Kangeyam


Kangeyam is a well known municipality Kangeyam taluk in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated on National Highway 67.
Kangeyam is a commercial center in Tamil Nadu with the main commercial interests being rice hulling, coconut oil extraction, Ghee production and groundnut cultivation.The town is located at the distance of 28 km from the district headquarters Tiruppur, 45 km from Erode and 70 km from the industrial town of Coimbatore, 55 km from Karur, 32 km from Dharapuram and 441 km from the state capital Chennai.
The Kangeyam bull, known for its superior draught strength and adaptability to poor nutritional conditions is indigenous to the area around Kangeyam and is named after the town. As of 2011, the town had a population of 32,147.

Neighborhoods

An ancient beryl mine near Kangeyam produced Indian beryl which was exported to Roman empire, which is the reason for numerous Roman coins found in the nearby areas.

Economy

The major business interests in Kangeyam are rice mills, coconut copra making which is used in coconut oil production, ghee production and groundnut cultivation. The region, despite being semi-arid and rain-fed, produces rice throughout the year. Rice is processed to hull it and then marketed. Paddy procured from Thanjavur and Cauvery delta regions in Tamil Nadu and from other states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are also brought here for processing and there are more than 500 rice mills in Kangeyam Taluk.
Coconut oil production in Kangeyam began in the 1980s when coconut cultivation started spreading in Tamil Nadu. Kangeyam is often named among the major coconut oil producing regions of India and the coconut oil that is produced here is marketed all over Tamil Nadu, and also in other states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, and is also exported. Coconut kernel is first allowed to dry on large fields made for this purpose, and then processed in oil mills to produce coconut oil. There are about 150 coconut oil manufacturing units in and around Kangeyam, and about 500 kopra processing and drying units in Kangeyam Taluk. The town is a very important rice and oil market in Tamil Nadu, and is called the "Rice and Oil Town". Ghee and Ornamental stone production are major businesses in Kangeyam. The stone that is produced is known as "Moon Stone", and is exported to other countries.
'United carbon' is a charcoal manufacturing company located in Kangeyam. Few other companies like welding wire manufacturing, are located within Kangeyam. Many spinning mills and knitting manufacturing and processing units are located in Kangeyam as it is close to Tiruppur.
The Kangeyam bull is a cattle breed that is indigenous to the area around Kangeyam. There are two varieties of Kangeyam cattle. The Kangeyam bull is known for its superior draught strength and adaptability to poor nutritional conditions. They have a compact body with short, stout legs, strong hooves, a short neck and a firm hump, and are usually grey or white in colour.

Demographics

According to 2011 census, Kangeyam had a population of 32,147 with a sex-ratio of 987 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 2,811 were under the age of six, constituting 1,485 males and 1,326 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 9.33% and 0.07% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 77.7%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of : 9,449 households. There were a total of 15,720 workers, comprising 392 cultivators, 603 main agricultural laborers, 1,610 in house hold industries, 11,503 other workers, 1,612 marginal workers, 63 marginal cultivators, 155 marginal agricultural laborers, 225 marginal workers in household industries and 1,169 other marginal workers.
Around 3% of the people are below poverty line which is much lower than the national average of 29.8% and the state average of 17.1%. Kangeyam has 88.86% Hindus, 6.22% Muslims, 3.91% Christians, 0.02% Sikhs, 0.02% Buddhists, 0.01% Jains and 0.01% Others. 0.95% of the respondents follow no religion or did not state their religion.

Administration and Politics

Kangeyam comes under Dharapuram revenue division of Tirupur District. Kangeyam assembly constituency is part of Erode. A. Ganesha Murthi is the current Member of Parliament. U. Thaniyarasu represents Kangeyam Constituency in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Transport

Because of its strategic location, Kangeyam is well connected by roads to many major towns in the district. Kangeyam is located on National Highway 81. A State Highway running through Kangeyam connects. There are two bus stands in Kangeyam abutting each other- one for buses which connects the surrounding villages with Kangeyam, and the other for State service buses which connects Kangeyam with other parts of Tamil Nadu. The roads around Kangeyam are busy ones in Tamil Nadu. Other state highways that run through Kangeyam are:
  1. SH 96,
  2. SH 172 and
  3. SH 189.
Kangeyam is about 46 km from Erode, 68 km from Coimbatore and 28 km from Tirupur, 32 km from Dharapuram.

Places of interest

There is a 54-bedded Government Hospital in Kangeyam. Four Primary Health Centres are under the administration of Kangeyam Health Block, which comes under Tiruppur Health Unit District. Besides these, there are a number of private hospitals. A number of schools and colleges are situated in and around Kangeyam.