Bharuch

Bharuch
Bharutakutchha
City
BAPS Sri Svaminarayana Mandiram, Bharuch
BAPS Sri Svaminarayana Mandiram, Bharuch
Nicknames: 
Peanut City, City of Fertilizers, Chemical Capital of India
Bharuch is located in Gujarat
Bharuch
Bharuch
Bharuch is located in India
Bharuch
Bharuch
Coordinates: 21°42′43″N 72°59′35″E / 21.712°N 72.993°E / 21.712; 72.993
CountryIndia
StateGujarat
DistrictBharuch
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodyBharuch Municipal Corporation
Area
 • Total
43.80 km2 (16.91 sq mi)
Elevation
15 m (49 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
148,391
 • Density3,400/km2 (8,800/sq mi)
DemonymBharuchi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
392001, 392002, 392010, 392011, 392012, 392015
Telephone code02642
Vehicle registrationGJ16
Websitehttps://bharuch.gujarat.gov.in/

Bharuch (listen), formerly known as Bharutkutccha,[a] is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.

The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a ship building centre and sea port in the pre-compass coastal trading routes for trading with the Occident and the East, perhaps as far back as the days of earliest trade connections. The route made use of the regular and predictable monsoon winds or galleys. Many goods from the Far East and Far West (the famed Spices and Silk trade) were shipped there during the annual monsoon winds, making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes. Bharuch was known to the Greeks, the Parthian Empire, in the Roman Empire, the Chinese, and in other Western and Eastern centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages and other the middle ages of the world.[2][3]

Bharuch has been the home to the Gujarati Bhargava Brahmana community for ages. The community traces its lineage to Bhrigu and Parashurama, who is the sixth avatara of Vishnu.[4] The Bharava community still administers a large number of public trusts in the city. However the present day Bhargava Brahmanas have migrated to Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and other countries such as France, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Being close to one of the biggest industrial areas including Ankleshvara GIDC, it is at times referred to as the chemical capital of India. The city has chemical plants, textile mills, long staple cotton, dairy products and much more. Gujarat's biggest liquid cargo terminal is situated 50 km to the west of Bharuch, in Dahej.[5] It also houses many multinational companies, such as Videocon, BASF, ONGC Petro-Additions, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports & SEZ, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals, MRF Tires, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, Jubilant, Aditya Birla Hindalco Industries, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited, ISGEC Hitachi, UPL (company), Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Deepak Nitrite, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Petronet LNG, Godrej & Boyce, Piramal Group, Pidilite Industries, SRF Limited, Safari Equipments[6] and Welspun Maxsteel Ltd.[citation needed] The industrial estate of Vilayata houses the companies of Aditya Birla Grasim, Kansai Nerolac Paints etc., Jhagadia houses DCM Sriram Chemicals,[7] Saint-Gobain India Ltd., PepsiCo India Holdings Ltd. among others. Because of the distinctive colour of its soil (which is also ideal for cotton cultivation), Bharuch is sometimes referred to as 'Kanam Pradesham' (black-soil land).[citation needed] Bharuch is also nicknamed as 'Peanut City' for its salty peanuts, locally known as 'Khari Singh'.[8]

  1. ^ Neill, A History of Christianity in India, p. 73
  2. ^ Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
  3. ^ Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Depts.washington.edu. Retrieved on 28 July 2013.
  4. ^ Munśī, Dhanaprasād Candālāl (1929). Bhārgava brāhmaṇo-no itihās (History of the Bhargava Brahmins). Mumbai: Navlakhī Printing Press, Kālbādevī.
  5. ^ "Dahej Port, Gujarat". Dahej Port, Gujarat. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Home". safariequipments.co.in.
  7. ^ "About Us". dcmshriram.com/. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Bharuch Special Peanuts". kheteshwar.com. SHREE KHETESHWAR SWEETS. Retrieved 7 January 2022.


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