Dhone or Dronachalam is a town in

Nandyal district Nandyal district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with Nandyal as its administrative headquarters, it was formed on 4 April 2022 to become one of the resultant 26 districts. It is part of the Rayalaseema region. The district ...

of the Indian state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. It is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in Dhone

mandal 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 district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative c ...

, and it is the headquarters of

Dhone revenue division Dhone revenue division is an administrative division in Nandyal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the three List of revenue divisions in Andhra Pradesh, revenue divisions in the district and has 6 mandals under its ad ...

History

Dhone was formerly known as Dronachalam. Dhone is the second biggest municipality in Nandyal district after Nandyal Municipality. According to local tradition, the name of the village is derived from the name of the tutor Dronacharya, a character in Mahabharata, who meditated on the hill in village. There is now a Hanuman temple, Dargah and church on the hill. Dhone has large deposits of high quality limestone, and it was previously the site of an active quarry. The quarry is no longer in operation. The oldest temple in Dhone is Sri Vasavi Temple, which was constructed in 1916. The Vasavi Temple celebrated 100 at the year 2017.

Geography

Dhone is surrounded by hills on its south. Geographically it is located on Erramala hills.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Dhone had population of 59,272 of which 29,470 were male and 29,802 were female. Population of children aged of 0-6 was 7,118, which is 12.01% of the total population of Dhone. The female sex ratio is of 1011 against state average of 993. Moreover, the child sex ratio in Dhone is around 954 compared to Andhra Pradesh state average of 939. Literacy rate of Dhone city is 72.33% higher than state average of 67.02%. In Dhone, male literacy is around 81.88% while female literacy rate is 62.96%.

Economy

Dhone has large deposits of high quality limestone. It also have good size of Granite and Polish slab Factories. Dhone is Industrially developing town.

Governance

Civic administration

Dhone is a Municipality in district of Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh. The Dhone city is divided into 32 wards for which elections are held every five years. The

was established in the year 2005 and has an extent of . During 2010–2011 period, total expenditure per annum was , while the total income generated per annum was . The municipality provided 798 public taps, 186 bore-wells, length of roads, 1551 street lights, a park, public market, elementary and secondary schools etc.

Revenue Division

Dhone Revenue Division have six mandals: # Dhone # Peapully # Bethamcherla # Banaganapalle # Owk # Koilakuntla.

Politics

Dhone is represented by Dhone (Assembly constituency) for

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన సభ, ISO: ''Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. ...

. Kotla Jayasurya Prakasha Reddy is the present MLA of the constituency representing TDP. Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy elected as CM for Andhra Pradesh represented Dhone constituency.

Transport

Railways

Dhone Junction railway station is located in Guntakal railway division of the

South Central Railway zone South Central Railway (abbreviated SCR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. The jurisdiction of the zone is spread over the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka. It has three divisions under its administration, wh ...

. This junction is one of the oldest railway junctions in India.Guntur - Hubli line and Secunderabad - Bengaluru line meet in the Dhone Junction Railway station. Dhone railway station is the biggest railway station in Nandyal district.

Roadways

The

Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (abbreviated as APSRTC) is the state-owned road transport corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its headquarters is located at NTR Administrative Block of RTC House in Pandit Ne ...

operates bus services from Dhone bus station. Dhone has bus station situated near National Highway 44, which is called North - South corridor.

Distance to major towns and cities

# Kurnool = # Nandyal = # Adoni = # Bethamcherla = # Banaganapalle = # Gooty = # Anantapuram = # Kadapa = # Tirupati = # Bellary = # Hyderabad = # Bengaluru = # Vijayawada = # Visakhapatnam = # Guntur =