Abu Road is a city and sub-district in

Sirohi district Sirohi District is a district of Rajasthan state in western India. The city of Sirohi is the district headquarters. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Rajasthan (out of 33), after Jaisalmer and Pratapgarh. History In ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), 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 and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, lies on the bank of

West Banas River The West Banas is a river in western India. It originates from the southern Aravalli Range, in Sirohi District of the state of Rajasthan. It flows south, draining the valley between Mount Abu on the west and the easterly ridge of the Aravallis on ...

. It is the

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its adminis ...

and sub-district headquarters. Its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

is an important stop on the main

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

line between

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: 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 (per ...

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 the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur,Rajasthan with 59,075+ employees, 658+ stations and a route length of more than 5761 km across at least some parts of four ...

. The popular hill station,

Mount Abu Mount Abu () is a hill station in the Aravalli Range in Sirohi district of the state of Rajasthan in western India.The mountain forms a rocky plateau 22 km long by 9 km wide. The highest peak on the mountain is Guru Shikhar at abov ...

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 Northern- Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana, Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad Gujarat. ...

, 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 Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, ...

. It is around 482 km from

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...

, approximately 151 km from

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic ...

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 composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies un ...

, 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 city, 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 rul ...

Demographics

As of the 2011 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, 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.

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. 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 enjoys all types of weather. In Summer, it's hot and humid with an average temperature of 40 Degrees with hot sandy winds. In Winter, it's 7 to 14 degrees, which is quite cold as compared to other cities in

and in

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

, the average rainfall is about 14 to 20 inches 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 city of Sirohi is the district headquarters. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Rajasthan (out of 33), after Jaisalmer and Pratapgarh. History In ...

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 are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, ...

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 , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...

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 The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur,Rajasthan with 59,075+ employees, 658+ stations and a route length of more than 5761 km across at least some parts of four ...

zone of the

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

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

Hubballi Hubli, officially known as 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 distr ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

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, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the 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, district and is governed by the Dehr ...

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth ...

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 ...

and

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

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

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

such as

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

Vadodra Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

and

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

. It serves railway transport facility to

and

Jalor district Jalore District is a district of Rajasthan state in western India. The city of Jalore is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district has an area of (3.11 percent of Rajasthan's area), and a population of 1,828,730 (2011 census) ...

Road

National Highway 27 connecting

Beawar Beawar () is a city in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, India. Beawar was the financial capital of Merwara state of Rajputana. As of 2011, the population of Beawar is 342,935. It is located 70 kilometres from Ajmer, the district headquarters and ...

with

Radhanpur Radhanpur is a town and a municipality in Patan district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Origin of name According to the tradition, the city is named after Radhan Khan, a descendant of Fateh Khan Baloch. Fateh Khan Baloch received a freedom fro ...

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

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

Palanpur Palanpur is a city and a municipality of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the administrative headquarters of Banaskantha district. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Ety ...

. 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 Mehsana (), also spelled Mahesana, is a city and municipality in Mehsana district, in the Indian state of Gujarat. Established in 14th century, the city was under Gaekwads of Baroda State from 18th century to the independence of India in 1947 ...

. 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 in Jalore district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the headquarters of the Sanchore tehsil located on National Highway 68. The town is situated from the city of Jalore and was once known as Satyapur. Nearby village ...

via

Reodar Reodar is a town in Sirohi District of Rajasthan state in India. It is situated at 52 km east of the Sirohi. It is headquarters of the tehsil as well as Panchayat Samiti by the same name. Mandar is the main village connecting Reodar to Guj ...

, Mandar and

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

Ambaji Ambaji (''Ambājī'') is a census town in Banaskantha district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is known for its historical connections with sites of cultural heritage. Geography Ambaji is a town within taluka district Banaskantha, Nort ...

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 Maharana Pratap Airport is a domestic airport serving Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. It is situated at Dabok, located 22 km (14 mi) east of Udaipur. The airport is named after Maharana Pratap who was a Maharana (ruler) of the prince ...

which is away and nearest International Airport is the

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) is an international airport serving the twin cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India. The airport is located in Hansol, north of Ahmedabad. It is named after Sardar Vallabh ...

which is far.

Places of interest

* *

Chandravati Chandravati, popularly known as Chandroti, is a village situated near Abu Road on the bank of the West Banas River in the Indian state of Rajasthan. In ancient times it was an extensive town, and present villages such as Dattani, Kiverli, Khar ...

Jirawala Jirawala Tirth is a Jain temple in Jirawala village of Sirohi District in Rajasthan, India. It lies 58 km from Abu Road. The temple is considered an important Jain pilgrimage center. History According to Jain belief, the temple dates ba ...

Bhadrakali Bhadrakali (IAST: Bhadrakālī; ), also known as Mahakali and Kali, is a Hindu goddess. According to Shaktism, she is one of the fierce forms of the Supreme Goddess Shakti, or Adi Parashakti, mentioned in the Devi Mahatmyam. In Vaishnavism, ...

Temple *

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

Brahma Kumaris The Brahma Kumaris are a spiritual movement that originated in Hyderabad, Sindh, during the 1930s.Shree Pavapuri Tirth Dham, a Jain temple complex and Gau Shala *

Rishikesh Temple The Rishikesh Complex of Ruru Kshetra (Rishikesh Temple) is located in southwestern Nepal in the Palpa District, Lumbini Zone. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage as well as cremation site referred to in the Hindu epics.

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