GMADA Eco City-4 & the Greater Mohali–New Chandigarh Urban Expansion: Complete Overview

What this region actually is

This page covers a single, connected story: the current expansion of Greater Mohali and New Chandigarh by GMADA (Greater Mohali Area Development Authority), of which Eco City-4 is one component. The state government has set in full motion the compulsory acquisition of a whopping 11,103 acres across Greater Mohali and New Chandigarh to build seven new townships, seven new sectors, three new pockets of Aerotropolis near the Chandigarh international airport, and a brand-new commercial city centre in Sector 87 Mohali modelled on Chandigarh's iconic Sector 17.

The project is Eco City-4, to be developed by GMADA, and Eco City-4 is part of this larger vision — the Punjab government has initiated the land acquisition process for more than 526 acres of land in New Chandigarh (Mullanpur area, SAS Nagar district) to develop a new residential township. Alongside it sit the proposed Sector 87 commercial city and new Aerotropolis pockets, which together form the wider 'Greater Mohali–New Chandigarh Urban Expansion' this page tracks.

Who is building it, and under what authority

Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, shortly known as GMADA, has been constituted under the provisions of Section 29(1) of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995 for the development and redevelopment of the areas of Mohali, Banur, Zirakpur, Derabassi, Kharar, Mullanpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mandi Gobindgarh & Roopnagar under its jurisdiction. All three strands of this expansion — Eco City-4, Sector 87, and the new Aerotropolis pockets — are being pursued by GMADA on behalf of the Punjab government.

Land is being taken either through compulsory acquisition under the framework of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, or through an optional land-pooling route. The state returned in November 2025 with a revised, optional Land Pooling Policy, offering farmers a free choice between developed plots under the policy or statutory cash compensation, and the optional model gained wider acceptance, with a majority of affected village panchayats passing resolutions endorsing the acquisition.

Official notified area, villages and districts

GMADA has issued a Section 4(1) notification for Eco City 4, covering 526.03 acres across four villages — Kartarpur, Kansala, Rajgarh, and Boothgarh — in the Kharar tehsil of Mohali district. The proposed new commercial Sector 87 — which the state plans to develop on the pattern of Chandigarh's iconic Sector 17 — along with the new industrial Sectors 101 and 103, covering a combined 509 acres, have progressed to the Section 11 stage after the mandatory social impact assessment was completed and cleared by the expert committee. For the largest single project in the plan — the 3,535-acre Aerotropolis Blocks E, F, G, H, I and J in SAS Nagar — the land acquisition process has reached a decisive stage, with a notification under Section 19 of the Act already issued.

Why this expansion exists

The stated rationale, from the Punjab government's own framing, is to give Mohali and New Chandigarh their own large-scale commercial, residential and airport-linked infrastructure rather than depending on Chandigarh. When Sector 87 rises as Mohali's Sector 17, when the Aerotropolis becomes the region's commercial engine, and when New Chandigarh emerges as a world-class township, people will not need to look across the boundary — they will have everything, and more, right here, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said of the plan.

Beyond political messaging, three practical drivers stand out: rising housing demand in the corridor evidenced by earlier Eco City phases, the need for a proper commercial downtown for Mohali (the Sector 87 city centre), and the pull of Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, which is driving the newer Aerotropolis pockets. The acquisition will also support the expansion of the Aerotropolis, positioning Mohali as a key aviation-linked economic hub with commercial, institutional, and mixed-use zones.

Current status, as of mid-2026

This is an early- to mid-stage, multi-part acquisition program — not an operational township. Key markers reported through June 2026:

• Eco City-4: On June 2, 2026, the state issued a notification under Section 4(1) of the LARR Act to compulsorily acquire 526.03 acres across four villages in Majri sub-tehsil of Kharar tehsil, Mohali district. No public launch is possible for years and no authorised pre-booking exists.
• Farmer relations: Residual grievances among a section of farmers led to a Pucca Morcha, a three-week permanent dharna and chain hunger strike outside GMADA headquarters, which ended after the government agreed to a further enhanced package of benefits, including committing to completing all development works within three years of award and possession, and integrating village sewerage, water, and road infrastructure with GMADA systems.
• Compensation already paid: Three compensation awards totalling around ₹6,069 crore across roughly 1,231 acres have since been declared.
• Land values: Prior to the acquisition notifications, the average market value of land in the GMADA area stood at approximately ₹5 crore per acre; post-acquisition notifications, values have risen sharply to around ₹8 crore per acre, while under the optional Land Pooling Policy landowners stand to receive developed plots whose combined estimated market value works out to approximately ₹16 crore per acre.
• Eco City-3 (the prior tranche): is further along — GMADA has updated the Eco City-3 landpooling scheme form and issued a public notice on the Eco City-3 landpooling plot size option, alongside a notice on the award for the Eco City-3 project, ahead of Eco City-4.

Headline connectivity

The expansion corridor sits along Mohali's main airport and highway arteries. The Airport Road (PR7) extension is a 7.5-kilometre stretch connecting New Chandigarh with Mohali, cutting the distance between the two towns by around 5 kilometres and easing traffic pressure on Chandigarh. The new Aerotropolis pockets and Sector 87 lie close to Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, with existing GMADA townships (Aerocity, IT City, Knowledge City, Medi City) already built along the same axis. The original Aerotropolis township is situated in the vicinity of Chandigarh International Airport and comes up on both sides of the Zirakpur-Banur road, and the new Blocks E–J extend this footprint further.

What happens next

For Eco City-4, the near-term steps follow the standard LARR sequence: objections and hearings under Section 5A/15, a Section 6 declaration, and eventually a compensation award — a process that took roughly a year or more for comparable GMADA projects in this cycle. Eco City-4 will take longer than Eco City-3 to reach allotment, and the land acquisition process has been initiated, but there is a long road to allotment of plots.

For Sector 87 and the industrial Sectors 101/103, the next formal step after the Section 11 stage is a Section 19 declaration followed by a compensation award, mirroring the path already taken by the Aerotropolis Blocks E–J notification. Across the whole plan, the state has committed to acquiring 1,240 acres just for master plan roads across Mohali and New Chandigarh, with roads, sewerage, stormwater drains and water supply all being factored into the acquisition plan. Buyers and residents should treat every component as pre-construction and track GMADA's own notifications page rather than third-party listings for authoritative updates.