History
The Sixth Lord of the Sikhs, Shree Guru Har Gobind ji visited this area along with his army. He had a tough fight with Lala Beg, the army chief of Phul Maharaj, the ruler of the region. Lala was killed in the village of Saunti near Amloh. The Soldiers killed during the war were brought to the site and cremated.
Legends say that during the war, the use of metal was required for horseshoe repair and for other needs. The soldiers couldn't locate any piece of metal in and around the city; then Shree Guru Har Gobind ji blessed this city to be the City of Iron. Since then the iron (metal) business has flourished in this region.
A magnificent Gurdwara in the holy memory of the Guru Hargobind Sahib is situated near the railway station. The place known as ‘Barhi Dhab’ then became known as Gobindgarh after the name of Guru Hargobind ji. The sagacious Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha in whose territory Gobindgarh then lay, sowed the seeds of industry by starting some industrial units in this town in 1902.
This lead was followed by Maharaja Partap Singh who took some special interest for the industrial development of the town. Accordingly, Gobindgarh was declared a free trade zone for steel in 1928. Thereafter it began to make tremendous progress in steel business. Land was made available to local blacksmiths at nominal rates in early 1940. This move led to establishment of a number of workshops on both sides of the G.T.Road at Gobindgarh. This was the nascent stage of development of the ‘Steel City’.
This town, a Sub-Tehsil of Distt. Fatehgarh Sahib is also known as the “Steel City of India” and is having a large number of steel rolling mills. Nearly 300 rolling mills are serving 25% of the secondary steel market of the country. There are over 100 Induction Furnaces producing raw material for the rolling mills. Apart from the above, 12 forging units catering to the needs of steel rolling mills, sugar and paper industry. There are 40 foundry units, 90 scrap cutting units and 12 oxygen plants catering the local requirements of the industry. Gobindgarh is home to many educational and vocational institutions run by philanthropists and big industrial houses of the township.
The first industry started here was cotton ginning. It was also famous for its gram trade, as the Maharaja had declared it as the free trade zone in the region. Utensils like enamel-plated plates and mugs were also manufactured in Gobindgarh.
Modern amenities like telephones, electricity and water supplies made their first appearance in Gobindgarh during 1955-57.
Mandi Gobindgarh is the largest Metals Trading Hub in whole of Asia and all over Asia the prices of Metal Scrap is opened from this town.
