Rajpura

For the village in Phillaur district, see Rajpura, Phillaur.

Rajpura
Town
Rajpura Location in Punjab, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Punjab
District	Patiala
Government
• M.L.A	Hardial Singh Kamboj (MLA)
Area
• Total	76.08 km2 (29.375 sq mi)
Elevation	259 m (850 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	92,193
Languages
• Official	Punjabi, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	140401
Telephone code	01762
Vehicle registration	PB 11 and PB 39
Sex ratio	1000:900 ♂/♀

Rajpura is a municipal council in Patiala district in the Indian state of Punjab.

Geography

Rajpura is located at . It has an average elevation of 259 metres (849 feet). Rajpura is situated nearly 38 km south east of Chandigarh, the capital city of Punjab. Besides being an important industrial town of Punjab, it also has historical importance.

Rajpura is surrounded by a number of major cities like Chandigarh (43.8 km north), Patiala (29.4 km south), Ambala (25.2 km east) and Ludhiana (85.2 km west). Rajpura acts as middle point between Amritsar and Delhi on National Highway 1 NH1 as these cities are 225 km away from Rajpura in opposite directions.

Demographics

In the 2011 India census, Rajpura had a population of 92,659, but after including some villages like dhamoli, islampur, neelpur, and pilkhani, within its municipal limits the population rose to 112,193. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Rajpura has an average literacy rate of 81%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 79%. In Rajpura, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

The name of Rajpura appears in the history as Emperor Sher Shah Suri "The Lion King", and founder of the Suri Dynasty built a "Sarai" (Inn) in Rajpura for travellers and for his army when ever he passed through Rajpura. This Sarai was built during the Suri Dynasty, between 1540 and 1545. The more-than-450-year-old Sarai is almost in shambles now but still stands bold. This Sarai today houses the offices of SDM, Tehsildar and DSP of police. The Sarai needs urgent attention of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) so that this historical monument of Rajpura can be preserved as a mark in the history.

Rajpura as a tehsil includes 295 villages under its municipal limits and is biggest tehsil in Punjab. Rajpura has north India's only orphanage center "SOS".

Rajpura can be divided into three parts. One is Rajpura Township, the second is Old Rajpura and third is Focal Point. The Township was developed post independence to re-habilitate the people who migrated from Pakistani province of Bhawalpur. Majority of the people residing in Rajpura Township are Bhawalpuris, who made their mark in Rajpura town and run most of the businesses in the township, including that of commission agent and rice shellers in new grain market.

Industry

Rajpura is an industrial town. There are number of large-scale industries like Hindustan Unilever HUL (formerly known as HLL), Bunge India P Ltd, Siel Chemicals Limited, Alliance Metaliks Integrated Ltd (AMTEK GROUP), Amber Enterprises Limited, Sahni Chemicals and Sai Home Products etc. there are large number of small-scale industries. In small-scale industries, Rajpura is a hub of door closers, rice shellers, biomass briquette machinery, soap factories, household manufacturers, biscuit machines industry and steel works. L&T has constructed 1400 MW (2x700 MW) Rajpura Thermal Power Plant near Village Nalas under power purchase agreement. The first unit, according to the power purchase agreement signed in January 2010, will be commissioned by January 2014 followed by the second in May that year. Also there are plans to further add 700 mW power capacity to the Rajpura Power Plant in Punjab making it 2100 mW project. This project marks the L&T's entry into the power generation segment as a developer.

In 2005, a diamond jewellery manufacturing unit was started and is engaged in the manufacturing and supply of diamond studded gold jewellery and also kundan, polky and Mina, etc. under the name and style Pancham Jewellers Pvt Ltd – the only of its kind unit in this area.

Mainly the small scale industries are located in the focal point. All industrial units are bounded in a chain of association named "Rajpura Small Scale Industries Association".

The grain market of Rajpura is the second largest grain market of Asia following grain market of Khanna, it acquires near about 150 acres of area and comprises more than 290 shops.

Warehousing and logistics hub

Rajpura is situated at the junction of National Highway No. 1 which runs from New Delhi to Attari in Punjab and National Highway 64 which runs from Chandigarh to Dabwali, making Rajpura a good distribution centre. Rajpura is regarded as 'Gateway of Punjab' as all road and rail transport needs to touch Rajpura for the routes going to other major cities of Punjab as well as Jammu & Kashmir. Rajpura Junction is the first Railway Junction in Punjab while coming from Delhi side. The rail lines are diverted from here to 2 major lines catering to Punjab. One is to Amritsar and J&K; and the other towards Patiala, Bathinda and Rajasthan.

Rajpura has been known for its quality furniture since 1976. People from nearby areas like Patiala, Chandigarh and Himachal come here for their furniture, which is also exported to different countries.

Due to its proximity to Chandigarh, Patiala, Zirakpur and Ambala, as well as its well connected rail and road links, Rajpura is gradually emerging as warehousing and logistics hub of Punjab. Many companies and MNCs like Tata Teleservices, Bharti Walmart, ITC, Airtel, Aircel, HUL, Castrol, Nokia-Siemens have their dedicated warehouses in Rajpura. With the introduction of GST in 2016, Rajpura is poised to exploit the potential in logistics and warehousing with its distribution centers and warehouses.

Some of the main transport companies in Rajpura are:

• Anand Transport Company
• Azad Tanker Company (Banur)
• Bahri Logistics Company
• Chaudhary Freight Carrier
• Gurm Transport Company
• Hans Transport
• Chadha Motor Transport
• New Darbar Transport
• Nice Transport Company
• Patiala Cargo Carrier
• Royal Fleet Carriers

Rice shellers

Rajpura has a rice shelling industry.

Hospitals

• Dashmesh Hospital
• Gian Sagar group of hospitals
• Simrata Nursing Home Dalima Vihar Rajpura
• Gurunanak Hospital
• A.P.Jain Civil Hospital
• Neelam nursing Home
• Dhawan Children Hospital
• Sarla Hospital
• Gursagar homeopathic hospital
• Sanjivni Multispeciality Hospital, Underbridge Road, Rajpura
• KS Aroghydham and Panchkarma center (Ayurvadic Hospital)
• Kerala Aroghydham and Panchkarma center (Ayurvadic Hospital) 7837044402

Education

Rajpura has become a major educational hub of the North. Chitkara, Swami Vivekanand, Sai Technical Institute, Sai Training Institute, Gyan Sagar, Shivalik Institute for Training of Trainers, etc. are the Institutes where students from various places, some even from South India and from other countries, come to study. Not only has Rajpura has emerged in higher education but parents from others areas are also sending their children to study in schools here due to the presence of some prestigious schools such as Holy Angels, Mukat, Patel, ICL, and Scholars and D.A.V . Rajpura is close to the proposed International Airport.

Schools

Rajpura offers education in CBSE, ICSE and PSEB (local board) affiliation and some popular schools include:

• Durga Bal Vidya Mandir School also known as Biscuit Factory School, Rajpura.
• Shivaji Model Sr. Sec. School, village - Khera Gajju
• Holy Angels School, the only school in the region affiliated to ICSE board
• CM Model High School
• DAV Public Sr. Sec. School
• Govt Co.Ed Senior Secondary School (N.T.C)
• Govt. High School, Rajpura Town
• Govt. School for Girls, Rajpura Town
• ICL Public School (Jasper school)
• Mukat Public School
• Patel Public School
• Scholars Public School

There are also many number of lesser known and less popular schools in this area like Rishi model, shahi public, etc.

Colleges

Rajpura offers education in professional courses such as Bachelors in Physiotherapy (B.P.T.) B.tech, M.tech, MBA, MCA, B.com, M.com, B.pharma, D.pharma, PGDM, PGDCA, BDS, MBBS, ENT, MD and BCA. Some of the important institutes of Rajpura are:

• Chitkara University
• IHM BANUR - Institute of Hospitality and Management, Banur
• Aryans Group of Colleges
• DPS Rajpura
• Dr. IT Institute of Management
• Gian Sagar College of Physiotherapy
• Gurukul Vidyapeeth Institute of Engg. & Tech
• Gyan Jyoti Institute of Engg. & Tech
• Gyan Sagar Medical College & Hospital
• ITI for Boys
• ITI for Girls
• Kasturba College for Girls
• PMN College
• Punjab Art & Craft Medical Training Institute
• Punjab Institute of Technology for Girls at Work Center Colony
• Regional Telecom Training Centre of BSNL
• Sai Technical Institute
• Sai Training Institute (For Girls)
• Surya Group of Institutes of Engg. & Tech
• Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engg. & Tech
• Swift institute of engineering and management
• Swift institute of Nursing and Pharmacy
• Apple Group Of Institutes

Religious Places

• Durga Mandir in town
• Singh Sahbaha Guruduwara
• Geeta bhawan mandir
• St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church Patiala Byepass
• Church of North India (CNI) Back Side janta School
• Laxmi Narayan Mandir (Panjiri Plant)
• Shiv Mandir (On main road opposite Shiva Ji park)
• Shiv Mandir Nalash
• Shri Satya Narayan Mandir
• Shiv Mandir (nilpur)
• Amar Lal Sai Mandir (Panjiri Plant)

Climate

Rajpura has the following average temperature and precipitation

Climate data for Rajpura
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	19 (66)	21 (69)	26 (78)	34 (94)	38 (101)	39 (103)	34 (94)	33 (91)	33 (92)	32 (89)	26 (79)	21 (69)	29.7 (85.4)
Average low °C (°F)	2 (35)	4 (40)	13 (55)	18 (65)	23 (73)	26 (79)	26 (79)	24 (76)	23 (74)	17 (63)	11 (52)	7 (45)	16.2 (61.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	20.3 (0.80)	38.1 (1.50)	30.5 (1.20)	20.3 (0.80)	20.3 (0.80)	61 (2.40)	228.6 (9.00)	188 (7.40)	86.4 (3.40)	5.1 (0.20)	12.7 (0.50)	20.3 (0.80)	731.6 (28.8)
Source: