further on the academic infrastructure established by him.

The present educational foundation rests on over 20 public schools and over 100 private schools. Towering over all is the MS University, the jewel in the Baroda crown, so to speak. MSU is the only university in Gujarat with English as the only medium of instruction. It has 13 faculties and 17 residential hostels, 4 of them for women students. The university caters to over 100,000 students. There are various courses on offer, ranging from Medicine to Commerce. The university has been divided into several departments and there are number of courses offered in each of the department. The Fine Arts faculty is famous worldwide for its contribution in arts. The faculty of Performing Arts is also a very reputed institution teaching music, drama, dancing etc. There are other institutes located in city including Sigma Institute of Management Studies, Technology & Engineering, Babaria Institute of Technology and Parul Institute of Engineering and Technology. Baroda has many public and private schools, imparting quality education.

In recent years, Vadodara has suffered from increasing air, water and soil pollution from neighboring industrial areas. This has also amounted into a constant and uncomfortable increase in average temperatures across all three seasons. Aside from the monsoon season, the climate is dry. The weather is hot through the months of March to July - the average summer maximum is 36 °C (97 °F), and the average minimum is 23 °C (73 °F). From November to February, the average maximum temperature is 30 °C (85 °F), the average minimum is 15 °C (59 °F), and the climate is extremely dry. Cold northerly winds are responsible for a mild chill in January. The southwest monsoon brings a humid climate from mid-June to mid-September. The average rainfall is 93 cm (36.7 inches), but infrequent heavy torrential rains cause the river to flood. The highest temperature recorded is 47 °C (116 °F) and the lowest is -1 °C (30 °F).