Bhiwandi Travel Guide, India

Bhiwandi is a city in the state of Maharashtra and it comes under the Thane district. Bhiwandi is located in the proximity of the capital of Maharashtra (which is Mumbai) and the district of Thane. Bhiwandi is just 15 kilometer from Thane district and 50 kilometer from the capital city Mumbai.

Many regions come under the Metropolitan Agglomeration of Greater Mumbai and one of them is Bhiwandi itself. Some other regions which come under this agglomeration are  Kalyan, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Karjat, Mira - Bhayandar, and the busy Vasai - Virar. As per the consensus of year 2001, the population of Bhiwandi was around 600,000 inhabitants.

Bhiwandi is famous for its huge textile business. One will surely be surprised but Bhiwandi has most number of power - loom factories of India. It has also been called as ‘The Manchester of India’ or ‘The Mother Godown’ (which means the huge store area where goods are stored) by the media on many occasions. Power - loom business is so huge that a larger chunk of the population of this city is attached in some way or the other with various power - loom factories.

As per a research conducted by the state government, around 40 lakh inhabitants of Bhiwandi depend on the power - loom factories either directly or indirectly. National Highway 3 (NH - 3) connects Agra (the city which houses the Taj Mahal) to Mumbai and passes through the city of Bhiwandi. This highway has truly increased the importance of Bhiwandi on Indian road map plus has helped the textile business expand its reach on the national level.

The biggest reason for the booming textile business of this city was the downfall of textile business in the capital of Maharashtra i.e. Mumbai. Once the power - loom business started to fail in Mumbai then these companies started to open their branches in the neighboring cities and Bhiwandi was quick to grab the available opportunities.

Within the city, the auto - rickshaw is one of the major means of travel. Locals as well as those who pour into the city regularly use these rickshaws to move from one place to the other. You will find auto - rickshaws literally in every corner of this city. Bhiwandi does not has its own airport and people use the Mumbai airport whenever the need arises.