Kota District :

Kota District is one of the most industrially developed districts in the state of Rajasthan. The fort situated here is a popular place of tourism in all of Rajasthan.

Kota District, situated in the state of Rajasthan, covers a total area of 5217 Square Kilometres. The population of the district at the last Census count stands at 827128. For the purposes of convenience in administration, the district has been divided into a number of divisions. It has a sum total of 5 subdivisions, 5 tehsils, 3 sub tehsils and 204 patwar circles. The system of Panchayati Raj has been operationalised here for the purposes of convenience in administration. There are 5 Panchayat Samitis, 158 Gram Panchayats, one Nagar Nigam and 3 Nagar Palikas found existing in the district. Agricultural land in the district occupies a total area of 521324 hectares. The city of Kota situated here on the banks of the Chambal River is at an important juncture of the trade route between Gujarat and Delhi. The Chambal Valley project here is among the biggest in the state of Rajasthan. More details on the district of Kota are furnished below. 

History :

History of Kota district goes all the way back to the 12th century when Bundi and Hadoti region was founded by the Hada chieftain Rao Deva. The foundations of the region of Kota as a separate state were laid down by a Bhil warrior Kotya who set up a small fortification with a protective mud wall running around it. He was later killed by Jait Singh of Bundi who set up the first proper fort here. The independent state of Kota was formed in the 12th century, when the principality of Kota was given to Madho Singh by his father Rao Ratan Singh. Later Rao Madho Singh was declared the ruler of Kota by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, and thus Kota as an independent district came into being. 

Geography :

Kota is located along the banks of the Chambal River in the southern part of Rajasthan. It is the 3rd largest city of Rajasthan after Jaipur and Jodhpur. The district is bound on the north and north west by Sawai Madhopur, Tonk and Bundi districts. The Chambal River separates these districts from Kota district, forming the natural boundary.

The city of Kota is situated at a centre of the southeastern region of Rajasthan a region very widely known as Hadoti, the land of the Hadas. Kota lies along the banks of the Chambal river on a high sloping tableland forming a part of the Malwa Plateau. The general slope of city is towards the north. The comparatively rocky, barren and elevated land in southern part of city descends towards a plain agricultural land in the north. The Mokandarra hills run from southeast to northwest axis of the town. The historical places and temples are getting surrounded by signs of modern development.

Kota has fertile land and greenery with irrigation facilities through canals. The two main canals; called as left main canal (towards Bundi) and right main canal (towards Baran) originate from the reservoir created by Kota Barrage. The tributaries of these canals make up a network in the city and surrounding areas of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and supplements the irrigation of these areas

Economy :

Kota is the industrial hub of the state of Rajasthan. There are a number of flourishing industries contributing to the economy of the district. There is a fine grained variety of limestone found here called the Kota stone which is very popular in construction. Kota stone is preferred for flooring and wall cladding, paving and facades of buildings. This industry is a major contributor to the economy of the district.

There are many other industries situated here in the district. Established in the year 1985, Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited (CFCL) grew into the largest manufacturer of Urea in the private sector with an installed capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum. Its primary businesses are: Agri-Business (Urea fertilizer, Sugar, Farm inputs marketing such as DAP, Pesticides, Seeds, Agri retailing - Haryali Kisan Bazaars, etc.), Plastics (PVC and PVC compounds, Plastic building products - Fenesta), Chemicals (Chlor-Alkali, Chlorine based products). Other business interests comprise of Cement, Textiles and Energy Services. Instrumentation Limited (better known as IL) is a Government of India Enterprise set up in 1964 with the prime objective of attaining self reliance in the field of Control and Automation for process industry. Today IL is manufacturing and supplying state of the art control equipment on turnkey basis to various sectors and industries viz. Power, Steel, Fertilizer, Chemical, Petrochemical, Refineries, Pharmaceutical, Cement, Paper, Textile, Space, and Oil and Gas. 

Tourism :
There are a number of places of tourism in the district of Kota, a silent witness to the splendour of the various dynasties that held sway here. The marvellous fort of Kota with the Durbar Hall, Brij Raj Bhawan Palace and Jag Mandir is a must visit when on a trip here. Other sites here include the Haveli of Devtaji, Chambal Gardens etc. The museums here display a remarkable collection of artistic items like Rajput miniature paintings of the Kota school, rare coins, manuscripts etc which are marvellous to behold. 

Chambal Garden : The Chambal Garden is located in southeastern Rajasthan, India on the banks of the Chambal River in the town of Kota (once part of the Rajput kingdom). The well-groomed garden's centerpiece is a pond replete with gharials, which used to house magars as well. The pond can be crossed via a suspension bridge or by boat to allow a closeup view of the fish-eating reptiles.

Kota Barrage : Kota Barrage is the fourth in the series of Chambal Valley Projects, located about 0.8 km upstream of Kota City in Rajasthan. Water released after power generation at Gandhi Sagar dam, Rana Pratap Sagar dam and Jawahar Sagar Dams, is diverted by Kota Barrage for irrigation in Rajasthan and in Madhya Pradesh through canals on the left and the right sides of the river. The work on this dam was completed in 1960.

Darrah National Park : Darrah National Park in Rajasthan, India is a national park established in 2004 consisting of three wildlife sanctuaries: Darrah Wildlife Sanctuary, Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, and Jawahar Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. It is located within the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests' ecoregion.

The national park contains large tracts of forests formerly part of the Maharaja of Kota's hunting grounds. The park was embroiled in a political controversy over its nomenclature, when the Bharatiya Janata Party state government revoked the decision that it be called the Rajiv Gandhi National Park.

Jawahar Sagar Dam : The Jawahar Sagar Dam is the third dam in the series of Chambal Valley Projects on the Chambal River, located 29 km upstream of Kota city and 26 km downstream of Rana Pratap Sagar dam. It is a concrete gravity dam, 45 meter high and 393 m long, generating 60 MW of power with an installed capacity of 3 units of 33 MW. Its construction was completed in 1972. The total catchment area of the dam is 27,195 km2, of which only 1,496 km2 are in Rajasthan. The free catchment area below Rana Pratap Sagar dam is 2,331 The dam is located km2 after the Gandhi Sagar Dam and Rana Pratap Sagar Dam, but before the Kota Barrage.