Key Points:
Madhapar in Gujarat is called the 'richest village in the world', with ₹7,000 crore in fixed deposits
Most of the wealth comes from expatriates sending money back home which is invested in local banks and public infrastructure
Madhapar's biggest industry remains agriculture, which has been modernised thanks to remittences from abroad
At first glance, Madhapar looks like many other villages on the outskirts of Bhuj in Gujarat’s Kutch district. The streets are lined with traditional houses, markets buzz with activity, and agriculture remains an everyday occupation. But behind its modest appearance, Madhapar is the richest village in the world.
Madhapur’s 92,000 citizens hold a cumulative ₹7,000 crore in fixed deposits. This comes out to around ₹15-20 lakhs per household – and that’s counting only private savings, not business or corporate accounts. Madhapar has around 17 banks, an unusually high number for a settlement of its size. For roughly 7,600 families, that translates to one bank for every 450 households. Agriculture, small businesses, and cooperative ventures add to the flow of income, but it is the global diaspora’s contributions that sustain the extraordinary totals.
The story of Madhapar goes as far back as the 1400s, when the Mistris of Kutch, an artisan Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya community, migrated from Rajasthan and first settled in the area. It was named after Madha Kanji Solanki, a Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya leader, who laid the foundation of the village in 1473–1474. Around 1576, The Patel Kanbi community settled in the village. These two communities account for the majority of Madhapar’s current demography.
Much like its history, the village’s prosperity is rooted in migration. In the 1960s and 70s, many families from Madhapar left for the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Africa – Central Africa in particular has a large Gujarati population which dominates the construction industry there. Today, an estimated 65% of its citizens live abroad, leaving only 32,000 residents in the village.
The community maintains close ties with the village, sending money back for both family support and collective projects – Gujaratis are the biggest remitters of Foreign Direct Investments in India. For example, the Kutch Madhapar Community in the UK, established in 1968, continues to support development projects at home. Community-funded schools, hospitals, parks, and a cricket ground, along with investment in renewable energy and water conservation, give Madhapar the feel of a small township rather than a rural village.
Yet Madhapar is not just about numbers. The village reflects a balance between tradition and modernity. Farming of crops like sugarcane, corn, groundnut and millet continues, while cultural and religious events are observed with the same enthusiasm as before. In fact, since the 1990s, investments in these industries and traditions have helped upgrade them with technology and sustainable techniques, showing how global success and local traditions work best together.
