WEST CHAMPARAN

DISTRICT PROFILE

West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar.

West Champaran district was carved out of old champaran district in the year 1972. It is part of Tirhut division.

West Champaran is surrounded by hilly region of Nepal in the North, Gopalganj & part of East Champaran district in the south, in the east it is surrounded by East Champaran and in the west Padrauna & Deoria districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The mother-tongue of this region is Bhojpuri.

The district has its border with Nepal, it has an international importance.

The international border is open at five blocks of the district, namely, Bagha-II, Ramnagar, Gaunaha, Mainatand & Sikta, extending from north- west corner to south–east covering a distance of 35 kms .

INTRODUCTION

The history of the district during the late medieval period and the British period is linked with the history of Bettiah Raj.

The British Raj palace occupies a large area in the centre of the town. In 1910 at the request of Maharani, the palace was built after the plan of

Graham's palace in Calcutta. The Court Of Wards is at present holding the property of Bettiah Raj.

The rise of nationalism in Bettiah in early 20th century is intimately connected with indigo plantation.

Raj Kumar Shukla, an ordinary raiyat and indigo cultivator of Champaran met Gandhiji and explained the plight of the cultivators and the atrocities of the planters on the raiyats.

Gandhijii came to Champaran in 1917 and listened to the problems of the cultivators and the started the movement known as Champaran Satyagraha movement to end the oppression of the British indigo planters.

By 1918 the long standing misery of the indigo cultivators came to an end and Champaran became the hub of Indian National Freedom Movement and the launch pad of Gandhi’s Satyagraha.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Bettiah is the district headquarters. District is divided in three subdivision namely Bettiah, Narkatiyganj & Bagaha. West Champaran district has been divided into 18 municipal Blocks:

ADMINISTRATIVE

o Bettiah o Sikta o Mainatand o Chanpattia o Bairia o Lauria

o Bagaha - 1 o Bagaha - 2 o Madhubani o Gaunaha o Narkatiaganj o Manjhaulia

o Nautan o Jogapatti o Ramnagar o Thakraha o Bhitaha o Piprasi

Total number of Panchayats in the district 315. West Champaran district has 1483 number of villages.

Agriculture is the main source of income of the people in West Champaran. Sugar mills are established at Majhaulia, Bagaha, Ramnagar, Narkatiaganj,

Chanpatia and Lauria. Some rice mills are also being run successfully and the produce is being

marketed to different places outside the district. Cottage industries based on local available natural and agricultural produce

catering the local needs such as Gur (raw-sugar), basket, rope, mat weaving etc are also popular.

ECONOMIC PROFILE

0

5000

10000

15000

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

9157 8726 9395 9721 10586 9832 10237 11311 11815

13404

Per Capita Gross State and District Domestic Product

Per Capita Gross District Domestic Product

Per Capita Gross State Domestic Product

Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Govt. of Bihar

DEMOGRAPHIC

Population 39,22,780

Population density 750 per sq km

Population growth 28.89%

Sex ratio 906 per 1000 male

Literacy rate 39.63%

Languages spoken Bhojpuri and Hindi

GEOGRAPHIC

Coordinates Latitude: 26º 16' to 27º 31' North Longitude: 83º 50' to 85º 18' East

Temperature 43° C (Max.) 8° C (Min.)

Average rainfall 1422 mm

Area 5228 sq. km

Height above sea level 113 meters

INDUSTRIAL

Registered industrial units 1835

Registered medium & large units

06

No. of industrial areas 03

Type of industries Agro-based, sugar mills, rice mills, cottage industries etc.

Source: MSME – DI Muzaffarpur, official website of district

West Champaran has a strong agricultural background. Some agro-based industries have flourished here and are being run

successfully. There are sugar mills and rice mills installed in the district which are

running successfully. Some cottage industries based on local available natural and agricultural

produce catering the local needs.

INVESTMENT

INDUSTRIAL PROFILE

Agro-based industries are prevalent in West Champaran Wood and wooden based industries Repairing and service Metal based industry Leather based Ready-made garments and embroidery

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Investment (Rs. Lakh)

Source: MSME – DI Muzaffarpur

INDUSTRIES AT A GLANCE

Registered industrial units 1835

Total industrial units -

Registered medium & large units 6

Estimated avg. no. of daily workers employed in small scale industries

30

Employment in large and medium industries

450

No. of industrial area 3

MAJOR INDUSTRIAL AREA

29.48

0.53

28.21 Bettiah

Ramnagar

Kumarbagh

Source: MSME – DI Muzaffarpur

EXISTING MICRO & SMALL ENTERPRISES AND ARTISAN UNITS

Type of industry No. of Units Investment (Rs. Lakh)

Agro based 347 5124 Soda water 6 196 Cotton textile 35 212 Woolen, silk & artificial Thread based clothes. 40 160 Jute & jute based 32 156 Ready-made garments & embroidery 56 224 Wood/wooden based furniture 260 1040 Paper & paper products 42 268 Leather based 186 365 Chemical/chemical based 40 296 Rubber, plastic & petro based 14 656 Mineral based 46 286 Metal based (Steel Fab.) 156 802 Engineering units 10 220 Electrical machinery and transport equipment 46 459 Repairing & servicing 253 872 Others 266 1235 Total 1835 12571

Source: MSME – DI Muzaffarpur

INFRASTRUCTURE

West Champaran is well connected with the 220 kms of railways track.

Well connected with National Highway 28 B and with the state capital Patna.

There are some road routes also connecting the district with Nepal. Therefore, a good bulk of the Indo Nepal trade is carried on through the district

Nepalese rice, timber and spices are imported into India while textiles, petroleum products etc. are exported into Nepal through the district. The chief trade centres are Bagaha, Bettiah, Chanpatia & Narkatiaganj.

There are 1340 govt. primary schools, 284 middle schools, 68 high schools, 3 colleges and 1 industrial training institute.

Several agro-based, sugar mills, rice mills, cottage industries prevails in the district.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Mainly three types of crops are produced in this district – Bhadai (Autumn crop), Aghani (Kharif) and Rabbi (Spring crop).

Bhadai crops comprise mainly maize and sugarcane.

The main crops of Aghani season are paddy, potato etc. wheat, barley, arhar (Cajamus indicus) are main Rabbi crops.

Main crops of the low lying land in northern region of the district is paddy.

COTTAGE INDUSTRY

Cottage industries based on local available natural and agricultural produce catering the local needs such as Gur (raw-sugar), basket, rope, mat weaving etc are popular in the district.

LARGE SCALE INDUSTRY/ PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKING

M/S Steel Authority of India Ltd., C/o M/s Bokaro steel processing unit, Industrial Area Kumarbagh.

Bihar Seed Corporation, Industrial Area Bettiah.. M/s Bihar Rajya jal vikas nigam ltd. I/A, Bettiah.. M/s Bihar state Finished leather Development corporation ltd. I/A

Bettiah.

Service Industry

•Transportation • Hotels/ Restaurant • Beauty parlours/

saloon • Computer training

institutes

Micro & Small Enterprise

• Agro based product • Water Treatment

plants • Readymade garments • Restaurants

Existing Major Clusters

• Manufacturing sector – Nil

• Service sector – Nil

IDENTIFIED CLUSTERS Brass & German Silver Utensils West Champaran

•Principal products manufactured in the cluster- Brass and german silver utensils.

•No. of functional units in the cluster - 28 •Turnover of the cluster - Rs. 35 lakh •Employment in cluster - 1025 •Average investment in plant & machinery - Rs.

0.5 Lakh

STEPS TO SETUP MSMEs

S. No.

Type of assistance Name and address of agencies

1. Provisional Registration Certificate ( EM-1) & Permanent Registration Certificate ( EM-II)

District Industries Centre, West Champaran

2. Identification of Project Profiles, techno-economic and managerial consultancy services, market survey and economic survey reports.

MSME Development Institute, Goshala Road, Ramna, Muzaffarpur

3. Land and Industrial shed DIC, West Champaran 4. Financial Assistance Commercial/ Lead Bank, West

Champaran 5. For raw materials under Govt.

Supply National Small Industries Corporation, Patna

6. Plant and machinery under hire/ purchase basis.

National Small Industries Corporation, Patna. MSME-DI, Goshala Road, Ramna, Muzaffarpur

7. Power/ Electricity Executive Engineer, BSEB, Bettiah West Champaran

8. Technical Know–how. MSME Development Institute, Goshala Road, Ramna, Muzaffarpur

9. Quality & Standard Bureau of Indian Standard, Patliputra Industrial Estate, Patna.

10. Marketing /Export Assistance MSME Development Institute, Goshala Road, Ramna, Muzaffarpur

11. Other Promotional Agencies NABARD

Source: MSME – DI Muzaffarpur

TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

Railw

ay •Direct connectivity

with Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Delhi, and Mumbai • The railway line extended to Bhikna Thori on the Indo-Nepal Border

Road

• National Highway 28 B passes through district towns of Bagaha, Chautarwa, Lauria nandangarh and finally goes out of district through Bettiah • Well connected with the State capital by road

Airp

ort • Bettiah and

Valmikinagar have small airports with facility for landing of small planes

EDUCATION

There are a few schools in the district which are amongst the best in North Bihar. No. of govt. primary schools : 1340 No. of middle schools : 284 No. of high schools : 68 (including minority and project schools) No. of constituent colleges : 3 Industrial training institute: 1

HERITAGE & TOURISM

VALMIKINAGAR : Formally known as BHAINSA LOTAN, it is a famous tourist spot where a dam is

built on the river Gandak (Gandak Project). Bhainsalotan is also famous for Valmiki Ashram where

Maharshi Valmiki, the author of the Ramayan is said to have passed some years.

Bank of Triveni (Confluence): The confluence of river Gandak. Panchanand and Sonaha is an

attractive place to visit. This place is at the Indo-Nepal border. One bank of this confluence touches

Triveni village of Nepal while another bank extends to Bhaisalotan village of India.

BHIKNATOHARI : A beauty spot located in Gaunaha block on the northern part of the district

SUMESWER : A fort is situated on the summit of the Sumeswer hills, at a height of 2,884 feet above

sea level, in Ramnagar block. The fort which stands on the edge of a sharp precipice, is now in

ruins, but its remains are well defined and reservoirs cut out of the soild rocks, in which water was

stored for the use of the inhabitants.

BRINDAVAN : Situated at a distance of 10 Kms. from Bettiah, in Gaunaha Block, this village had the

honour of being the venue of the annual conference of 'All India Gandhi Seva Sangh' in 1937. It

was attended by Mahatama Gandhi, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and Shri J.B. Kripalani.

BHITIHARAWA ASHRAM : It is a village in Gaunaha block from where Gandhiji started his

freedom movement that came to be known as 'Champaran Satyagraha' in India history. The village

houses as hut which is called Ashram and has become a place of Gandhian pilgrimage.

NANDANGARH AND CHANKIGARH: Nandangarh is situated in Lauria block while Chankigarh is

situated in Narkatiaganj block. These are actually two big mounds which are the remains of palaces

of Nanda Dynasty and Chanakya, the world famous economist, Nandangarh has also been

conjectured as the ashes Stupa where the ashes of Buddha are said to have been enshrined.

Udyog Mitra, Dept. of Industries Govt. of Bihar Ground Floor, Indira Bhawan, RCS Path, Patna, Bihar 800 001. Tel : +91 612 2532695 Fax : +91 612 2532695 Email: info@udyogmitrabihar.com

Industries Department 2nd Floor, Vikas Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna, Bihar 800 015

www.udyogmitrabihar.com