LUDHIANA

city, central Punjab state, northwestern India. The city stands on the Sutlej River's old bank, 8 miles (13 km) south of its present course, and is on the Grand Trunk Road from Delhi to Amritsar at a junction of several rail lines. The city lies about 170 miles (270 km) northwest of Delhi. Founded in 1480 by members of Delhi's ruling Lodi dynasty, from which its name is derived, Ludhiana is a major agricultural market and industrial centre. The city's largest industry is hosiery manufacturing, but the production of cotton textiles, steel, and machinery and the processing of agricultural products are also economically important. Ludhiana is the site of Punjab Agricultural University (founded 1962) and a number of other colleges, as well as of a U.S. Presbyterian mission that operates a medical college and a hospital. The area about Ludhiana is about 80 percent cultivated, much of it irrigated by the Sirhind Canal. The crops grown include wheat, corn (maize), cotton, and peanuts (groundnuts). Pop. (1991 prelim.) city, 1,012,062.