Ludhiana, Punjab, India

🇮🇳 Ludhiana (]) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has a population distributed over 310 km² (120 sq mi), making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. It is a major industrial centre of Northern India, referred to as "India's Manchester" by the BBC. It is also known as the commercial capital of Punjab.

It stands on the old bank of Sutlej River, that is now 13 km (8.1 mi) to the south of its present course. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has placed Ludhiana on the 48th position among the top 100 smart cities, and the city has been ranked as one of the easiest cities in India for business according to the World Bank.

History During the period of Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, a fort was built at modern day Ludhiana. It was captured by Raja Jasrat during his 1421–22 campaign in Punjab. Later, Ludhiana was founded in 1480 by members of the ruling Lodhi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. The ruling sultan, Sikandar Lodhi, dispatched two ruling chiefs, Yusuf Khan and Nihad Khan, to re-assert Lodhi control. The two men camped at the site of present Ludhiana, which was then a village called Mir Hota. Yusuf Khan crossed the Sutlej and established Sultanpur, while Nihad Khan founded Ludhiana on the site of Mir Hota.

The name was originally Lodhi-ana", meaning "Lodhi town", which has since shifted from "Lodiana" to the present form of Ludhiana. The Lodhi Fort, or "Purana Qila", is the only surviving structure in the city from this period; located in the neighbourhood of Fatehgarh, it was well-maintained under Ranjit Singh and the British after him, but then fell into disrepair. It was declared a state-protected monument in December 2013.

The Semi Centennial Celebration of the American Presbyterian Lodiana Mission was held in Ludhiana from 3–7 December 1884.

Ludhiana's Old City includes landmarks like the Lodhi Fort, Daresi Grounds, The Clock Tower, & Sood Family Haveli.

Geography Ludhiana is located at 30°54′N 75°51′E. It has an average elevation of 244 metres (801 ft). Ludhiana City, to its residents, consists of the Old City and the New City. The new city primarily consists of the Civil Lines area which was historically known as the residential and official quarters of the colonial British encampment.

The land dips steeply to the north and the west where, before 1785, the river Sutlej ran.

The Old Fort was at the banks of the Sutlej (and now houses the College of Textile Engineering). Legend has it that a tunnel connects it to the fort in Phillaur– although why this should be is debatable, as the Sutlej was the traditional dividing line between the principalities, often occupied by enemy forces (see History section).

The ground is of yellow sandstone and granite, forming small hillocks, plateaus and dips.

The tree of largest natural extraction was the kikar, or Acacia Indica, but has been supplanted by the eucalyptus, transplanted from rural Australia in the late 1950s by the Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon.

Gulmohars and jacarandas were planted by the British along the avenues of Civil Lines, as were other flowering trees, while the Old City contains almost no vegetation or parks, except for a few isolated pipal trees, holy to the Hindus, as it is supposed to be the abode of Lord Shiva.

Demographics As per the 2011 census, Ludhiana had a population of 1,618,879. The literacy rate was 86.50 per cent, and the population consisted of 950,123 males and 743,530 females.

Religion With around 66% adherents according to 2011 Indian Census, Hinduism is the predominant religion of Ludhiana, followed by Sikhism with 29% of the population. Islam is followed by 2.8% and Christianity by less than 1%.

Prior to India's partition, Ludhiana had a population of 111,639 with Muslims being the majority with 62.9%. The Hindus were 31.1% and Sikhs 4.7%. It changed post-partition with a drastic reduction in Muslim percentage and simultaneous increase in Hindu and Sikh population, owing to migration of people between West and East Punjab.

Language At the time of the 2011 census, 67.00% of the population spoke Punjabi, 29.24% Hindi and 1.35% Bhojpuri as their first language.

Administration Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is the urban local civic body in the city.

Economy The World Bank ranked Ludhiana as the city in India with the best business environment in 2009 and 2013. The riches are brought mostly by small-scale industrial units, which produce industrial goods, machine parts, auto parts, household appliances, hosiery, apparel, and garments. Ludhiana is Asia's largest hub for bicycle manufacturing and produces more than 50% of India's bicycle production each year. Ludhiana produces 60% of India's tractor parts and a large portion of auto and two-wheeler parts. Many parts used in German cars such as Mercedes and BMW are exclusively produced in Ludhiana to satisfy the world requirement. It is one of the largest manufacturer of domestic sewing machines. Hand tools and industrial equipment are other specialties. Ludhiana contribute most to Punjab than any other city.

The apparel industry of Ludhiana, popularly known as Ludhiana hosiery industry provides employment to numerous people and produces India's largest share of winter clothing. It is especially known for its woollen sweaters and cotton T-shirts with the majority of India's woollen clothing brands being based here. Ludhiana is also famous for its industry of shawls and stoles and satisfies the demand of major domestic and international brands. As a result of its dominance in the textile industry it is often dubbed as the Manchester of India. Ludhiana is now sourcing production to major corporate brands all over India. Cloths manufactured here sell in big brand showrooms. Ludhiana also has a growing IT sector with multiple software services and product companies having development centres in the city. In April 2021, BizMerlinHR, a HR management software firm with development centre in Ludhiana was awarded Cool Vendor in HCM for 2021 by industry analyst Gartner.

Ludhiana was home to the Ludhiana Stock Exchange Association. LSE was situated on NH95 (Chandigarh-Ferozepur Highway) in Feroze Gandhi market near Mini Secretariat Ludhiana. The association is now defunct.

Sport Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana hosts a number of sporting events including athletics, football, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, handball, kabaddi, table tennis, volleyball, as well as other indoor games.

Kabaddi Kabaddi world cup finals have been played twice in Guru Nanak Stadium Ludhiana. The stadium often hosts high-profile Kabaddi matches.

Sport: Football Various competitions like finals of National Games Football Matches (2001) and I-League matches of clubs like Minerva Punjab FC (now RoundGlass Punjab Football Club) have been played in Guru Nanak Stadium.

Kila Raipur Sports Festival Kila Raipur Sports Festival, popularly known as Rural Olympics Games, is held annually in Kila Raipur, near Ludhiana. Competitions are held for rural sports, including gatka, bullock cart races, trolley races, kabaddi, loading unloading trucks and acrobatics.

Skating A skating rink is situated in Leisure Valley, Sarabha Nagar.

Places of interest • Alamgir • Doraha • Jagraon • Katana Sahib • Khanna • Kila Raipur • Machhiwara • Mullanpur Dakha • Nanaksar • Payal • Serai Lashkari Khan • Sidhwanbet • Rose Garden • Rakh Bagh • Sudhar • Sri Bhaini Sahib.

Transport Ludhiana is well connected by road and rail as Ludhiana railway station is on the main Delhi-Amritsar route, and is an important railway junction with lines going to Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Dhuri, and Delhi. The city is very well connected with daily or weekly trains to most places in India including the major cities of Jammu, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Pathankot, Kanpur, Jaipur, Ajmer, Chandigarh, Ambala, Panipat, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ahmadabad, Nagpur, Ayodhya, Nanded, Patna, and Kolkata. For administrative reasons the station is under Ferozepur Railway Division. The railway line between Ludhiana and Chandigarh opened in 2013. The government has even passed a dedicated freight track between Ludhiana and Kolkata.

Transport: Road Ludhiana is connected with other cities of Punjab and also with other states by bus service. Major national highways NH 44, NH 5 (old NH1, NH95 respectively) and state highway SH 11 connect to the city. The transportation services are provided by the state owned Punjab Roadways and private bus operators.

Transport: Air Ludhiana is served by the city-based Sahnewal Airport ((IATA: LUH, ICAO: VILD)), also known as Ludhiana Airport. It is located near the town of Sahnewal, 5 km (3.1 mi) south-east of Ludhiana on the Grand Trunk Road. The airport is spread over more than 130 acres (53 ha). The current airport arrival/departure halls can accommodate 40 passengers. A new airport in Ludhiana is coming up at Halwara Air Force Station with work under progress.

Chandigarh Airport is the nearest International Airport to Ludhiana. Other nearby airports are Adampur Airport in Jalandhar and Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar.

Transport: Rail Ludhiana Junction railway station is connected to other metro cities. It also has Sahnewal, Doraha, Qila Raipur railway stations which serve cargo and passenger trains. Vande Bharat Express has a stop at Ludhiana junction on its New Delhi (NDLS) - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) route.

City transportation City bus service has been cancelled. Moving around inside the city is done mostly by auto-rickshaws, and cycle rickshaws, while latest Ludhiana BRTS was planned to be constructed but due to lack of funds allotted and weak planning and management the project too has been scrapped by the government thus worsening the traffic problems in the industrial city.

Auto rickshaw The Auto rickshaw is a three-wheel drive vehicle, which is one way to travel in the city. They have the capacity to hold three to six passengers. It can be hired individually or on a sharing basis. The auto rickshaws are easily available at every major place, including the interstate bus terminal and the railway station at a nominal fare which varies from ₨ 10 to ₨ 30. Jugnoo, an on demand auto rickshaw application launched its operations in February 2015 to provide low cost, reliable, 24×7 service to the citizens of Ludhiana.

Rickshaw Cycle rickshaws are widely used in Ludhiana. The rickshaw or tricycle is pulled by a person and is a relatively cheap way of travelling in the city, but has become pricey after the autos have been scrapped.

Taxi Radio taxis are also easily available. This is the most used means of transport by the people of Ludhiana. Ola Cabs launched in the city on 7 October 2014. Uber is also very popular in the city. Zoomcar provides cars for self-drive car rental in the city.

Schools Ludhiana has 363 senior secondary, 367 high, 324 middle, 1129 primary, and pre-primary recognised Schools, with a total of 398,770 students. Most of these schools are either run by the ICSE Central Board of Secondary Education or by Punjab School Education Board. Prominent schools in Ludhiana includes R.S. Model Senior Secondary School and Wylie Memorial High School.

Agriculture Ludhiana is home to the largest agricultural university in Asia and one of the largest in the world, Punjab Agricultural University. The College of Veterinary Sciences at PAU was recently upgraded to the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU).

GADVASU was established at Ludhiana by an act of the Punjab Legislature No. 16 of 2005 notified in the Punjab Government Gazette on 9 August 2005 and it started functioning 21 April 2006 for promoting livestock production, health and prevention of disease through integrated teaching, research and extension programmes.

Medical Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, the first medical school for women in Asia, was founded by Dame Edith Mary Brown in 1894. Christian Medical College is a major and reputed tertiary care hospital in India, also the location of the world's first face transplant. Dayanand Medical College and Hospital is another tertiary care teaching hospital in Ludhiana. Both these institutions are recognised by the Medical Council of India. The college is affiliated to Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Punjab.

Engineering Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College is an institution offering facilities and education for engineering students. It has a research and development centre for bicycles and sewing machines.

Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology is an institute for Engineering and Management studies.