Anand (About this sound pronunciation (helpinfo)) is the administrative centre of Anand District in the state of Gujarat, India. It is administered by Anand Municipality. It is part of the region known as Charotar, consisting of Anand and Kheda Districts. Anand is known as the Milk Capital of India. It became famous for Amul dairy and its milk revolution. This city hosts the Head Office of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (AMUL), National Dairy Development Board of India,well known business school-IRMA and the Anand Agricultural University. Also other famous educational hub is Vallabh Vidhyanagar, an educational suburb of Anand which is home for around 10,000 students from all over the India. Anand lies between Ahmedabad and Vadodara on the Western Railways, 101 km from the state capital Gandhinagar. It is a railway Junction and a broad gauge line from here runs to Godhra, covering Dakor, a major Hindu pilgrimage en route. MEMUs and one or two regular passenger trains ply on this route . It also has a branch line to Khambhat. DMUs Diesel Multiple Units ply on this route as it is not electrified yet. Anand Railway Station has 5 platforms, number 1,2,3 and 4 are on the main line and number 5 is on the branch line to Godhra. A new platform is in construction on the branch to Ahmedabad from the Godhra line forming a triangle. The National express highway from Ahmedabad to Vadodara also passes through Anand. Anand has seen rapid economic growth along the Anand-Vallabh Vidya Nagar and Karamsad road belt. It is well on track to become a Municipal Corporation with the inclusion of various peripheral villages like Karamsad, Chikhodra, Lambhvel, V. V Nagar, Bakrol, Mogri and 20 others, however the major part of the town still lacks drainage system.Anand is located at 22.57N 72.93E.[2] It has an average elevation of 39 metres (127 feet). The city has an area of 22.7 square kilometres, and the urban area of Anand City is 172 square kilometres including 25 villages around the city. As of 2001 India census,[3] Anand had a population of 300,462. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Anand has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5% (55% of the males and 45% of females literate). 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. Average literacy rate of Anand in 2011 were 84.37 compared to 74.51 of 2001. If things are looked out at gender wise, male and female literacy were 91.82 and 76.36 respectively. For 2001 census, same figures stood at 86.09 and 61.94 in Anand District.Economy of the Anand is very vibrant which ranges from farming to big scale industries. Major crops includes Tobacco and Banana. Anand is home to the famous AMUL Dairy.[5] Vitthal Udhyog Nagar, very big industrial belt is located on the outskirts of the city. Many famous industries including ELECON,Vulcan Industrial, Warm Steam, The Charotar Iron Factory(est.1938), Milcent and Atlanta Electrics are situated in this industrial belt. Almost every other house in Anand has a person residing abroad. First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born in Karamsad, a suburb of Anand City. Dr. Verghese Kurien the man who made that milk revolution and Amul factory possible spent most of his life here.
