District Profile

Bikaner

Area

27,244 sq.kms. (7.96 per cent of the State)

Location

Bikaner is one of the desert districts situated in the north-west of Rajasthan. It is bound in the north by districts of Sri Ganganagar, on the west by Jaisalmer and Pakistan , Churu in the east and Nagaur and Jodhpur in the south-east.

Distance from major cities

Jaipur-320 kms.
Delhi-615 kms.
Ahmedabad-945 kms.
Mumbai-1,496 kms.

Climate and Rainfall

Maximum temperature in the district is 48 degrees celsius
Minimum temperature is minus one degree celsius
The annual rainfall is 24.30 cms

Administrative Setup

Bikaner (North), Bikaner (South) and Kolayat are the three sub-divisions in the district. The Bikaner North sub-division has only one tehsil while Bikaner South sub-division has two tehsils namely, Loonkaransar and Nokha.

Human Resources

Indicators of Human Resources
Population	persons	16,73,562
Density of population	persons per sq.kms	61
Literacy	per cent	57.54
Total working population	per cent	35.84
Percentage distribution of work force
Cultivators	per cent	44.81
Agricultural labourers	per cent	4.60
Servicing and repairs	per cent	1.55
Other workers	per cent	49.04

Major Crops and Their Production

Production: 2004-05
(Tonnes)
Kidney bean (moth)	205831
Gram	91045
Groundnuts	77203
Wheat	73466
Rapeseed & Mustard	40059
Guarseed	39844
Bajra	35189
Rapeseed	4086
Barley	3416
Fenugreek seed	3301
Cumin seed	2382
Psyllium seeds	545
Green gram (Moong)	243
Jowar	226

Minerals

Production: 1999-00
(Tonnes)
Clay	3,55,603
Gypsum	6,37,100
Fire Clay	1,12,057
Ochre	1,257

Infrastructure

Electricity

The capacity of existing Grid sub-stations in Bikaner district is 62.0 MVA.

Water

Ground water occurs in the rocks of the trans-Aravalli, Vindhyan and territory formations at depth of 60 meters which increases towards the west and north. Around Kolyat, the depth ranges from 100 m to 135 m. The Indira Gandhi Nahar Project will benefit 188 villages of the district and 2.60 million acres of land.

Road Transport

The district is well connected with metallic roads with all nearby district namely Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu and Sri Ganganagar. The National Highway No.11 connecting Bikaner with Agra also ends in Bikaner itself. The total length of different category of roads in the district is about 3,624 kms as on 31 March 2000.

Rail Transport

The total rail network found in the district has the rail length of 234.96 kms. The district is connected with Howrah by broad gauge and with Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Sri Ganganagar, Agra and Bhatinda by metre gauge railway line.

Air Transport

The nearest airport is at Jaipur (320 Kms)

Communication Facilities

(No.)
Post offices	221
Telegraph offices	97
Telephone exchanges	61
Public call offices	537

Educational Facilities/Institutions

(No.)
Primary and Middle Schools	1,498
Higher Secondary and Secondary Schools	164
Colleges	8
Medical Colleges	1
Management Institutes	2
ITI	2

Industrial Scenario

No. of Large and Medium Scale Running: 6
No. of Small Scale Units: 5,310
No of Industrial Areas: 5

1.        Bichchwa

2.        Bikaner

3.        Khajuwala

4.        Loonkarnsar

5.        Napassar

Main Existing Industries

Bathroom fittings, Bikaeri bhujia, carpet and shoddy yarn, cattle feed, cement, ceramic tiles, cotton (in bales) textiles, dairy products, groundnut oil, gypsum grinding, handicraft items, leather footwear, machine tools and parts, mosaic tiles, mustard oil, oil extraction and refinery, papad and mangori, plaster of Paris, polyethene film and bags, PVC cables, rasagollas, textiles, woollen blankets and shawls, woollen carpets, wood and wooden products.

Export Items

1.        Bikaneri bhujia

2.        Leather items

3.        Woollen carpets