Economy of District Kangra – Himachal Pradesh

Tea Plantation in District Kangra:

• In 1849 Jameson conducted a feasibility survey of the valley of Kangra in HP and found it suitable for tea cultivation. He brought China tea plants from Almora and Dehradun and planted them in gardens at Kangra, Nagrota, and Bhawarna.
• In 1905 a devastating earthquake took place in Kangra valley which forced the planters to leave Kangra and moved to Assam. Thus Kangra tea was replaced by Assam tea in foreign markets.
• Both Green tea and Black tea are produced in the district.
• In 1939 a tea farm was established at Palampur.
• The tea processing factory was established at Bir in Baijnath Sub-division.
• Tea Plantation Supply and Marketing Cooperative Industrial Society was established at Palampur.
• Kangra Tea was given a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2005.
• Chaudhary Sarvan Kumar Agriculture University was established at Palampur in 1978.
• A Fruit Farm was established in Palampur in 1936.

 Sericulture in District Kangra:

• Uniboltine silkworm races are reared in the district which is superior to Multiboltine races being reared in the rest of the country.
• A foreign species basic silk seed station is functioning at Nagrota.
• Other farms are at Palampur and Shahpur.
• A silk filature is functioning at Bodh in Nurpur Tehsil.
• Five Silk yarn reeling units have been set up in the private sector in the district.

Apiculture in District Kangra: A government Bee Farm is established at Nagrota in 1936.

Animal Husbandry in District Kangra:

• The State is doing pure breeding of Soviet Marino and American Rambouillet at the existing Government farms in the State because of their popularity.
• Improved breeds of poultry in Kangra district are White Leghorns, Rhode, Island Red, and White Plymouth Rock.
• Milk Supply scheme was introduced in the district in
• Milk chilling centers in the district is Darkota, Kotla, Jalari, and Dagwar.
• Angora rabbit farm is functioning at Kandwari (Kangra).

Fisheries in District Kangra:

• In 1962-63 Punjab government established a fish farm at Kangra which was remodeled in 1980. The Mirror Carp Spawns are imported from Calcutta and reared here.
• The Pong Dam reservoir has the highest sale price value of fish catch in the country.

Dhoop Making Industries are at Jawalamukhi and Kangra.

Gaddi and Gujjars are the two famous tribal groups found in the district Kangra.

Minerals in District Kangra:

• Limestone deposits are found in the Dharamkot area.
• Slate deposits are found in Khaniara, Kharli, Bhagsu, and North of Yol Camp.
• Natural Gas is found in Jawalamukhi.

 Kangra clay dolls:

• The antiquity of Kangra clay dolls goes back to the days of Akbar. He was a great lover of Kangra dolls and pottery. Ranjit Singh honoured and financed the clay doll artists.
• No festival and fair are complete with the sacrifice of local clay dolls in Kangra.

 Capital City Dharmshala:  

• Dharmshala came into existence in 1849 and it was made the headquarters of District Kangra in 1855.
• Dharmshala became the headquarters of Tibetan Government in exile, headed by Dalai Lama in 1959 when thousands of Tibetans refugees came and settled here.
• A Gompa here houses a 1500 years old idol of Guru Padam-Sambhav and a life-size image of Avalokiteshvara.
• A collection of 225 volumes of Lord Buddha’s sermons and discourses all in Sanskrit called ‘Thangyur’ in Tibetan have been placed in a temple here.
• Tibetan Institute of Performing Art (TIPA) was established in 1959D. in Dharmshala. TIPA holds an annual Opera festival called Shotou.

Other important information about District Kangra:

• Earliest rock inscriptions were found at Pathiar and Kanihara
• Buddhist remains of Stupa, 270 meters in circumference were found at Chari and Chetru.
• Baijnath (Vaidyanath) is also known as Kiragrama or Paapnagri.
• Chamba fair is celebrated in Palampur Tehsil.

Read also: ॥ Geography of Kangra॥  History of Kangra ॥ 

District Highlights of 2011 Census

• Kangra district has the highest number of 3,869 villages among the 12 districts of the state.
• Kangra district occupies the 1st rank among the districts in terms of population.
• Kangra district occupies the 2nd position in terms of sex ratio among the districts of the state with 1,012 females per 1,000 males as compared to 972 females per 1,000 males of state average.
• Kangra district stands 1st position in terms of its working force having total workers of 675,170 persons against 3,559,422 working persons of the state.
• Kangra district stands at 5th positions in terms of decadal population growth (2001-2011) of 12.8 per cent persons in comparison to state decadal population growth of 12.9 per cent persons.
• In terms of density of population per sq.km., Kangra district with 263 persons per sq.km. stands at 5th rank in the state.
• Kangra district occupies 1st rank among the districts of the state in terms of literate population. It has a literate population of 1,152,640 persons.
• Kangra district holds the 2nd rank in terms of scheduled tribe population in the state. It has reported 84,564 persons as scheduled tribe.
• The economy of Kangra district is mainly depends on agriculture. It has returned 303,007 persons as cultivators and holds the 2nd position among the districts of the state
• All the in-habited villages of the district enjoy the facility of electricity and potable drinking water.
• Kangra district is also known for its attractive tourist destinations. Dharamsala, Kangra Palampur,Baijnath, Jawalamukhi and Masroor are the famous places of tourist interest in the district.
• McLeodganj in Dharamsala is a seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has become a place of international fame since 1966.
• Central University of Himachal Pradesh at Dharamsala in Kangra district was established on March 20th, 2009 under the Central University Act 2009(No.25 of 2009) of Indian Parliament.

Read also: ॥ History of Chamba॥