Ambattur | |
|---|---|
Neighbourhood | |
 One Indiabulls IT Park, Ambattur | |
  Ambattur Ambattur (Chennai) | |
| Coordinates:13°06′51″N80°09′17″E / 13.114300°N 80.154800°E /13.114300; 80.154800 | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Chennai District |
| Metro | Chennai |
| Zone | Central Chennai |
| Ward | 79-93 |
| Government | |
| • Body | Greater Chennai Corporation |
| Area | |
• Total | 40.36 km2 (15.58 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 44 m (144 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 478,134 |
| • Rank | 96th |
| • Density | 11,551/km2 (29,920/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 600053, 600058, 600062, 600098 |
| Vehicle registration | TN 13 (RTO, Ambattur) |
| Railway station code | ABU |
| MP | T.R. Baalu,DMK |
| MLA | Joseph Samuel,DMK |
| Parliamentary constituency | Sriperumbudur |
| Assembly constituency | Ambattur |
| Planning agency | CMDA |
Ambattur is a northwestern part ofChennai, India. It is located inAmbattur taluk of theChennai District, surrounded byAvadi,Anna Nagar,Korattur,Padi,Mogappair,Kallikuppam,Surapet,Ayappakkam, Athipet andThiruverkadu. It covers an area of 40.36 km2 (15.58 sq mi). The neighbourhood is served byAmbattur railway station. Ambattur was once a village with large extents of agricultural farm lands irrigated by the sprawlingAmbattur Lake. Today, the area is a bustling urban hub engaged with industrial and commercial activity.
This place is one of 108Shakthi Sthals in the country. The Amman temple (for the Hindu deityDurga) here is the fifty-first in the order, giving the locality the Tamil name "aimbaththu onraam oor" (ஐம்பத்து ஒன்றாம் ஊர்), meaning fifty-first place/temple village, which later transmuted as Ambattur. The goddess is worshiped in the form ofVaishnavi.[citation needed]
Ambattur is also called so because it was a collaboration of 51 small towns (ambathu onraam oor in Tamil), from which the nameAmbattur was derived.[1]
Along withAvadi,Sembium,Ennore andTiruvottriyur, Ambattur is part of the "auto belt" in the city's industrial north and west regions that developed when the automobile industry developed in Madras, in the early post-World War II years.[2] Sir Ivan Stedeford, chairman of Tube Investments, United Kingdom, was instrumental in starting the TI factory and TII complex in the country. Sir Ivan signed a joint venture agreement with A. M. Murugappa Chettiar of theMurugappa Group, which was then a small business house manufacturing sandpaper and abrasives for the war effort and also trading war surplus. It was the first joint venture agreement to be signed in South India after Independence. This resulted in the establishment of the TI Cycle factory in a mango grove in Ambattur by 1951, and manufacture of the 'Hercules India' bicycle soon began. By 1954, the word 'India' was dropped from the name when international quality standards were met.[3]
In 1954, Sir Ivan signed his second joint venture, Tube Products India, with the Murugappa family. The factory was established on what had been the British Government of Malaya's Immigration Camp. By 1956, production was started in the new factory and soon resulted in the establishment of other TI factories in the Ambattur-Avadi industrial stretch. This led to a rapid growth in population in the region and several public amenities were established in Ambattur by TI company, such as theSir Ramaswamy Mudaliar Higher Secondary School (named after the person who had initially introduced the partners to each other), a post office and a bank. When the growing population demanded a hospital, the company established one between Ambattur and Avadi in 1966 from a gift of around £5,000 from Sir Ivan. The hospital was named theSir Ivan Stedeford Hospital in his honour.[3]
Ambattur has two mainwaterbodies, namely theAmbattur Eri and the Chithu Oragadam Lake and the biggerPuzhal eri on the outskirts. The upkeep of the Ambattur Eri is plagued by problems such as dumping of garbage,[4] water mining and construction of buildings and the Chithu Oragadam (Thangal) Eri suffers due to pollution by sewage.[5] The local body generates nearly 250 tonnes of garbage daily.[6]
Ambattur has a stormwater drain network of 177.95 km, the largest of the eight zones newly added to the Corporation of Chennai in 2011.[7]
Several species of birds reside and frequent the places in and around Ambattur. Woodland birds, water birds and many more visit here.[8]
| Religion | Percent(%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindu | 86.53% | |||
| Muslim | 3.68% | |||
| Christian | 8.95% | |||
| Sikh | 0.05% | |||
| Buddhist | 0.04% | |||
| Jain | 0.17% | |||
| Other | 0.57% | |||
| No religion | 0.01% | |||
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 45,586 | — |
| 1981 | 115,901 | +154.2% |
| 1991 | 215,424 | +85.9% |
| 2001 | 310,967 | +44.4% |
| 2011 | 466,205 | +49.9% |
According to the2011 census, Ambattur had a population of 466,205 with a sex-ratio of 985 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.[9] A total of 48,444 were under the age of six, constituting 24,829 males and 23,615 females.Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 11.49% and 0.33% of the population, respectively. The average literacy of the town was 82.61%, compared with the national average of 72.99%.[9] The town had 120,248 households. There were 184,390 workers, comprising 1,252 cultivators, 1,128 main agricultural labourers, 2,467 in house hold industries, 159,242 other workers, 20,301 marginal workers, 507 marginal cultivators, 453 marginal agricultural labourers, 641 marginal workers in household industries and 18,700 other marginal workers.[10] As per the religious census of 2011, Ambattur had 86.53%Hindus, 3.68%Muslims, 8.95%Christians, 0.05%Sikhs, 0.04%Buddhists, 0.17%Jains, 0.57% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.[11]
During 2001–2011, Ambattur registered a population growth of 49.9%.[12]
Ambattur comes under theSriperumbudur Parliamentary constituency. It was previously under the North Chennai parliamentary constituency, and, along withVillivakkam, it was the largest assembly constituency in India. The Fame organisation sangam originated here. Thedelimitation process of assembly constituencies had given Ambattur a new identity of its own: Constituency No. 8, Tamil Nadu. Once a major panchayat, Ambattur was made a township in the 1960s and a selection-grade municipality from April 1975. In May 1992, it was raised to special-grade municipality.[13] It was a municipality till October 2011. It had been divided into 52 wards. Ambattur Municipality includedPadi,Korattur,Mogappair,Kallikuppam,Nolambur,Ayapakkam TNHB,Athipet,Udaiyarpalayam and theAmbattur Industrial Estate areas.
On 15 June 2011, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India to expand the city limits of Chennai by which the Ambattur Municipality would come under the new scheme.[14]
Since 2011, it is part ofChennai Corporation as Zone 7 with 15 wards (Ward Nos. 79 to 91, 93).[15]
Sir Ivan Stedeford Hospital is in this area.
The Branch Library, as it is now called, was opened in May 1971 by the then Minister of Education and Local AdministrationV. R. Nedunchezhiyan. It was earlier known as Murugappa Library, as the building it is housed in belongs to the A.M.M. Charities Trust. The library is situated near Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Government Girls Higher Secondary School (Girl's High School).
The economy of Ambattur is mainly industrial. It was well known as an auto ancillary hub. However, in the late 2000s many IT companies have come up in Ambattur.
The Ambattur Industrial Estate, spread over an area of 1,430 acres (4.9 km2), houses about 1,800 units[16] and is the biggest small scale industrial estate inSouth Asia. It was commissioned in the year 1964 by theGovernment of Tamil Nadu. Companies likeBritannia Industries,TI Cycles of India,Dunlop, andTVS have their plants in Ambattur.Tata Communications has itssatellite earth station at the Ambattur–Red Hills road, known as wireless among the locals.Jaya TV,Vijay TV,Asianet andKairali relay signals from this facility. Leading English-language daily The New Indian Express has its corporate office in Ambatur Industrial Estate. TheHeavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) inAvadi, which manufactures military tanks, is just 5 km from this place, adding to its importance. A railway concrete sleeper manufacturing company is located near the Ambattur railway station. Textile industries such as Ambattur Clothing Limited (ACL) and Bombay Fashions have their facilities here and employ thousands of women. The units in the Industrial Estate generate a combined annual revenue of over₹ 35,000 million.[17]
The Industrial Estate has a bus terminus. The Ambattur Estate terminus and the maintenance centre with a capacity of 100 buses were opened in 1967. However, as of 2012[update], the centre handles 125 buses a day, with a staff count of 1,100.[18]
Ambattur Industrial Estate has attracted a lot of IT companies due to its proximity to residential neighbourhoods and the lower rentals. The lease rentals of IT Parks in Ambattur are half of those in the city. Information Technology (IT) companies such as MilesTs,HCL Technologies,Dell andTata Consultancy Services have their development centres here. Out of the 22 facilities that HCL Technologies has in Chennai, six are in Ambattur. There are also a fewBPO centres such as Perot Systems, Telebuy, Polaris BPO, Serco, First Source & iOPEX Technologies. Prince Info Park, Kochar Technology Park, Ambit IT Park.Chennai Tech Park, a 2,400,000 sq ft (220,000 m2), state-of-the-art, futuristic IT park, on 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land is commissioned since 2009 by IndiaLand Park. Now that 10 acres commercial building is bought by Indiabulls Securities Ltd for Rs 600 crores and renamed it as One IndiaBulls Park, current occupiers of the complex include Royal Bank of Scotland, Kone, Britannia Industries, Ajuba, Covenant, Telebuy, Ibox, Bean Balls, Germany's Modisch, Yes Bank and Etisalat.[20] One IndiaBulls park is one of the major IT parks in Ambattur. As a remarkable mile stone, CMA CGM, world's 3rd largest liner started their documentation centre along with Regional eCommerce Team in AMBIT park.
While IT and ITeS firms in Ambattur have brought in a new image to the industrial belt that has been known for its garment and auto-ancillary units, it has increased the real estate prices.[21]
In FY 2023-24, prominent data and cloud-based service companies like Digital Connexion(Reliance-Brookfield joint venture), Web Werks-Iron Mountain JV,NTT Data, CtrlS Datacentres andColt Technology Services started setting up their hyperscaleData centers equipped withAI in the heart of Ambattur Industrial area. This is expected to cause tremendous development to the area as a fastest growing digital hub in Chennai.
TheChennai-Tiruvallur High Road (CTH Road orNH 716) passes through Ambattur and the Chennai-Kolkata highway is just about 8 kmPuzhal from the place making it a strategic location. On an average, about 40,000 passenger car units use the CTH Road.[22]The newChennai Bypass road betweenMaduravoyal andPuzhal passes through Ambattur Industrial Estate. It connects NH4 with NH5 and NH716 via Ambattur Industrial Estate.
TheAmbattur Industrial Estate Bus Terminus is located adjacent to the CTH Road and hasMTC city buses connecting Ambattur with various points of Chennai city. A lot of buses from Avadi and the outskirts of Chennai also pass through Ambattur, offering good connectivity. The bus terminus has been renovated byCMDA with better amenities and opened to the public on on November 2025.[23]
On 4 October 2013, the Tamil Nadu Highways department issued a GO extending the entire stretch of the road till Tirutani to 6 lanes at a cost of₹ 1,680 million, by means of land acquisition from 12 villages.[24] In the first phase, the road will be widened to 100 ft (4 lanes) with centre median at a cost of₹ 980 million.[25]
TheChennai Central-Arakkonam railway line passes through Ambattur and has two railway stations in the neighbourhood.Ambattur railway station serves the residential areas andPattaravakkam railway station serves the Ambattur Industrial Estate,kallikuppam and Karruku neighbourhood areas.Suburban Broad Gauge EMU / MEMU trains operate daily from Chennai Central and Chennai Beach toAvadi,Tiruvallur, Patabiram Military Siding,Arakkonam,Vellore,Thiruvannamalai,Tirupathi, andTiruttani via Ambattur. By rail, Ambattur is 30 minutes from Chennai Central, 15 minutes fromPerambur and 07 minutes fromVillivakkam. Many fast EMU locals (suburban trains) towards Tiruvallur, Arakkonam and Tiruttani, stop at Ambattur railway station, but fast local trains towards Chennai central do not halt at Ambattur because non availability of 4th platform.The station is being renovated underAmrit Bharat Station Scheme with the construction of two-wheeler subway near railway station in progress.
The extension ofRed line inChennai Metro till Pattabiram will pass via Ambattur Estate, Ambattur railway station and Ambattur OT before heading to Pattabiram, based on the Detailed Project Report prepared byCMRL.[26] With repeated requests from commuters and resident groups, the expansion ofChennai–Thiruvallur High Road is to be integrated with metrorail by construction of 3 road-flyovers beneath metro rail line at Ambattur Estate junction, Dunlop junction and Avadi check-post junction.[27] The metro rail extension is approved byGovernment of Tamil Nadu, currently awaiting approval fromGovernment of India, with 112 acres of land acquisition underway.[28]
Kannan Theatre near Senthil Nagar was closed and converted to Dolphin Sports Academy.
The Ambattur Badminton Association has constructed an indoor shuttle and badminton stadium (Kamalam John Samuel Indoor Stadium, named after the late parents of JCD Prabhakar) located near theTI Cycles of India factory.
Prominent parks of the area include:
There are many parks in Ambattur which people can use for recreational activities.
South Indian Post leading bilingual(English and Tamil) newspaper,Town News,Seithi Mazhai,My Vyapar is the leading bilingual (English and Tamil) newspaper.The Neighbour City andKutty News are the newspapers in Tamil.Ambattur Talk is in English.[citation needed]
Ambattur also houses the Chennai Zonal Training Center ofLife Insurance Corporation of India, located near Prithvipakkam.
Media related toAmbattur at Wikimedia Commons
