About Ajitgarh

Although Ajitgarh is a separate metropolitan area belonging to Ajitgarh District in the state of Punjab a casual visitor to the town may take it as a part of union territory of Chandigarh. However, one can easily be forgiven for such a mistake because the two cities are contiguous and apart from a boundary there is nothing to demarcate them. In fact, Ajitgarh is considered a part of Chandigarh Tri City consisting of Chandigarh Metropolis, Ajitgarh and Panchkula (of Haryana). 

Brief History of Ajitgarh

Initially, Chandigarh was the capital of Punjab. However, when the state of Punjab was trifurcated into Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory of Chandigarh Punjab lost its sole control over its capital and had to share it with Haryana. Consequently, there arose a need to develop the adjoining area as a separate city under the control of Punjab administration. 

At that time, the area west of Chandigarh comprised of a cluster of villages. This area was earmarked for development of a satellite township by the Government of Punjab and the city was named Mohali after the biggest village located there. Later during the tenure of Giani Zail Singh  the name of the town was changed to Shahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar. Since it was too big for the common man to use, it was later shortened into Ajitgarh. 

It was decided that Chandigarh model will be repeated here.  Consequently the area was first divided into 7 phases, which was further divided into identical 1200 m X 800 m sectors. However, as the requirement increased more and more phases began to be added and the recent Master Plan has extended the number of sectors to 114.

Present Ajitgarh

Ajitgarh is now a vibrant city with a highly qualified population and matching infrastructure. According to the 2011 Census it has a total population of 176152 out of which 93.04% are literate. It may be pointed out that the percentage of literate in the city far exceeds the national average.

One reason for such high rate of literacy is that the city has now become a commercial hub; consequently, it now attracts highly qualified persons from near and far.  Among the Indian giants that have opened their units here are Punjab Tractor Limited, ICI Paints, the Godrej Group, Mohali, Infosys, Airtel, Spice Telecom etc.  Dell, Quark, Philips, Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), and PUNCOM are some of the international giants working from the city. In addition the city is also home to a number of outsourcing companies. Apart from that, companies such Punjab Tractor Ltd and Ranbaxy Laboratories have set up their manufacturing units here.

There are also a number of tourist places located in and around the city. Among them, some are historical gurdwaras under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee or SGPC.  City Park in Sector 8 also draws a number of visitors and so do its numerous malls and markets. The cricket stadium at Ajitgarh is also another place to visit. 

Climatic Condition in Ajitgarh

The climate in Ajitgarh is characterized by great variation in temperature. It ranges from -1 °C in winter to 44 °C in summer. Therefore, it can easily be said that Ajitgarh enjoys an extreme type of climate.  The average recorded rainfall is 617 millimeter. Most of the rainfall occurs during the monsoon. However, winter rainfall is not really uncommon.

Some Important Information about Ajitgarh

STD Code for Ajitgarh: 0172
Vehicle Registration Code: PB-65
Civic Agency: Municipal Corporation of Ajitgarh
Vidhan Sabha Constituency: Ajitgarh
Lok Sabha Constituency: Anandpur Sahib