Centre grants approval, Gurgaon turns Gurugram

Chandigarh, Sep 27: The central government has given its approval to change the name of Gurgaon to 'Gurugram'.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told the media in Panchkula near here on Tuesday that the city as well as the district of Gurgaon would now onwards be known as Gurugram.

Gurgaon, also referred to as the 'Millennium City", is adjoining the national capital New Delhi.

The BJP government in Haryana had in April this year announced the move to rename Gurgaon as Gurugram.

"The decision to change the name of Gurgaon as Gurugram was taken on the basis of the representations received at several fora that it would be appropriate to rename Gurgaon as Gurugram," a state government spokesman had said.

"Haryana is a historic land of the Bhagwad Gita, and Gurgaon had been a centre of learning. It had been known as Gurgaon since the times of Guru Dronacharya. Gurgaon was a great centre of education where the princes used to be provided education. Therefore, since long the people of the area had been demanding that Gurgaon be renamed as Gurugram," the spokesman said.

Gurgaon is known both nationally and globally as an industrial, information technology, software and corporate hub. The offices of several multinational corporations (MNCs) and leading Indian companies are located here.

IANS