Bathinda is surrounded by 12 small and medium towns, making the city a hub of most industrial activities in the region.
Bathinda cantonment is said to be the largest in Asia. Bathinda has one of the biggest food-grain and cotton markets in India. TheMultinational Corporation Pepsi processes horticultural products grown in Bathinda.
Major industries in Bathinda include National Fertilizers Plant, two power plants (Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant and Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant) (Lehra Mohabbat), Petrochemical Plants, Yarn & Textiles Plants, Citrus Fruit Belts and Sugar Mills. HMEL is building a Grassroots oil refinery in Bathinda.
As part of a massive development programme to make Bathinda a model city of Punjab, the government has proposed to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) for textile, a flying school, an international cricket stadium and academy, Bathinda Airport and an air-conditioned bus stand within three years. Besides, private players are also building new Shopping malls and a five star hotel in the city.
Bathinda is also an Educational Hub of this region, especially for competitive exams preparations, which in turn is a source of income for the local residents.
Tourism sector in the region has also grown manifold, as Bathinda has some of the oldest monuments, some of them even dating back to 3,000 B.C. to the Harappan period.
Railway junction
Bathinda is one of the largest railway junctions in Asia. Six rail routes extend from it. Rewari is the only other railway junction in India with six routes extending from it. Mathura junction has seven lines extending from it and is the largest junction on the Indian Railway network.
Indian Military
It also boasts of the largest Cantonment (military area) of Asia and is known as Sharjah of Punjab due to sand
