Anand district is situated in the southern part of Gujarat. Nearness with Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bharuch and Gandhinagar has made the district an important industrial center. The district has 8 talukas, of which the major ones are Anand (district headquarter), Umreth, Anklav, Borsad and Khambhat. The total area of the district is 2951 sq kilometers.
Geography of Anand District
Geographical location of Anand district is 22.07 degree to 23.29 degree North Latitude and 72.15 degree to 73.18 degree East Longitude. Average rainfall of the place is 777 mm. The major rivers flowing through the district are Sabarmati River, Mahisagar, Shedhi and Navida.
Education of Anand District
There are 1,123 primary, 225 secondary and 68 higher secondary schools in the Anand district. The ITIs offer several industrial training programs which includes, fitting, armature and motor rewinding and diesel mechanics, etc. Twelve pharmacy and five engineering colleges are present in this district. Pramukhswami Medical College is the only medical college present in the district. Anand Agricultural University and Sardar Patel University are the two universities present in this place of Gujarat.
Economy of Anand District
Anand district is an industrial base for Chemical, Engineering and Food and Agriculture products. Anand Milk-producers Union Limited (AMUL) is the largest dairy cooperative in India. Industrial developments of the district could be attributed to the presence of a significant numbers of Chemical and Engineering units in the district, which include Cambay Chemicals Ltd., Beepee Coating Ltd., Elecon Engineering Company Ltd., Hindustan Packaging Company Ltd., National Dairy Development Board, Mother Dairy Food Processing Ltd. more than 950 units of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are present in the district.
Agriculture also forms a backbone to the economy of Anand district. Major crops produced in the district are banana, potato, gooseberry, papaya, mango, onion and cabbage. A considerable amount of cereals, pulses and cotton production is witnessed in Anand district.
Tourism of Anand District
There are several tourist places in and around Anand District. Spread across an area of over 1000 sq. mt., the Flo-Art gallery present in the district includes cottage industry handmade crafts and a variety of household accessories. The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Veer Vithalbhai Patel Memorial are present in Karamsad. This includes a library and is surrounded with beautiful gardens for creating a perfect ambience. 60 km from Anand, the region of Khambhat is world famous for its textile products such as silk and chintz. Established in the 11th Century, the famous Jain temple, Stambhan Parshvanath Jinalaya is present in Anand district. Other well-known tourist spots in the district are Swaminarayan Mandir, Darbar Ghat, and BD Rao College Museum.
How to reach Anand District
By Road:National Highway 8 passes through the district connecting it to Vadodara (38 km) and Kheda (21km) district. Distance by road with major industrial centres in the State are Ahmedabad (73 km), Rajkot (255 km), Jamnagar (343 km), Ankleshwar (122 km), Bhavnagar (242km), Mehsana (147 km), Surat (205 km), Gandhinagar (101 km) and Vapi ( 272 km).
By Rail:In total there are 40 railway lines in Anand district. The district is well connected with Godhra, Ahmedabad, Kheda, Khambhat, Vasad and Mumbai through a broad gauge rail line of 147 km.
By Air:Nearest airports to Anand district are in Ahmedabad and Vadodara
By Port:Nearest ports are Dahej port and Hazira port.