Rau lies on AB Road (NH52, formerly NH3) between Rajendra Nagar and Mhow, with Rau-Pithampur Road branching off toward the Pithampur industrial belt. It has its own electrified railway station on the Akola-Ratlam line, and frequent AICTSL city buses link it to Indore, Mhow and Pithampur.

The airport and Indore Junction are both roughly 14 km away. A ~19.6 km Indore-Pithampur Economic Corridor (part of a ~Rs 2,360 crore project) is being built to improve links to the industrial belt.

Indore Metro's operating line does not reach Rau.

Rau is one of Indore's recognised education clusters, hosting IIM Indore's 193-acre Prabandh Shikhar campus and the State Institute of Hotel Management (~3 km from Rau circle). It also has numerous AICTE/UGC-affiliated engineering and management colleges - Medi-Caps, IPS Academy, Sanghvi Institute of Management and Science, Indore Institute of Science & Technology and S D Bansal College - plus schools like Emerald Heights International School, St.

Norbert's and a government college (est. 2011), collectively educating over 10,000 students.

Rau itself hosts trolley and agricultural-implement manufacturers and firms such as Shakti Pumps and Oriental Chemicals. It adjoins the Pithampur industrial area/SEZ - Madhya Pradesh's largest auto cluster, dubbed the 'Detroit of India' - via Rau-Pithampur Road, and sits along the upcoming ~Rs 2,360 crore Indore-Pithampur Economic Corridor meant to boost logistics between the two.

Rising industrial power demand has also prompted plans for new electricity substations serving Rau's industrial pocket.

Rau's own draw is the Umiya Dham temple and its large Navratri/Dussehra celebrations. Within about 12-14 km lie Indore's heritage sites - Rajwada Palace, Lal Bagh Palace, Central Museum and Sarafa Bazar's night food market - plus Ralamandal Wildlife Sanctuary.

Toward Mhow (13 km away), MP Tourism lists Patalpani Waterfall and Choral Dam (both around 30 km from Indore) and the weekend Patalpani-Kalakund heritage train as popular day-trip destinations.

Rau's own stretch of AB Road has banks, restaurants and everyday retail, with a multiplex reported within 1-2 km of the main road.

For bigger-format entertainment, malls such as C21 Mall on AB Road and other Indore multiplexes/malls are a short drive away, and Indore's famed Sarafa Bazar night food market is within the ~14 km radius that also covers the city's heritage sites.

Rau is governed by its own Nagar Parishad (a transitional municipality under the MP Municipalities Act, 1961), separate from Indore Municipal Corporation, responsible for water supply, sewerage, roads, street lighting, solid waste and public health across 7,500+ households. It falls within the Indore Development Authority's planning jurisdiction.

New electricity substations are planned for Rau's industrial pocket, though residents report gaps in drainage infrastructure in parts of the locality.