Banaskantha district

Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-four districts of the Gujarat state of India. The administrative headquarters and largest city is Palanpur. The district is in northeastern Gujarat where the West Banas River runs through the valley between Mount Abu and Aravalli Range, flowing to the plains of Gujarat in this region.^[2] The district is famous for the Ambaji temple which draws many tourists.^[3] It has an area of 12,703 km² and was the second largest district in the state until January 2025, when Vav-Tharad district was carved out of the western part of the district and remaining area of 6,176 km² remains the same.^[4]

Banaskantha district
District of Gujarat
Clockwise from top-left: Kirti Stambha in Palanpur, Gabbar Temple in Ambaji, Mokeshwar Dam, fields in Vadgam, Manibhadra Jain Temple in Magarwada
Interactive Map Outlining Banaskantha District
Location of Banaskantha district in Gujarat
Coordinates: 24°10′23″N 72°25′53″E
Country	India
State	Gujarat
Named after	Banas River
Headquarters	Palanpur
Area
• Total	6,176 km2 (2,385 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	3,120,506
• Rank	111 of 640 in India 5 of 26 in Gujarat
• Density	510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Gujarati, Hindi
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registration	GJ 08
Website	banaskantha.nic.in

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

It is the site of Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University.^[5]

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Banaskantha one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).^[6] It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).^[6]

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	437,072	—
1911	418,450	−0.43%
1921	440,891	+0.52%
1931	477,341	+0.80%
1941	548,737	+1.40%
1951	696,367	+2.41%
1961	899,989	+2.60%
1971	1,146,159	+2.45%
1981	1,514,121	+2.82%
1991	1,981,513	+2.73%
2001	2,504,244	+2.37%
2011	3,120,506	+2.22%
source:[7]

According to the 2011 census Banaskantha district has a population of 3,120,506,^[1] roughly equal to the nation of Mongolia^[8] or the US state of Iowa.^[9] This gives it a ranking of 111th in India (out of a total of 640).^[1] The district has a population density of 290 inhabitants per square kilometre (750/sq mi) .^[1] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.43%.^[1] Banaskantha has a sex ratio of 936 females for every 1000 males,^[1] and a literacy rate of 66.39%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 10.49% and 9.11% of the population respectively.^[1]

Religions in Banaskantha district (2011)[10]
Religion			Percent
Hinduism			92.62%
Islam			6.84%
Other or not stated			0.54%

Language

Languages of Banaskantha district (2011)^[11]

1. Gujarati (96.35%)
2. Hindi (0.91%)
3. Marwari (0.6%)
4. Others (2.74%)

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.^[11]

Politics

This section is transcluded from 15th Gujarat Assembly. (edit | history)

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