On the lines of Chandigarh Himachal Pradesh government to build Him Chandigarh

January 9, 2026

Abhishek Vij

Chandigarh is known as the Tricity. Panchkula in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab, along with Chandigarh, designed by Le Corbusier, make up this tri-city area. But now, in a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh cabinet, a plan to build a new city, Him Chandigarh, 30 kilometers from Chandigarh, has been approved. This city will be built in Shitalpur, Baddi. 20,000 bighas of land will be acquired for this purpose. To give some historical context, Chandigarh was initially a cluster of villages that were acquired to create this beautiful city.

While Chandigarh should ideally belong to Punjab, it currently also serves as the capital of Haryana. Although many important Punjab offices have now been shifted to Mohali, Mohali is not the capital of Punjab, nor is Panchkula the capital of Haryana. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu says that the new city, Him Chandigarh, will be only 20 minutes away from the main Chandigarh. It will also be connected by the Baddi-Chandigarh rail line. Currently, many industrial units operate in Baddi, primarily those from Punjab. Morni, Punjab’s only hilly area, is also located nearby.

There are often complaints about the lack of convenient transportation options in the area, so if Himachal Pradesh wants to make its plan successful, it will first have to revolutionize its transportation infrastructure. The decision to build Him Chandigarh was approved by Chief Minister Sukhu in a cabinet meeting on December 30, 2025.
The objective of building the new city is to create another world-class city by Himachal Pradesh and to accelerate both urban and rural development. For this project, the Himachal government has transferred 3400 bighas of land to the Urban Development Department. Another 3700 bighas of land will also be acquired. Consultants will be appointed to plan and design the city. Whether the plan to build a new city will be successful or whether Him Chandigarh will become an ideal city is difficult to say at this point, but it should be noted that Punjab has developed Mohali and Manimajra, and Haryana has developed Panchkula. However, none of them can match the beauty of Chandigarh. There is only one Chandigarh. This proposed township plan will face another challenge: Himachal Pradesh will have to acquire approximately 12,000 bighas of additional land to build Him Chandigarh. However, the villages and their panchayats in the Baddi area have already started protesting against any proposal for land acquisition. Villagers from Mallpur and Sandoli panchayats have expressed strong opposition. In a joint meeting in Shitalpur, the villagers said that they will not give up their ancestral land at any cost. If the government resorts to force, they will approach the court and protest vigorously.
The government is taking away their livelihood by doing this, as they depend on farming and milk production. If their land is taken away, they will become unemployed and landless. The villagers say that the government will have to acquire approximately 10-12 thousand bighas of land from private owners for this project, but they will not give up their land. Now, the government’s power is immense, and if the government acquires the land and builds a new Him Chandigarh, it is clear that the burden of congestion on the tricity will be reduced. It should also be kept in mind that the construction of Him Chandigarh should be done with utmost care, and the buildings should be earthquake-resistant because this area is in a seismic zone, where there is a risk of earthquakes.