Kota
Kota (/ˈkoʊtə/ ( listen)), previously known as Kotah, is a city located in the southeast of northern Indian state of Rajasthan.[7] It is located about 240 kilometres (149 mi) south of the state capital, Jaipur, situated on the banks of Chambal River. With a population of over 1.2 million, it is the third most populous city of Rajasthan after Jaipur and Jodhpur, 46th most populous city of India and 53rd most populous urban agglomeration of India. It serves as the administrative headquarters for Kota district and Kota division. Kota is a major coaching hub of the country for competitive examination preparations and has a number of engineering and medical coaching institutes. |
Demographics
According to 2011 Census of India, Kota City had a population of 1,001,694 of which male and female are 528,601 and 473,093 respectively.[6][26] The provisional results of census 2011 reported city’s population as 1,001,365.[27] The urban agglomeration of Kota consists of city only.[26][28] The sex ratio was 895 and 12.14% were under six years of age. The effective literacy rate was 82.80%, with male literacy at 89.49% and female literacy at 75.33%.[26]
Harauti, a dialect of Rajasthani is widely spoken in Kota with Hindi, Marwari and English being the other languages spoken.[29]
According to 2011 census, Hinduism is the majority religion in the city practised by about 80.5% of the population. Muslims form large minorities (15.9%) followed by Jains (2.2%), Sikhs (0.9%) and Christians (0.4%).[25]
Economy
The city is the trade centre for an area in which cotton, millet, wheat, coriander and oilseeds are grown; industries include cotton and oilseed milling, textile weaving, distilling, dairying, and the manufacture of metal handcrafts.[32] Kota also has an extensive industry of stone-polishing (tiles) of a stone called Kota Stone, used for the floor and walls of residential and business buildings. Since last 15 years Kota has emerged as an Education hub of the country as producing excellent results in IIT-JEE and medical entrance exams.[33][34][35]
Kota educational industry
A major part of Kota’s economy depends on its student population. Every year more than 150,000 students visit and study in Kota to study and prepare for JEE and NEET.
The entrance coaching industry in Kota generates business of about ₹40,000 million from them which further contributes towards the economy of the region. Over time, the economical growth and money generated through education in Kota seems to have overtaken other popular economical activities of the region by contributing more and more with time.[36]
Kota Doria or Kota Doriya and Sarees
Kota Sari with Gota Patti embroidery
Weaving in Kota was started by Maharana Bhimdev in the 18th century.[37]
The Kota saris like most traditional piece of work had started becoming lost before designer Vidhi Singhania moved to Kota and started working with the workers to revive its market.[38] Many textile shops in the city sell different varieties of Kota doriya. These saris have become one of the trademarks of the city.[39]
Kota stone
Storage area of Kota Stone
The fine-grained variety of limestone quarried from Kota district is known as Kota stone, with rich greenish-blue and brown colours. Kota stone is tough, non-water-absorbent, non-slip, and non-porous. The varieties include Kota Blue Natural, Kota Blue Honed, Kota Blue Polished, Kota Blue Cobbles, Kota Brown Natural and Kota Brown Polished.[40]
Industries
Kota is one of the industrial hubs in northern India, with chemical, cement, engineering and power plants based there. The total number of industrial units in the district in 2010–11 stood at 12908 with 705 registered units.[41] The district power plants show annual growth of 15–20% due to their strategic locations.[41]
Power plants
Kota is surrounded by five power stations within its 50 km radius.
- Kota Super Thermal Power Plant – thermal[42]
- Rajasthan Atomic Power Station in Rawatbhata Chittorgarh district (65 kilometres from Kota) – nuclear[43]
- NTPC Anta Gas Power Plant in Antah Baran district (50 kilometers from Kota) – gas
- Jawahar Sagar Power Plant – hydro[44]
- Kalisindh Thermal Power Station (in Jhalrapatan, Jhalawar) – thermal
Education
The city is specially known in India as a center for the preparation of various national level competitive examinations through which the students seek admissions in various engineering and medical colleges of the country. Often termed as the “Kota Factory”, the town contains more than 40 large coaching institutes for aspiring students trying to pass entrance exams for Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), through the IIT JEE, other engineering colleges and prominent medical colleges of India.
Since 2000, the city has emerged as a popular coaching destination for competitive exams preparation and for profit educational services. The education sector of Kota has become one of the major contributors to the city’s economy.[45][46] Kota is popularly referred to as “the coaching capital of India”.[33][34][47] Over 150,000 students from all over the country flock every year towards the city for preparation of various exams such as IIT–JEE and NEET-UG etc.[48][49][50][51] Many hostels and PGs are located in Kota near the vicinity of coaching centres for students. Students live here for 2–3 years and prepare for the exams. The annual turnover of the Kota coaching industry is about ₹1500 crore.[52] The majority of the students here are enrolled in schools, providing the facility of “dummy schooling”, which gives students admissions without the need to attend it regularly. However, it is an illegal practice.[53] In 2019, The Viral Fever launched a Web Series called Kota Factory to shed light on the life of students who study at Kota.
