Ichalkaranji

Ichalkaranji is a city in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, India, known for its textile and engineering industries and often called the Manchester of Maharashtra. It lies in the Panchganga Valley about 29 kilometres east of Kolhapur, at an average elevation of 538 metres. The town grew from a small princely seat of the House of Ichalkaranji into a major centre of grey fabric production, with a dense network of power looms, processing units and garment makers organised along cooperative lines. Shrimant Narayan Rao Babasaheb, who became ruler in 1892, gave land and subsidies to weavers, and in 1904 the entrepreneur Vitthalrao Datar installed a power loom in the town. Today the Ichalkaranji Municipal Corporation governs the city through 65 wards, and the 2011 census counted 287,570 residents within the municipal limits.