G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, also known as Pantnagar University, is the first agricultural university of India. It was inaugurated by Jawahar Lal Nehru on 17 November 1960 as the “Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University” (UPAU). Later the name was changed to “Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology” in 1972 in memory of the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, statesman and Bharat Ratna recipient Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant. The University lies in the campus-town of Pantnagar in Kichha Tehseel and in the district of Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. The university is regarded as the harbinger of the Green Revolution in India.

The University campus at Pantnagar is spread in an area of 12,661-acre (51.24 km²) which makes it the second largest university in the world, in terms of contiguous area. Before 2002, the university owned16,000-acre (65 km²),out of which 3,339-acre (13.51 km²) was transferred to State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand (SIDCUL) for developing an Integrated Industrial estate, thus leaving 12,661-acre (51.24 km²) with the university. Remaining land was transferred to other industries, railways, airport etc.

The university campus is located at a distance of 250 km from Delhi in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. The nearby towns are Rudrapur (16 km), Haldwani (25 km), Kichha (13 km) and Nainital (65 km). Two National Highways– NH 87 and Bareilly– Nainital highway touch the campus. Pantnagar Airport, operated by Airports Authority of India is located in the campus, 2.5 km west of main administrative building. Two railway stations of North Eastern Railways– Pantnagar (IR Code PBW) and Haldi Road (IR Code HLDD) are located in the campus at a distance of 4 km (east) and 3 km (west) respectively from administrative building. University shuttle service, local rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and matador vans connect various parts of the campus. Pantnagar is a purely residential university and comprises an independent township in itself. Population of Pantnagar, prior to establishment of Industrial estate was 35,820 (Census, 2001). Pantnagar is a part of Pantnagar– Kichha assembly constituency. The ‘Concentric semicircles’ or the ‘rising sun’ plan of the campus-centre was a brainchild of Department of Architecture of Illinois University.