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Maharashtra, the premier industrial State in India, occupies the western and central areas of the sub-continent and extends over the Sahyadri mountains, a vast stretch of 720 kilometres of the Arabian sea coast providing it a beautiful backdrop. The present State of Maharashtra was formed on May 1, 1960 on unilingual principle by carving it out of the erstwhile Mumbai State, which included the predominantly Marathi-speaking areas as the former prin- cely Hyderabad State as well as Central Provinces and Berar. The State has 31 districts grouped into four regions, popularly known as Konkan, Western Maharashtra, Vidharbha & Marathwada. With a population of 78.7 million (1991 Census) and an area of 308,000 square kilometres. Maharashtra is the third largest State and the second most literate State in the country. Maharashtra has a rich historical and cultural heritage, a stable and strong political base, an efficient public administration, a rich legacy of enterprise, skilled manpower and well- developed social and physical infrastructure and continues to be in the vanguard of indus- trial progress in India. It attracts and provides opportunities to industrious and ambitious entrepreneurs from all over the country and abroad, who in turn contribute to the economic advancement of Maha- rashtra. History and Geography have played a key role to make Maharashtra the foremost industrialized State in India. In fact, the process of indus- trialization in India began with the establishment of the first tex- tile mill in Mumbai in 1854. At the turn of the century, the number of textile mills in Mumbai grew to such an extent that it soon came to be known as the "Manchester of India". This prompted related ancillary and service industries to flourish around them creating an industrial culture stepping up further, an overall development in the fields of industry, commerce and banking. Thus Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra came to be termed as the commercial capital of India.
MAHARASHTRA'S COMPARISON WITH INDIA
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Item Unit Comparison India Maharashtra
with India
(%)
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POPULATION (1991)
a) i) Rural mln. 7.7 629 48.3
population
ii) percentage % - 74.29 61.31
of rural
population
to total
population
(b) i) Urban mln 14.0 217 30.4
Population
ii) Percentage % - 25.71 38.69
of urban
population
to total
population
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TOTAL mln 9.3 846 78.7
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(i) Male " 9.3 439 41
(ii)Female " 9.3 407 38
Scheduled
castes and mln. 7.8 205 16
scheduled
tribes(1981)
Percentage % - 24.56 20.36
Total mln. 10.8 315 34
Workers No.
(1991)
Percentage % - 37.64 42.96
SEX RATIO (1991) Females - 927 934
--------------- Per
'000
males
Percentage % - 23.51 25.73
Growth of
population
during
1981-91
AGRICULTURE (1991-92) **
NetArea '000 12.7 @ 1,41,408@ 17,876
Sown hectares
Gross " 11.0 @ 1,82,728@ 21,662
cropped
area
Gross " 5.1 @ 63,991@ 3,338
irrigated
Area
Percentage % - 35.0 15.4
of gross
irrigated
area to
gross
cropped
area
Area under
principal
crops
(i) Rice '000 3.7 42,153 1,478
hectares
(ii) Wheat " 2.9 24,255 799
(iii) Jowar " 45.9 12,760 5,851
(iv) Bajra " 18.6 10,057 1,866
(v) All cereals " 10.4 100,041 10,434
(vi) All food- " 11.2 122,486 13,722
grains
(cereals
and pulses)
(vii) Sugarcane " - - 478
(viii)Cotton " 34.2 7,513 2,573
(ix) Groundnut " 8.1 8,404 683
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** Provisional
@ Excluding Assam
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LIVESTOCK (Census 1987)
Total '000 7.7 4,45,286 34,255
Livestock No.
Tractors '000 4.7 738 47
No.
Oil Engines '000 4.6 16,184 743
with pumps for No.
irrigation
purposes.
FORESTS
Total Forest Sq.Km. 9.4 6,79,850 63,798
Area (1990-91)
INDUSTRY *
FACTORIES-
(i) Working No. 11.5 2,39,803 27,518
Factories
(1995)
(ii) Average '000 13.5 9,703 1,313
daily no. No.
of workers
(1995)
ELECTRICITY *
(1995-96)
Electricity Million 13.5 3,79,887 51,326
Generated. Kwh.
Electricity Million 16.4 2,78,323 45,571
Consumed Kwh.
(a) Industrial Million 17.1 1,05,291 18,053
Consumption Kwh.
BANKING
Banking Offices No. 9.4 63,534 5,967
(Scheduled
Commercial),
(March 1997)
State/National
Income (1996-97)
Income at 15.1 10,081 1,521
Current Rs.bln *** **
Prices
Per Capita Rs. - 10,771 17,295
income *** **
at current
prices.
Gross Domestic Rs. bln 14.7 11,492 1,689
Product
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* Provisional |