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Punjab: Capital, Government, and the Food Bowl of India

Punjab grows nearly half of India’s wheat. It does this from just 1.53% of the country’s land.

MCQ Questions

Punjab

46%

Of India’s wheat sent to the central pool, grown in Punjab (as of Jan 2024)

Capital: Chandigarh. Formed 1 November 1966, under the Punjab Reorganisation Act.

CM since Mar 2022

Bhagwant Mann

Current Chief Minister, as of 2026.

Governor since Jul 2024

Current Governor, as of 2026; also Chandigarh’s UT Administrator.

20th-Largest State

50,362 km²

Just 1.53% of India’s land, yet the top wheat producer.

Sikh Heritage

Holiest Sikh shrine; anchors Punjab’s Vaisakhi and Bhangra traditions.

📑 Contents

Punjab's capital is Chandigarh, a Union Territory shared with Haryana.
The state was formed on 1 November 1966, under the Punjab Reorganisation Act.
Parliament passed the Act on 18 September 1966. It split the old Punjab into three parts: today's Punjab, Haryana, and hill areas that joined Himachal Pradesh.
As of 2026, the Chief Minister is Bhagwant Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party. He took office on 16 March 2022.
The Governor is Gulab Chand Kataria, in office since 31 July 2024. He also serves as Chandigarh's UT Administrator.

Punjab lies in northwest India, covering about 50,362 square kilometres.
It is India's 20th-largest state by area.
It borders Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. It also shares an international border with Pakistan.
Punjab is often called the "food bowl of India."
As of January 2024, Punjab supplied about 46% of the wheat in India's central procurement pool. It supplied about 31% of the rice.
It does this from just 1.53% of India's total geographical area.
Punjab has the highest rice yield of any Indian state. It has the second-highest wheat yield.
Governor Kataria previously served as Governor of Assam, from February 2023 to July 2024.
Gopi Chand Bhargava was Punjab's first Chief Minister, sworn in on Independence Day itself, 15 August 1947. See ModHist0232 — Gopi Chand Bhargava.
Gian Singh Rarewala was the first head of government of PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab States Union, merged into Punjab in 1956), from August 1948. See ModHist0229 — Gian Singh Rarewala.
Punjab launched a new cash-transfer scheme for women in 2026, paying Scheduled Caste women more than general-category women. See IndSoc0074 — Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan da Satkar Yojana.

Punjab's wheat and rice dominance traces back to the Green Revolution of the 1960s.
But rice is a water-hungry crop, and Punjab grows it mainly using groundwater.
Decades of paddy farming have sharply lowered Punjab's water table.
This creates a real tension: MSP-backed procurement keeps rewarding rice and wheat, even as the state's aquifers struggle to keep up.