It is located in Ambattur taluk of the Chennai District, surrounded by Avadi, Anna Nagar, Korattur, Padi, Mogappair, Kallikuppam, Surapet, Ayappakkam, Athipet and Thiruverkadu.

[1] Along with Avadi, Sembium, Ennore and Tiruvottriyur, 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.

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.

[3] In 1954, Sir Ivan signed his second joint venture, Tube Products India, with the Murugappa family.

This led to a rapid growth in population in the region and several public amenities were established in Ambattur by TI company, such as the Sir 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.

[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.

Companies like Britannia Industries, TI Cycles of India, Dunlop, and TVS have their plants in Ambattur.

Leading English-language daily The New Indian Express has its corporate office in Ambatur Industrial Estate.

The Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) in Avadi, which manufactures military tanks, is just 5 km from this place, adding to its importance.

Textile industries such as Ambattur Clothing Limited (ACL) and Bombay Fashions have their facilities here and employ thousands of women.

[18] Ambattur Industrial Estate has attracted a lot of IT companies due to its proximity to residential neighbourhoods and the lower rentals.

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.

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.

A lot of buses from Avadi and the outskirts of Chennai also pass through Ambattur, offering good connectivity.

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.

construct subway near railway Station work is in progress, expansion of Chennai–Thiruvallur High Road to 6-lanes with widened overbridges and Chennai Metro rail extension to the suburb.

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 the TI Cycles of India factory.

[citation needed] Ambattur also houses the Chennai Zonal Training Center of Life Insurance Corporation of India, located near prithvipakkam.