Sri Ganganagar is a city in the northernmost part of the Indian state of Rajasthan, located near the international border with Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. The city was established by the Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner State, who introduced canal irrigation to this arid region. The city is named after him. With the construction of the Gang Canal and later the Bhakra irrigation system, the area was transformed from arid land into fertile fields, leading to its description as the "food basket of Rajasthan".

The area comprising the present Sri Ganganagar district has been a part of the erstwhile Bikaner State of former Rajputana. Sri Ganganagar was established by Maharaja Ganga Singh. Sri Ganganagar is one of the first well-planned modern cities of India. It is divided into residential blocks and a commercial area which includes an agricultural marketplace.

It is located at the point where the Sutlej River enters Rajasthan and the former Bikaner State. This area first came under the jurisdiction of Bahawalpur state, but the area was unguarded, and Hindu Mal, a companion of Maharaja Ganga Singh, took advantage of this opportunity and moved the posts along the boundary. He started his journey to change posts from Suratgarh in the south, and went until what is now Hindumalkot in the north. He informed the Maharaja about his successful invasion of the area when he reached the northern part and thereafter died, giving name to the city Hindumalkot.

From 1899 to 1900, the Bikaner State was affected by a severe famine. To resolve this issue, Maharaja Ganga Singh obtained the services of AWE Standley, an engineer, who demonstrated the feasibility of the western area of the Bikaner State being irrigated by the waters of the Sutlej. The plan of the Sutlej Valley Project was drawn by the chief engineer of Punjab, RG Kennedy, according to which the vast area of the Bikaner State could be irrigated. However, the project was delayed due to objections by the state of Bahawalpur.

With the intervention of the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon in 1906, a Tripartite Conference was held and an agreement was reached on 4 September 1920. The foundation stone of the Canal Head Works at Ferozepur was laid on 5 December 1925 and the work completed in 1927 by constructing 143 km (89 mi) of lined canal. The opening ceremony was performed on 26 October 1927 by Lord Irwin, then Viceroy of India. The city celebrates its foundation on the same day.

The plan for the city of Sri Ganganagar was drawn at this time. Sri Ganganagar district was formed from the irrigated parts of the Bikaner State on 30 March 1949. Part of the district was later split off to form Hanumangarh district in 1994.

Sri Ganganagar District is between latitudes 28.4 and 30.6 and longitudes 72.2 and 75.3 The total area of Sri Ganganagar is 11,154.66 km² (1,115,466 ha; 4,306.84 sq mi). It is surrounded on the east by Hanumangarh district, (formerly part of Sri Ganganagar district) on the south west by Anupgarh district, (formerly part of Sri Ganganagar district) on the south by Bikaner District, on the west by Bahawalnagar district of the Pakistani Punjab, and on the north by Fazilka district of Indian Punjab.

Indira Gandhi Canal, the largest canal in India, is located in Sri Ganganagar district.