Betul is a municipality in southern

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India. It is the administrative center of Betul district and forms the southernmost part of the Bhopal Division in the

Betul (Lok Sabha constituency) Betul Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency is reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. It covers the entire Betul and Harda districts ...

. Bhimpur village, located west of Betul, is the site of proposed 2800 MW Nuclear Power plant.

Name

During the early 20th century, Betul was known as Badnur. It derives its present name from its surrounding district, which was named for its former headquarters at Betul Bazar, a small town about to its south. Betul—literally "without" (''be'') "

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

" (''tool'')—was named for its position outside the area's

cottonfield Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perc ...

History

Nearby Kherla was formerly the seat of an independent kingdom in the medieval and early modern period. Under Company Rule, its fort was permitted to fall into ruin. Badnur became the headquarters of Betul District in 1822. Surrounded by hills on all sides, it was used by the British for the exportation of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

. It supported two bazaars; the larger, Kothi Bazar, held 2015 people in the 1870s. At that time, the town had a circuit house, a

dak bungalow A dak bungalow, dak-house or dâk-bungalow was a government building in British India under Company Rule and the Raj. It may also refer to some similarly-built or -used structures in modern India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. __NOTOC__ Origins T ...

, a caravanserai, jail, police station, pharmacy, and schools. Its population was 3766. Following

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, Betul lay near the geographical center point of the new country, which is now marked by a stone at Barsali. Betul was connected to the Delhi–Chennai line of the Indian rail network in the early 1950s. It now serves as a junction point, providing the only access to the Chindwara District on broad-gauge rail.

Geography

Betul is located at , near the geographical center point of modern India. It has an average elevation of .

Climate

Demographics

During the

2011 Indian census The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Betul had a population of 103,330. Males constitute 51.12% of the population, females 48.88%. Betul has an average

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 89.28%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. 10.82% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Betul District's economy is predominantly an agrarian one. Its dense woods also permit

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

. Its road and rail connections and good telecom services have led some to predict that Betul will become an advanced industrial district. Currently, Betul District supports 7160 cottage industries capitalized at 1235.65 Lakhs and employing 17,682 people; 33 small-scale industries capitalized at 819.99 Lakhs and employing 667 people; and 5 medium- or large-scale industries with a total capitalization 1681.37 Lakhs and a workforce of 999 people. Of the 33 SSI's, 8 are agricultural, 13 are mineral-based, and 1 is forest-based. The five larger industrial plants are: * M/s. Betul Oils & Flours Ltd., Kosmi Industrial Area (130.12 Lakhs), * M/s. Madhyavarta Ex-oil Ltd., Kosmi Industrial Area (595.00 Lakhs), * M/s. Adhishwar Oil & Fats Ltd. Chouthia, Multai (348.73 Lakhs), * M/s. Betul Tyre & Tube Industry Pvt. Ltd., Sohagpur (302.25 Lakhs), and * M/s. Wearwell Tyre & Tube Industries, Panka, Amla (305.27 Lakhs).

Transport

Betul is connected to the

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 (CIS ...

Delhi–Chennai (Grand Trunk) line of the Indian rail network, which also communicates with

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

and

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

. Two new railway lines are also proposed - Betul - Chandur Bazar and Betul -Harda -Indore. Betul Railway station has 94 trains, to various parts of country like Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bhopal, Indore, Harda, Jabalpur, Nagpur etc. Betul is serviced by National Highway 46 and National Highway 47, also connecting it with

and

. National Highway 47 connects it to

Harda Harda is a town and a municipality in Harda district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Harda is the administrative headquarters of Harda. History Mughal period During the Mughal period, Harda was a mahal in the Handia sarkar. In 1742 ...

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

as well. There are daily buses to Bhopal, Nagpur, Harda and Indore, as well as

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

Hoshangabad Hoshangabad, officially known as Narmadapuram is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Hoshangabad district and Narmadapuram division. It is located in central India, on the south ...

, and other cities. Betul's

RTO code This is a list of the Indian Regional Transport Offices and the assigned codes for vehicle registration. These are broken down to states or Union Territories and their districts. The offices are all belonging to a certain type: * ARTO : Addit ...

is MP48. The nearest airports are at

and

, about away. The tyre industry also uses the area's waterways for export to the United States, the UK, the Middle East, and Africa.The nearest airport is Nagpur.

Education

In Betul, there are total 72 number of colleges. Some main colleges are as follows * Govt Jaywanti Haksar P G College Betul * Government polytechnic college sonaghati Betul * Bhimrao Ramrao Ambedkar College Of Education, Run By Shri Ram Shiksha Parishad, Chakkar Road Ambedk * Late Shri Nandkishore Singh Patel Memorial College, Near Link Road, Sadar, Betul * Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose College * Shri Ram Pharmacy College Jamthi Betul * Shri Balaji Institute of Technology & Management, Betul In Betul, there are many schools for primary and secondary education. Some of the main schools are * R D Public School, Kalapatha, Betul * Satpuda Valley Public School, Sonaghati, Betul * Kendriya Vidyalya Betul * ELC English School

References

* * {{Betul district Cities and towns in Betul district Cities in Madhya Pradesh