# Banaskantha district

Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-four districts of the Gujarat state of India. The administrative headquarters of the district is at Palanpur which is also its largest city. The district is located in the Northeast of Gujarat and is presumably named after the West Banas River which runs through the valley between Mount Abu and Aravalli Range, flowing to the plains of Gujarat in this region and towards the Rann of Kutch. The district is famous for the Ambaji temple which draws many tourists. It was covers an area of 12,703 km$^2$ and it was the second largest district in the state till Jan 2025, After Vav-Tharad district was carved out of the western part of the district and remaining area of 6,176 km$^2$ remains the same.

## Geography

Banaskantha shares its borders with Rajasthan state in the North, Sabarkantha district in East, Vav-Tharad district in West and Patan district and Mehsana district in the South.

## Economy

The economy of the district is based on agro & food Processing, tourism, textile, and mineral based industries (ceramics). The food processing industry in the district has attracted 57% of the total investment in the district over the last two decades. The district ranks first in the Country in milk production, the Asia's Largest Dairy Cooperative under the Brandname of AMUL is Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Ltd., Palanpur known as Banas Dairy procuring almost 59,58,134 Lit. Milk on 15.01.2018 as Peak receipt. The Banaskantha is also first District having highest Cold Supply Chain of Milk by installing 1280 bulk milk chilling units procuring almost >90% milk as raw chilled milk & rest 10% in cans. Banaskantha District has 1,060 village dairy cooperatives. Societies certified as per ISO 9001 : QMS Standard. The district ranks first in the state in the production of vegetables contributing nearly 17.67% to the total vegetable production of Gujarat. It is the largest producer of potatoes in the state. Bajri, Maize, Tobacco, Castor oil, Jowar, Psyllium are the other major crops of the district. It is also one of the leading producers of Isabgul (Psyllium husk) in the country. It is also the 3rd largest producer of oil seeds in the state after Junagadh district and Jamnagar district.
The district has rich mineral reserves including limestone, marble, granite, building stone, and china clay. It accounts for almost the entire marble reserves (99.3%) of Gujarat and contributes about 15% to the total production of limestone in the state.
Banaskantha District Central Co-operative Bank is one of the most important banks of Gujarat.
It has got prestigious State Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar. The main agriculture is of Bajra crops.
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Banaskantha one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

## Demographics

According to the 2011 census Banaskantha district has a population of 3,120,506, roughly equal to the nation of Mongolia or the US state of Iowa. This gives it a ranking of 111th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 290 inhabitants per square kilometre (750/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.43%. Banaskantha has a sex ratio of 936 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 66.39%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 10.49% and 9.11% of the population respectively.
Religions in Banaskantha district (2011) :
| Religion | Religion | Percent | Percent |
| Hinduism | Hinduism | 92.62% | 92.62% |
| Islam | Islam | 6.84% | 6.84% |
| Other or not stated | Other or not stated | 0.54% | 0.54% |

### Language

* Gujarati 96.35 (95.8%)
* Hindi 0.91 (0.90%)
* Marwari 0.6 (0.60%)
* Others 2.74 (2.72%)
According to the 2011 Census of India, 96.35% of the population in the district spoke Gujarati and 0.91% Hindi as their first language.

## Politics

| District | No. | Constituency | Name | Party | Remarks |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 7 | Vav | Geniben Thakor | Indian National Congress | Elected to 18th Loksabha |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 7 | Vav | Swarupji Thakor | Bharatiya Janata Party | Elected on 23 November 2024 |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 8 | Tharad | Shankarbhai Chaudhary | Bharatiya Janata Party | Speaker |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 9 | Dhanera | Mavjibhai Desai | Independent | |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 10 | Danta (ST) | Kantibhai Kharadi | Indian National Congress | |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 11 | Vadgam (SC) | Jignesh Mevani | Indian National Congress | |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 12 | Palanpur | Aniket Thaker | Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 13 | Deesa | Pravin Mali | Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 14 | Deodar | Keshaji Chauhan | Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| Banaskantha & Vav-Tharad | 15 | Kankrej | Amrutji Thakor | Indian National Congress | |

## Notable people

* Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel, Founder Chairman of Banas Dairy
* Parthi Bhatol, Politician & Former Chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul); Former Banas Dairy Chairman
* Chandrakant Bakshi, author born in Palanpur.
* Parbatbhai Patel, MP from Banaskantha; Former Minister of State Water Resources (Independent Charge), Water Supply, Government of Gujarat
* Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, former Minister of State of Home Affairs and former MP for Banaskantha
* Harisinh Chavda, former MP for Banaskantha
* B. K. Gadhvi, former MP and Minister of State, Banaskantha
* Mukesh Gadhvi, former MP for Banaskantha
* Jayasimha Siddharaja, ruler of Gujarat from the Chaulukya dynasty; great-grandfather of Prithviraj Chauhan
* Pranav Mistry, inventor of Sixthsense and vice president of Samsung, USA
* Ranchordas Pagi, scout for the Indian Army during the 1965 and 1971 war
* Mehul Choksi, Diamond merchant
* Nirav Modi, Diamond merchant
* Bharat Shah, Bollywood film producer
* Dineshchandra R. Agrawal, Chairman & MD (CMD) of DRA Infracon
* Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer