The Basics
Maharashtra at a Glance
Maharashtra stretches from the Konkan coast on the Arabian Sea across the Western Ghats to the Deccan plateau. It is India's richest state and the second most populous.
- Mumbai Capital & India's financial hub (Nagpur is the winter capital)
- 1 May 1960 Formed when Bombay State split into Maharashtra & Gujarat — marked as Maharashtra Day
- 3.08 lakh km² Area (~3,07,713 km²) — India's 3rd-largest state
- 36 Districts (6 divisions) — see the interactive map above
- Marathi Official language — granted Classical Language status in 2024
- 288 seats Legislative Assembly; a 78-member Council; 48 Lok Sabha seats
- ~720 km Coastline — the Konkan coast on the Arabian Sea
- Borders Gujarat, MP, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka & Goa; the Arabian Sea to the west
- 5 regions Konkan, Western Maharashtra, Khandesh, Marathwada & Vidarbha; rivers Godavari, Krishna & Tapi
- State symbols Animal: giant squirrel (shekru) · Bird: hariyal · Flower: jarul · Butterfly: Blue Mormon (India's first)
People
Population & Society
Census 2011 is the last full count, so current totals are projections. Maharashtra is among India's most urbanised and most literate large states. Figures below are Census 2011 unless marked.
- 11.24 cr Population, 2011 (112,374,333) — India's 2nd most populous state
- 16.0% Decadal growth, 2001–2011
- 365 /km² Population density, 2011
- 929 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011
- 82.3% Literacy rate, 2011 — well above the national average
- 45.2% Urban — one of India's most urbanised large states
- ~9.3% of India's people live here — yet the state makes about 14% of national output, the most of any
- Mumbai India's most populous city — Greater Mumbai held ~1.84 crore in 2011
- 6 cities Million-plus urban areas — Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Vasai-Virar & Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Economy
A ₹49-Lakh-Crore Economy
Maharashtra is India's largest economy — close to a seventh of national output. Mumbai is its financial capital, Pune an industrial and IT hub, and the state draws more foreign investment than any other.
- ₹49.4 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices); ₹45.3 L cr in 2024-25 (RE)
- ~14% of India's GDP — the largest share of any state
- ₹3.2 lakh Per-capita GSDP, 2023-24 — well above the national average
- ~18% Outstanding liabilities as % of GSDP (2025-26) — comfortably within the norm
What the economy is made of — share of the state economy (2023-24)
- ~64% Services — finance, IT, trade & entertainment, led by Mumbai & Pune
- ~23% Industry — manufacturing across the Mumbai–Pune–Nashik belt
- ~13% Agriculture & allied — sugar, cotton, onions & horticulture
Minerals & resources
- Coal Large coalfields in the Wardha valley — Chandrapur, Nagpur & Yavatmal
- Manganese Among India's top manganese producers — Nagpur & Bhandara
- Iron & bauxite Iron ore in Gadchiroli & Sindhudurg; bauxite in the Konkan & Kolhapur hills
- Limestone Feeds the cement industry across eastern Vidarbha
- Largest economy, top for investment: Maharashtra is India's biggest state economy and draws the most foreign direct investment — roughly 30% of national inflows in 2024-25.
- Mineral wealth sits in eastern Vidarbha; the rest of the state has little.
- Figures here are the latest Maharashtra Budget estimates (via PRS) and MoSPI. The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25.
Agriculture
Sugar, Onions, Grapes & Oranges
Maharashtra's farms run from the sugar co-operatives of the west to the cotton of Vidarbha and the orange groves of Nagpur. It leads India in onions, grapes and pomegranates, though much of the state is rain-fed.
- Sugar Among India's largest sugarcane & sugar producers, trading the top spot with UP — the cradle of India's sugar co-operatives
- Onion India's largest onion producer; Lasalgaon (Nashik) is Asia's largest onion market
- Grapes India's largest grape grower; Nashik is the country's wine capital
- Pomegranate India's largest producer — Solapur is the hub (GI-tagged)
- Cotton A leading cotton state — the Vidarbha & Khandesh belts
- Nagpur orange The GI-tagged Nagpur mandarin — Nagpur is the "Orange City"
- Alphonso The prized Ratnagiri–Devgad Alphonso (Hapus) mango carries a GI tag
- More GI produce Jalgaon banana, Mahabaleshwar strawberry & Mangalwedha jowar
- Rain-fed Much of the state farms without assured irrigation; Marathwada & Vidarbha are drought-prone
Administrative
The 36 Districts
Maharashtra has 36 districts in 6 divisions. The map shows 35 shapes — the open dataset draws Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban as a single Mumbai. (Aurangabad is now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Osmanabad is Dharashiv, and Ahmednagar is Ahilyanagar.) Select a district to highlight it on the map above.
The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero; soon each will open its own page.
What Makes Maharashtra Unique
Strengths, Industry & Heritage
Maharashtra is India's industrial and financial engine, and it holds more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other state.
Industry & trade
- Mumbai India's financial capital — home to the RBI, SEBI, and the BSE (Asia's oldest exchange, 1875) & NSE
- Bollywood The Hindi film industry, based in Mumbai — among the world's largest by output
- Pune An automobile & IT powerhouse; Tata Motors and Bajaj anchor neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad
- JNPT Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva) — India's largest container port
- MIDC Nearly 300 industrial estates run by the state's industrial corporation
- Top for FDI Maharashtra draws the most foreign investment of any Indian state
- Tarapur India's first atomic power station (1969), in Palghar
Heritage, nature & wildlife
- Ajanta & Ellora Rock-cut cave temples near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — two UNESCO sites
- Elephanta & CST Mumbai's island cave shrines and its grand railway terminus — both UNESCO sites
- Maratha forts Shivaji's hill forts — Raigad, Shivneri, Pratapgad & more — joined the UNESCO list in 2025
- Western Ghats The Sahyadri range — a UNESCO-listed global biodiversity hotspot
- Tiger country Six tiger reserves, including Tadoba-Andhari and Melghat — one of India's first in 1973-74
- Lonar Lake A lake in a meteorite-impact crater in the Deccan basalt — a Ramsar wetland
Culture & Traditions
Festivals, Food & Crafts
Maharashtra throws itself into Ganeshotsav, gave India its first feature film, and lays out a table from Mumbai's vada pav to Kolhapur's fiery curries.
- Ganeshotsav Ten days of Ganesh Chaturthi; Lokmanya Tilak turned it into a great public festival in 1893; Mumbai's Lalbaugcha Raja draws huge crowds
- Lavani & Tamasha Maharashtra's folk song-and-dance and travelling theatre; Powada ballads sing of Shivaji
- Marathi cinema Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, made India's first feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913)
- Warli art The geometric tribal painting of the Sahyadri foothills
- Paithani & Kolhapuri The gold-bordered Paithani saree and the leather Kolhapuri chappal — both GI-tagged
- Maharashtrian food Vada pav, misal pav & pav bhaji; puran poli & modak; spicy Kolhapuri and coastal Malvani cuisine
- Pandharpur Wari The centuries-old warkari foot-pilgrimage to Vithoba at Pandharpur
Places to Visit
Faith, Heritage & Getaways
From the caves of Ajanta to the shrine at Shirdi and the hill stations of the Sahyadri, Maharashtra has plenty to see.
- Ajanta & Ellora Ancient Buddhist, Hindu & Jain rock-cut caves; Ellora's Kailasa temple is carved from a single rock
- Elephanta The island cave shrines of Shiva off Mumbai — a UNESCO site
- Shirdi The shrine of Sai Baba — one of India's most-visited pilgrimages
- Ashtavinayak Mumbai's Siddhivinayak and the circuit of eight revered Ganesh temples around Pune
- 5 Jyotirlingas Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar, Grishneshwar, Aundha Nagnath & Parli Vaijnath — the most of any state
- Pandharpur Vithoba's temple — the heart of the warkari faith
- Hill stations Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala and Matheran — a car-free hill town in the Sahyadri
- Konkan coast Beaches at Alibaug, Ganpatipule & Tarkarli, and the sea fort of Sindhudurg
- Shivaji's forts Raigad (his capital), Shivneri (his birthplace) & Pratapgad
Modern Maharashtra
Finance, Infrastructure & Energy
Mumbai is India's financial capital, now crossed by the country's longest sea bridge — and the state has built India's longest expressway and a wave of new metros and airports.
- Atal Setu The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link — India's longest sea bridge (~21.8 km), opened in 2024
- Samruddhi The Nagpur–Mumbai Expressway — India's longest, ~701 km, completed in 2025
- Mumbai–Pune The Mumbai–Pune Expressway — India's first access-controlled expressway (2002)
- Navi Mumbai A second international airport for the Mumbai region, opened in late 2025
- Metros Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur & Navi Mumbai run metros; Mumbai also has India's first monorail
- Coastal Road Mumbai's new coastal road and the Bandra–Worli Sea Link ease the shoreline drive
- MIHAN A multi-modal cargo hub & airport zone at Nagpur, in the country's centre
Rail, Metro & Air
Trains, Metro, Ports & Air
India's railways began in Maharashtra, and Mumbai's local trains still carry millions every day. The state also runs the country's busiest container port.
- First railway India's first passenger train ran from Bombay to Thane on 16 April 1853
- Mumbai locals The suburban network is among the world's busiest, carrying millions every day
- Railway zones Central Railway (CSMT) and Western Railway (Churchgate) are both headquartered in Mumbai
- Vande Bharat Semi-high-speed trains link Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik & Solapur
- Airports Mumbai's CSMIA is among India's busiest; Pune, Nagpur & the new Navi Mumbai add capacity
- Expressways The 701 km Samruddhi Mahamarg and the Mumbai–Pune Expressway lead a growing network
- National Highways Old trunk routes cross the state — the Mumbai–Pune–Bengaluru, Mumbai–Agra & Mumbai–Kolkata corridors
People & Freedom Movement
A Land of National Icons
Maharashtra shaped the Maratha empire, the social-reform movement and the freedom struggle — and gave India its Constitution's chief architect and its film industry.
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Founder of the Maratha empire — born at Shivneri fort and crowned at Raigad in 1674
- Dr B.R. Ambedkar Chief architect of the Constitution; his movement was centred in Maharashtra, with the Deekshabhoomi at Nagpur (he was born in Mhow, MP)
- The Phules Jyotirao & Savitribai Phule opened India's first school for girls, in Pune, in 1848
- Tilak & Gokhale Lokmanya Tilak ("Swaraj is my birthright") and Gopal Krishna Gokhale, leaders of the freedom movement
- Warkari saints Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath & Tukaram — the poet-saints of the bhakti tradition
- Lata Mangeshkar The "Nightingale of India," from a Marathi family of musicians (born in Indore)
- Sachin Tendulkar The Mumbai-born cricketer — among the greatest to play the game
- The Tatas The Mumbai-headquartered Tata Group, a cornerstone of Indian industry; Ratan Tata was Mumbai-born
Through the Ages
A Short History of Maharashtra
From the Satavahanas of the Deccan to the Marathas and modern Maharashtra, a few of the milestones that shaped the state.
| When | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2nd c. BCE – 3rd c. CE | The Satavahanas rule the Deccan from Pratishthana (Paithan); the Ajanta caves are begun |
| 6th–10th c. CE | The Ellora caves are carved; the Rashtrakutas cut the Kailasa temple from a single rock |
| 12th–14th c. | The Yadavas rule from Devagiri, later renamed Daulatabad |
| 1347 | The Bahmani Sultanate rises in the Deccan; later the Ahmadnagar & Bijapur sultanates |
| 1674 | Shivaji is crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad, founding the Maratha kingdom |
| 18th century | The Maratha Empire expands under the Peshwas of Pune |
| 1761 | The Marathas are defeated at the Third Battle of Panipat |
| 1818 | The British defeat the Marathas; the region becomes the Bombay Presidency |
| 16 April 1853 | India's first passenger train runs from Bombay to Thane |
| 1885 | The Indian National Congress is founded in Bombay |
| 1 May 1960 | Maharashtra is created from the bilingual Bombay State |
| 2025 | Shivaji's Maratha forts join the UNESCO World Heritage list |