Bina is a city and a municipality in the Etawa district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Bina is the district headquarters of Bina-Etawa District. The city is an important center of economic and industrial activities for the state. It is situated near important places and historical sites such as Bhopal ,Vidisha, Sanchi and Chanderi. B.O.R.L, the only oil refinery of central India is located in Bina, a thermal power plant, and a high voltage power station. This region is famous for its high quality wheat, and Bina is an important agricultural processing center. Bina also contains an important railway junction. The route from Delhi-Mumbai and Lucknow-Chennai & from Katni-Kota passes through Bina Railway Junction. Furthermore, Malkhedi Railway Junction is also located in Bina, beside this Agasod, Mahadeokhedi, karod Bypass & Mandibamora railway station r also future station. Historically, Bina Etawa is famous for the city Eran which is located near the city along the bank of the Bina River. Eran was the capital of Airikina Pradesha or Airkina Vishaya, an administrative division of the Gupta empire. It is among the oldest cities found in the region.
History
Bina city was earlier known as Etawa. Etawa is the name of the village earlier present in the area. Later in 1923, Bina Railway Junction was founded in the area with its name derived from the Bina River flowing nearby. The new name was chosen to dismiss any ambiguity between the Itawa located in Uttar Pradesh. Later all administrative documents started using the name Bina-Etawa, and therefore, the municipal corporation was also named as Bina-Etawa Municipal Corporation. Also the Khimlasa Fort located near the city is an important destination to understand the history of the region. Khimlasa is said to have been founded by a Mohammedan noble and was the mahal in the sarkar of Raisen of the subah of Malwa. The town of Khimlasa is enclosed within a fortified wall built of stone rubble more or less coursed.
Industry and economics
Bharat Oman Refineries Limited, a company promoted by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited with equity participation from Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C had set up a 6 million tonnes per year grass root refinery at Bina. Bina Refinery has adopted state-of-the-art technologies designed to process Arab Mix crude. It also had the flexibility to process other types of Middle East crude. The project also includes a Pet Coke-based Captive Cogeneration Power Plant of 99 MW. A 1200 MW Bina Thermal Power Plant by JAYPEE Group is also under construction. A part of the plant, with capacity of 500 MW has already started working. Also a Cement Manufacturing Plant was also proposed by the JAYPEE group in Bina. A 1200kV National Test Station at Bina under PPP model by Powergrid corporation in collaboration with 35 Indian manufacturers along with National High Power Test Laboratory Pvt. Ltd., Joint Venture Company is state-of-the-art "On Line High Power Short Circuit Test Facility" is also located in Bina. Apart from this, the government of Madhya Pradesh is planning to build an investment corridor between Bina-Bhopal and termed it as Bina-Bhopal Investment Corridor. Under this project, investments of around US$1 bn is expected around the verticals of Chemicals, Electrical Equipments, Fabricated metal Production, machinery and equipments. Along with it, Integrated township projects were also proposed near the city. The region is also home for some agricultural produce processing units and agricultural machinery manufacturing units. The wheat produced in the region one is of the finest produced in the world and is considered the best wheat produce.
Geography
Bina-Etawa is situated at 24°10’ N latitude and 78°10’ E longitude at the about 412 m above the mean sea level. The Bina, India and Betwa Rivers are the major sources of water in the area. The agricultural land is primarily black soil.
Climate
Winter season starts from November to the end or middle of February and Summer season starts from March to the middle of June. Minimum temperature recorded in the city is 1 °C in January. Whereas the Maximum temperature in May is 48.0 °C. Average rainfall is around 1235/mm annually. In monsoon the wind-direction is from south-west and in winter the wind direction is normally from the northeast of the city.
Education
Bina Etawa has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average. Government College for post-graduation and graduation courses and Government Girls College providing graduation courses for girls are two important centers for higher education. Besides this Kendriya Vidyalaya Bina is the major centre for school education. Three State Government Schools provide education for the city's students. Some private schools also operate in the city.
Religious sites
The city is home to a number of temples and other historical sites. Jains and Hindus are the majority population in the area. Nisai Ji located near the bank of river Betwa is a notable religious site. The shrine of Shri Taaran Taran founder of Taaran Taran Panth of Jainism is located at this place. In the city, Anekant Gyan Mandir, a Jain organisation, is preserving some of the oldest manuscripts related to Jainism, apart from preserving, electronic copies for these manuscripts were also created by the organisation. Maa Jageshwari Shaktipeeth is famous for the temple of Goddess Durga. A Saibaba Mandir is also located in the campus of Maa Jageshwari Shaktipeeth. Some important religious events includes the Annual Palki Yatra of Maa Jageshwari, organised on the first day of Navratri. Also the Sai Baba Palki Yatra is organised on 14 February of every year.
