GUJRAT

GUJARAT

Area 1,96,024 sq km, Population : 5,06,71,017
Capital : Gandhinagar , Principal Language : Gujarati

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

The history of Gujarat goes back to 2000 BC. It is belived that Lord Krishna left Mathura to settle on the west coast of Saurashtra which later came to be known as Dwarka, the gateway. Later it saw various kingdoms : Mauryas, Guptas, Pratiharas and others. It was during the rule of Chalukyas ( Solankis) that Gujarat witnessed progress and prosperity. In spite of the plunderings of Mahmud Ghazani, the Chalukyan kings were able to maintain general prosperity and well-being of the State. After this glorious respite, Gujarat faced troubled times under the Muslims, Marathas and the British rule. Before Independence, the present territories of Gujarat
used to be in two parts the British and the Princely territories. With the re-organisation of the States, the Union of the States of Saurshtra and the Union Teritory of Kachchh along with the former British Gujarat, became a part of the biggest bilingual State of Bombay. The present State of Gujarat came in to being on 1 May 1960. It is situated on the west coast of India. The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea on the west, Pakistan and Rajasthan in the north and north-east respectively, Madhya Pradesh in the south– east and Maharashtra in the south.

AGRICULTURE
Gujarat is the main producer of cotton, groundnut and tobacco in the country and provides inputs for important industries like textiles, oil and soap. Other important cash crops are isabgol, paddy, wheat and bajra. Forest species available in Gujarat are sadad, haldariyo and manual bamboos.

INDUSTRY
The industrial structure in the State has been gradually diversifying with the development of industries like chemicals, petrochemicals, fertilizers, engineering, electronics, etc. The number of registered working factories in the State were 22,480 (Provisional) at the end of 2006 with the average daily employment of10.78 lakh. The number of small-scale industrial units in the State was 3.12 lakh at the end of September 2006. Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has been assigned the role of developing industrial estates with infrastructure facilities. At the end of December 2007 GIDC had set up 242 industrial estates.

IRRIGATION AND POWER
The total irrigation potential through surface water as well as ground water has been assessed at 64.88 lakh hectars including 17.92 lakh hectares through Sardar Sarovar ( Narmada ) Project. The total irrigation potential created up to June 2007 is worked out to 42.26 lakh hectares. The maximum utilisation has been estimated at 37.33 lakh hectares up to June 2007.

ELECTRICITY
The total installed capacity for the state including central sector project has increased to 9410 MW as on 31 March 2007. All the 18066 villages have been covered under the scheme Jyoti Gram Yojana of Gujarat State Government.

TRANSPORT
Roads :
The total length of roads ( except Non-plan, Community, Urban and Project roads) was 74,038 km by the end of 2005-06.

Aviation :
The main airport of Gujarat at Ahmedabad is connected with Mumbai, Delhi and other cities by daily services. Ahmedabad airport has now got the status of an International Airport. Other domestic airports are Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Jamnagar and Rajkot and Surat.

Ports :
Gujarat has 40 ports of which Kandla is a major port. The intermediate and minor ports of Gujarat handled a total cargo of 1080.75 lakh tonnes whereas Kandla port handled cargo of 529.82 lakh tonnes during 2006-07.

FESTIVALS
Tarnetar fair is held at village Tarnetar in the honour of Lord Shiva on the 4th, 5th, and 6th days of the bright half of of the month of Bhadrapada (August/September ).

Madhavrai fair at Madhavpur near Porbandar is, held to celebrate the marriage by elopement of Lord Krishna and Rukmani, on the ninth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra (March/April ). Ambaji fair dedicated to Amba-mother goddess is held in Banaskantha district. The biggest annual fair, Janmashtami the birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated at Dwarka and Dakor with great enthusiasm. Other festivals are Makar-Sankranti, Navratri, Dangi Darbar, Shamlaji fair, Bhavnath fair.

TOURIST CENTRES
Religious centres like

• Dwarka,
• Somnath,
• Palitana,
• Pavagadh,
• Ambaji,
• Bhadreshwar,
• Shamlaji,
• Taranga and Girnar;
• Porbandar the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi;
• places of memorable monuments of architectural and archaeological wonders like Patan,
• Siddhpur,
• Ghurnli,
• Dabhoi,
• Vadnagar,
• Modhera,
• Lothal and Ahmedabad;
• Beaches like Ahmadpur–Mandvi,
• Chorvad,
• Ubharat, and Thital;
• the Hill station-Saputara ;
• Lion sanctuary of Gir forest and wild ass sanctuary in Katchchh area are major tourist attractions in the State.

GOVERNMENT
Governor : Navalkishore Sharma Chief Secretary : Dr. Manjula Subramaniam
Chief Minister : Narendra Modi , Jurisdiction of High Court: Gujarat State
Speaker : Ashokbhai Bhatt