Mohali
Mohali (Punjabi: ਮੋਹਾਲੀ) is a suburb of Chandigarh, in Punjab, India. It is officially named after the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (SAS Nagar).
Background
Mohali was built primarily to help take residential housing strain off of neighboring Chandigarh, whose population in the 2001 National Census was already nearing one million. At 900,635, Chandigarh is the 38th largest city in India, and the shared capital of both Punjab and Haryana. In 2006, Mohali's population is near 200,000, approximately 1/5 of Chandigarh's. Its value as more than a population shunt is becoming increasingly evident. Mohali has been targeted by an increasing number of outsourcing IT companies, who look to capitalize on the rich investment opportunities the city offers
Language
Punjabi is the main spoken language in Mohali. Hindi and English are also prevalent.
City Design
Following the success of Chandigarh's sector design, Mohali was similarly planned into identical 800 X 1200m sectors. Many have yet to be fully developed, as is the case of sector 62, which is earmarked for a future commercial City Centre. Its close proximity to the PCA Stadium, as well as unrivaled transportation links to Chandigarh make it a suitable choice.
Cricket
In 1992, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) unveiled a plan to replace its aging headquarters in Sector 16, Chandigarh. The target was a state of the art facility complete with a separate practise ground - then unheard of in India - to be built on the swamp-filled ravine that was Mohali at that point. The PCA invested heavily in the ground, in an attempt at turning Mohali into India's flagship cricket stadium. Thus, it was not surprising when a swimming pool, health club, tennis court, library, restaurant, and bar were incorporated into the plans. The project was completed within the year, and has since been lauded as a complete success
The PCA Stadium has become a source of pride for citizens of Mohali. Perhaps the greatest compliment was its addition to an already enormous roster of cricket venues used on a rotational basis by the BCCI for home matches.
Daljit Singh, the controversial curator of Mohali's pitch, has gained a reputation for his unwillingness to build pitches based on BCCI recommendations. He believes in sporting pitches, which offer as much to the visitor as the home side.
Most of the Punjab-based national cricketers made debuts in Mohali, including Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, and Gagandeep Singh.
Corporate Investment
While Mohali houses many state-local companies like PTL (Punjab Tractor Limited), its reputation as a home for large, multinational corporations is growing.
Infosys, the well-known Indian IT services major, has a development center in Mohali. Global tech giants like Dell, Quark, SCL (Semiconductor Complex Limited), and PUNCOM have followed. Denver-based Quark has created the $500M, 46-acre QuarkCity in Mohali, complete with a residential complex comprising 30% of the 'city'; the shopping, entertainment, medical, and educational district consume another 10%. It is expected to generate 25,000 direct, and 100,000 indirect jobs.
Convergys, IDS Infotech, and other business support companies are also finding comfortable accomodation in Mohali