Niphad

Niphad निफाड
Town
Country	India
District	Nashik
Government
• Type	Sub-Division
• Body	Sub-Divisional Office, P.W.D. Sub-Division, Additional District Court
Elevation	569 m (1,867 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	16,322
Languages Marathi
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	422303
Telephone code	02550
Vehicle registration	MH 15

Niphad is the name both of the town and the Taluka headquartered there. It is within the Nashik District of Maharashtra, India. The Marathi name signifies "a place without mountains", and indeed the taluka's topography is fairly level, with hardly any hills. It is served by Niphad railway station.Niphad's latitude and longitude coordinates are 20°5′0″N 74°7′0″E. Located northeast of Nashik city, the Taluka borders Sinnar, Nashik, Dindori, Chandwad, and Yeola Talukas and Ahmednagar District, and has no direct access to the sea. The Niphad Sub-Division is composed of Niphad, Sinnar and Yeola Talukas.

Niphad stationboard

Niphad platformboard

Niphad Town

About 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Nashik, the town lies on the Nashik–Aurangabad Highway and has a station on the Mumbai–Nagpur section of the Central Railway. Although facilities in the surrounding villages are improving, the town remains the local transportation and communication hub as well as the seat of government and law enforcement, with additional district courts serving the Niphad, Yeola and Pimpalgaon Baswant courts. Niphad is also the center for medical and veterinary care, trade, banking (with State Bank of India, Bank Of Maharashtra, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Corporation Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad, HDFC Bank, Land Development Bank branches and many Co-operative Banks. It is also a center for education, with high schools, junior colleges, senior colleges, government ITI and other technical Institutes.

Religious sites

Niphad Town is home to a number of Hindu temples dedicated to various deities, as well as to a Dargah and a few mosques. A traditional fair in honour of Shree Khandoba (not to be confused with another Khandoba fair in Chandori in the Taluka) is held on Magha Shuddha Paurnima and attracts a large number of people from the surrounding areas.

Flora and fauna

Agrarian Niphad is one of the district's most fertile—and flood-prone—talukas. Its major rivers are the Godavari and its tributary, the Kadawa; as of 1975 irrigation was achieved by means of the Vadali river dam, bandhara, near the taluka, in addition to "well over a hundred" wells.Sugarcane is one of the most important agricultural products and the basis for a sugar refining and alcohol distilling industry, conducted at two co-operative sugar factories, the Niphad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana in Bhausahebnagar and the Karmaveer Kakasaheb Wagh Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana in Kakasahebnagar. Major wine producers in the Vinchur MIDC area are the Vinsura and Vinsula wineries.Other major crops include onions, grapes, soybean, tomatoes and flowers, all exported internationally, as well as wheat, gram, and other vegetables and grains (bajra, jovar, tur). Niphad is the largest grape processing location in India.

Demographics

In the 2001 census, the niphad total population was 16322