Khurja is a small town situated around 100 km from Delhi. Though a small town of Uttar Pradesh, it supplies a large portion of the pottery used in the country.

It can be reached by road or train. The drive takes about three hours, as there is heavy traffic on the road. However a lot of time can be reduced by taking the expressway from Delhi to Noida, and the new Agra Highway from there to Sikandrabad, 37 km from Khurja. Starting early enough, a day trip is sufficient to see Khurja. There are nearly 500 factories producing ceramic works.

Khurja has always been an important town. It is linked by Rail and Road to many major cities in India.

Education

Schools

There are various schools in the city, the prominent ones being:

Ahmed Sayeed Khan Rifah-e-aam Inter College J.P. Inter College Arya Kanya Pathshala K.P. Montessori, etc.

Higher education

NREC college offers various courses to students leading up to PhDs. The total enrolment in the college in 2003 was around 2900 students and around 110 faculty members.

Arya Kanya Pathshala Degree College is a girls' college offering BA degrees. In 2003 it had enrolment of around 300 students and 12 faculty memebers.

Both NREC and AKPDC are affiliated to Meerut University.

Population, town & people

Khurja has seen a huge population increase in recent years, from 80305 in 1991 to 98403 in 2001. The increase in population was principally due to the boom in the ceramic industry in the 1970s and 80s.

Khurja is a vibrant small town, with shops open till 11 PM in the Bindawala Chowk and Tareenan. It is easy to find people sipping hot milk in the winter and cold lassi and mango juice in the summer.

Khurja is the home town of the Pathans of Khurja, who in 2004 celebrated their 400th year of arrival in India in Khurja, making them one of the oldest Pathan communities to settle in the Gangatic Plains. They are among the most important power groups in Khurja. There was a huge population of Pathans before 1947, when India was divided and many left for the newly created Pakistan. There also has been constant Pathan migration to the west and more recently to Australia.

Infrastructure & industry

Though an industrial region, Khurja severely lacks the infrastructure for good industry according to European standards. Nonetheless, industry has flourished there. Since there are often power cuts lasting around eight hours, all factories and most homes have private generators. The municipality water supply is not enough for everybody's need so everybody has water pumps, pumping groundwater.

Khurja also hosts one of the two Central Ceramics and Glass Research Institutes in India.

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District Bulandshahar