Economy

A Shopping mall in the city.

The government is a major employer in Chandigarh with three governments having their base here. A significant percentage of Chandigarh’s population therefore consists of people who are either working for one of these governments or have retired from government service. For this reason, Chandigarh is often called a “Pensioner's Paradise”. There are about 15 medium to large industrial including two in the Public sector. In addition Chandigarh has over 2500 units are registered under small scale sector. The important industries are paper manufacturing, basic metals and alloys and machinery. Other industries are relating to food products, sanitary ware, auto parts, machine tools, pharmaceuticals and electrical appliances. Yet, with a Per capita income (PCI) of  99,262, Chandigarh is the richest city in India. Chandigarh's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $2.2 billion in current prices.

Chandigarh has a well-developed market and banking infrastructure. Nearly all the major banks in the country have registered their presence in Chandigarh. Most banks with a pan India presence have their zonal/regional offices present in Chandigarh. The Bank Square in Sector 17 in Chandigarh has a large presence of such offices all in one section of the commercial sector.

Three major trade promotion organizations have their offices in Chandigarh. These are: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, (FICCI) the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which has its regional headquarters at Sector 31, Chandigarh.

The defence forces have a significant presence in Chandigarh, apart from the Indian Airforce base in Sector 31 and the nearby Cantonment in Chandimandir, the city is the base for sourcing supplies for the Leh - Laddakh and Siachen region of defence operations.

Chandigarh IT Park (also known as Chandigarh Technology Park) is the city's attempt to break into the IT world. Chandigarh's infrastructure, proximity to Delhi, Punjab,Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and the IT talent pool attracts IT businesses looking for office space in the area. Major Indian firms and multinational corporations to the like of Quark, Infosys, Dell, IBM, TechMahindra have set up base in the city and its suburbs. According to a recent Global Services Survey conducted by Cyber Media, Chandigarh is ranked 9th in the top 50 cities identified globally as ‘emerging outsourcing and IT services destinations.’