Abu Road is a city and sub-district in

Sirohi district Sirohi District is a district of Rajasthan state in western India. The town of Sirohi is the district headquarters. Abu Road is the largest city in Sirohi District in terms of area and population. As of 2011 it is the third least populous di ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

in western

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, lies on the bank of West Banas River. It is the

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

and sub-district headquarters and the largest city in Sirohi District in terms of area and population. Its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

is an important stop on the main

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

line between

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

and registers an impressive growth in passenger traffic and revenue generation for

North Western Railway zone The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur. It has a route length of more than across the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. NWR operates international rail s ...

. The popular hill station,

Mount Abu Mount Abu (), known as Arbudgiri in Jain tradition, is a hill station in the Aravalli Range in the Sirohi district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. Here, the mountain forms a rocky plateau 22 km long by 9 km wide. It is ref ...

is 27 km up the hill from Abu Road. The Industrial city is located in the southernmost part of Rajasthan, near the Gujarat border. It is surrounded by the

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in North India, Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Ahme ...

, which separates it from the

Thar Desert The Thar Desert (), also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-large ...

. It is around 482 km from

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

, approximately 151 km from

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

and 197 km from

. Placed almost in the middle of major Indian metro cities. Besides, connectivity with Gujarat ports and cities, it has a strategic geographical advantage. The main industries are

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, miniature cement plants,

HDPE High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or " polythene" when used for HDPE pipes. With a high strength-to-density ratio ...

bags, synthetic yarns, mineral grinding, ABS resin, Steel and insulators.

History

The old name of Abu Road city was Kharadi. The Rajputana–Malwa Railway set up the

here on 30 December 1880, and the station was named Abu Road. The road to

was built in 1845, during the rule of Maharao Shiv Singh of

Sirohi Sirohi is a town, located in Sirohi district in southern Rajasthan state in western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirohi District and was formerly the capital of the princely state of Sirohi ruled by Deora Chauhan Rajput ...

Demographics

As of the 2011 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Abu Road had a population of 55,595. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Abu Road has an average literacy rate of 80.81%, higher than the state average of 66.11%.89.63% of the males and 70.97% of females are literate. 11.89% of the population is under 6 years of age. As of the 2011 India

, Abu Road Tehsil had population of 2,24,404 of which 1,16,769 are males and 1,07,635 are females. It had 43,041 households. The population of children between age 0-6 is 40,421 which is 18.01% of total population.

Geography

Abu Road is an important Industrial and commercial city in the southwestern region of Rajasthan State on the bank of West Banas river. City is surrounded by Aravali hill range and about 482 kms from state capital Jaipur and about 248 kms from Jodhpur City. It lies southeast of Mount Abu, which is approx. 27 km up the hill and an important tourist destination. In addition, famous Ambaji temple in Gujarat State is approx. 19 kms from the city. Riico_colony_Abu_Road

The city starts its geographical boundary from Talhati in North to Maval in south adjoining Gujarat-Rajasthan Border covering residential areas of Talhati, Akrabhatta, Manpur, Ganka, Tartoli, Railway Colony, Riico Housing Colony, Santpur and parts of Chandrawati.

Climate

Abu Road has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSh''), typical of northwestern India. In Summer, it's hot and humid with an average temperature of and hot sandy winds. In winter, minimal can fall to , which is cool compared to other cities in

and during the monsoon, the average rainfall is about per season.

Economy

RIICO Industrial Area

RIICO Industrial Area is spread over an expanse of . Riico office at Abu Road is the administrative head quarter for

Sirohi District Sirohi District is a district of Rajasthan state in western India. The town of Sirohi is the district headquarters. Abu Road is the largest city in Sirohi District in terms of area and population. As of 2011 it is the third least populous di ...

covering Arbuda, Ambaji, Sheoganj, Sheoganj Ext., Sirohi Road, Sirohi, Sarneshwar, Swaroopganj, Mandar, Growth Center 1st and 2nd phase. The main industries are marble & granite, miniature cement plants, HDPE bags, synthetic yarns, mineral grinding, ABS resin, Steel, Electronics and Electrical, and insulators. Industrial areas in Riico, Abu Road are: * Ambaji Industrial Area * Arbuda Industrial Area * Growth Center 1st Phase * Growth Center 2nd Phase

Diesel Shed

The railway's diesel loco shed, Abu Road provides employment to a large number of people and holds an important place in town's economy. The Diesel Shed at Abu Road was commissioned by

as a

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

shed on 26 October 1966. It was then the largest MG shed of Western Railway with holdings of 112 locomotives. With

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

conversion, the shed was converted to a BG shed with holdings of 60 locomotives. There are 68 supervisors and 570 workers in the shed. A diesel training centre is located at the shed that conducts promotional, refresher and special courses for locomotive running staff as well as formal training of shed maintenance staff.

Modern Insulators Ltd.

Modern Insulators Ltd. manufacturing plant is situated in the town providing employment to many locals.

Transport

The financial hub and the largest city in

is well-connected by road and rail.

Rail

Abu Road railway station comes under the administrative control of North Western Railway zone of the

. It has direct rail links on the broad gauge to the cities of

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Hubballi Hubli (officially Hubballi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad district of Ka ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

and

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

. It is connected to most of the cities and towns in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

such as

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, Vadodra,

Bhuj Bhuj () is a city and the headquarters of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Etymology According to legend, Kutch (Kachchh) was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to King B ...

and

Porbandar Porbandar is a city and the headquarters of Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It was the former capital of the Porbandar State, Porbandar princely state. Porbandar and Chhaya, ...

. It serves railway transport facility to

and Jalor district.

Road

National Highway 27 connecting

Beawar Beawar () is a city in Beawar district of Rajasthan, India. Beawar was the financial capital of Merwara state of Rajputana. As of 2011, the population of Beawar city is 151152 (1 lakh fifty one thousand one hundred fifty two). It is located ...

with

Radhanpur Radhanpur is a village and a gram panchayat in Patan district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. Origin of name According to the tradition, this village is named after Radhan Khan, a descendant of Fateh Khan Baloch. ...

passes through Abu Road, thus connecting it with the cities of

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Palanpur Palanpur (Gujarati language, Gujarati: ) is a city and a headquarters of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Etymology Palanpur in early times is said ...

. Further, State Highways in

SH 712, SH 132 pass through Palanpur and connect Abu Road with nearby towns in Gujarat. State Highway SH 41 connects it with Mehsana &

. Abu Road is well connected via bus, more than 150 buses depart from Abu road to other cities. State Highway 11 (Rajasthan) further connects it with

Sanchore Sanchore is a city, which is located, about 135 km from Jalore, Jalore City in Jalore district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as headquarters of Sanchore Tehsil, Tehshil. The town is located o ...

via Reodar, Mandar and

Raniwara Raniwara is a town in Jalore district of Rajasthan state in India. Situated 35km south of the Bhinmal on Jalore-Sanchore road, it is headquarters of the tehsil by Raniwala Kallan. Raniwara is 109km from Mount Abu and 20km from the town of Bhin ...

. Ambaji,

is away by road.

Air

Abu Road has its own Air Strip which is not in use for transport purpose. The nearest domestic Airport is the Maharana Pratap Airport,

which is away and nearest International Airport is the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport,

which is far.

Places of interest

* * Chandravati * Jirawala *

Bhadrakali Bhadrakali (IAST: Bhadrakālī; ) is an important goddess, mainly worshiped by Hindus, and is a form of Kali. She is considered to be the auspicious and fortunate form of Adi Shakti or Durga, the supreme mother who protects the good, known ...

Temple * Ambaji Temple *

which is 30 minutes away from Abu Road. * Mungathala *

Brahma Kumaris The Brahma Kumaris ( ("Daughters of Brahma")) is a spiritual movement that originated in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan during the 1930s.Shree Pavapuri Tirth Dham, a Jain temple complex and Gau Shala * Rishikesh Temple which is 15 minutes away from Abu Road railway station. * Markundeshwar Mahadev in Nichlagarh (20 km from Abu Road.

Gallery

File:Abu Road Railway station.jpg, Abu Road Railway station

File:Chandelao Dam near Abu Road.jpg, Chandelao Dam near Abu Road File:Neechlagarh near Abu Road.jpg, Neechlagarh near Abu Road File:Rishikesh Temple in Abu Road.jpg, Rishikesh Temple in Abu Road File:Top view of Abu Road.jpg, Top view of Abu Road File:Top view of Abu Road 2.jpg, Top view of Abu Road 2 File:West Banas River in Abu Road.jpg, West Banas River in Abu Road File:Rajwada Bridge at Abu Road.jpg, Rajwada Bridge at Abu Road

References

{{Sirohi district Cities and towns in Sirohi district