Chandigarh: Faced with mounting pressure from the Centre to optimise scarce urban land while grappling with persistent farmer demands and internal planning constraints, the Chandigarh administration finds itself in a major conundrum over the future development of the UT’s remaining periphery villages.On one hand, the administration is under pressure to explore farmer-friendly options; on the other, financial prudence and strict adherence to the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031 are pushing it towards the older, more conventional route of outright land acquisition.Large chunks of agricultural land outside the city’s sectoral grid in around 22 periphery villages still remain undeveloped. While land pooling was once seen as a participatory alternative, technical challenges — especially the lack of adequate contiguous land parcels and pre-allocated uses for green belts, residential sectors, and institutional projects — have created significant stumbling blocks.Officials are now quietly examining the financial implications of both models, with internal calculations clearly favouring direct acquisition.According to a senior UT official privy to the exercise, assuming approximately 1,500 acres available for development – the total cost of acquisition at current collector rates would be around Rs 10,500 crore. After retaining 50% of the land (750 acres) for infrastructure and public amenities, auction of the remaining 750 acres is estimated to fetch Rs 78,000 crore, resulting in a substantial revenue of Rs 66,000 cr for the government, as per the administration’s calculations. In contrast, under the land pooling model (where landowners receive a portion of developed plots back), the government would have far less land available for auction — either 375 acres or 450 acres depending on the sharing ratio. In the first scenario, auction revenue would be around Rs 37,500 crore. In the second scenario, it would rise to Rs 45,300 crore.This would translate into a nominal loss to the administration of roughly Rs 28,500 crore to Rs 20,700 crore compared to the outright acquisition route.The administration first began exploring a land pooling policy in September–October 2021, when then UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit directed officials to utilise surplus land as per the Master Plan-2031. The Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) was engaged to prepare a draft framework.However, in Aug 2024, the administration did a volte-face, declaring land pooling “not feasible” due to planning constraints.In 2025, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed Parliament that no land pooling policy had been formulated or was under consideration for Chandigarh.Hopes were briefly revived in January 2026 when UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria indicated that the administration would try to prepare a comprehensive policy. This sparked expectations among farmers who have been demanding land pooling for years.But in Feb 2026, chief secretary H Rajesh Prasad indicated that the UT administration is not in favour of the policy, citing the need to strictly adhere to the Master Plan allocations.Large-scale land acquisition in Chandigarh has been minimal in recent decades. The bulk of acquisitions occurred in the 1950s (initial phase for building the capital) and 1960s–70s (expansion of sectors), when land from over 50 villages was acquired. Smaller acquisitions took place in the 2000s, including for the Chandigarh Information Technology Park. Since then, major acquisition activity within UT boundaries has virtually stopped.With land pooling now effectively ruled out, the administration appears to be tilting towards direct acquisition for future development needs, even as farmers continue to protest and press for a more participatory model.“The ongoing dilemma highlights the delicate balancing act the Chandigarh administration faces — between fiscal gains, planned urban growth, and addressing the long-pending aspirations of periphery villagers,” said the official.
