Himachal Pradesh
British summer capital transformed into India's second-largest apple producer drawing 16 million annual tourists
The British Empire ran its summer administration from Shimla not because the hill station was strategically positioned but because it was cool. From 1864 to 1947, the Raj's entire bureaucratic apparatus—viceroys, generals, civil servants, and their families—migrated annually to this Himalayan town to escape the plains heat, making Shimla the summer capital of an empire ruling 400 million people.
Independence dissolved the purpose that had concentrated attention on these hills. The region contained 28 princely states whose rulers had accepted British paramountcy; when the Raj departed, these statelets merged into Himachal Pradesh union territory in 1948. Full statehood came only in 1971, making Himachal India's eighteenth state—a late addition assembled from mountain kingdoms that had existed for centuries in relative isolation from plains politics.
The apple orchards that now define Himachal's economy arrived with an American named Samuel Stokes, a Philadelphia Quaker who settled in the Kotgarh valley in 1916 and introduced commercial apple cultivation to India. His experiment succeeded spectacularly: today Himachal produces 85 percent of India's apples, generating roughly 3,500 crore rupees annually and supporting 168,000 orchardist families. The fruit follows a predictable supply chain from mountain terraces to Delhi markets each autumn.
Hydropower represents Himachal's other major export. The state's rivers, fed by Himalayan snowmelt, contain 25 percent of India's hydroelectric potential. Major dams on the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi generate electricity sold to northern states, providing royalty revenues that fund state services. Tourism brings 16 million domestic visitors annually to Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala, and other hill stations—numbers that strain infrastructure and raise questions about carrying capacity in fragile mountain environments.
The Tibetan government-in-exile has operated from Dharamsala since 1960, when the Dalai Lama established his headquarters there. This presence adds diplomatic complexity to a state otherwise defined by orchards and tourism, making Himachal an unlikely node in India-China relations.
In 2026, Himachal Pradesh functions as India's temperate refuge—a place that exports apples, electricity, and cool air to the overheating plains below. Climate change now threatens all three products.