GMADA's 6,285-Acre Land Pooling Decision for 9 New Sectors, Including Sector 87 Commercial Hub

What was decided

On 10 June 2025, the Tribune and other Punjab outlets reported that the Punjab Government has given the nod to acquire 6,285 acres of land to develop nine new sectors and complete the pending development in five already developed sectors in Mohali. GMADA Chief Administrator Vishesh Sarangal confirmed the plan directly to reporters, making this the authority's first big test of the state's new land pooling route. The development assumes significance as this will be the first acquisition under the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP regime's new flagship land pooling scheme notified on June 4.

The nine sectors named were new sectors 84, 87, 103, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124 and part of 101, and the left-out areas of Sector 76, 77, 78, 79 and 80 will also be developed under the government plan — one report also lists leftover parts of Sector 75.

Where the acreage comes from

The 6,285 acres was not one contiguous block. Sarangal broke it down for the Tribune: while 3,535 acres of land will be acquired from Block E to J of the already developed Aerotropolis township spanning over 5,500 acres close to the Chandigarh international airport in Mohali, 1,890 acres will be acquired in Sector 120 to 124 and 859.89 acres will be acquired in Sector 84, 87, 101 (part), 103 and missing areas of Sector 76 to 80.

Land use allocation, sector by sector

GMADA fixed the intended use of each new sector at the outset: Sector 84 would be developed as an institutional area, Sector 87 as commercial, Sector 101 and 103 as industrial while all other — Sector 120 to 124 and Sector 76 to 80 — would be developed as residential pockets. Sarangal called it "one of the biggest land acquisitions, which will reshape Mohali's urban landscape," while noting that no formal umbrella name had yet been assigned to the scheme.

Sector 87 has since been publicly described as modelled on Chandigarh's own commercial core — seven new sectors including a commercial Sector 87 modelled on Chandigarh's iconic Sector 17 — though this framing appears in later commentary rather than the original June 2025 announcement.

How the land pooling mechanism worked (as originally announced)

The stated advantage of land pooling over conventional acquisition was speed. GMADA Chief Administrator Vishesh Sarangal told The Tribune on Monday that the land would be acquired within four to six months under the new land pooling scheme, which otherwise would have taken two years under the old Land Acquisition Act.

Compensation was to be paid in developed plots rather than cash, and the entitlement varied by sector type. For each acre of land acquired for the residential sector, the owner will get a developed 1,000 sq yard residential plot and 200 sq yard developed commercial site (apart from parking space). The industrial and institutional sectors will offer a developed 1,600 sq yard industrial plot against acquisition of each acre, while two SCO sites of 300 sq yards each and another SCO site of 200 sq yard will be given for acquiring each area in commercial/mixed land use sectors. Landowners also received a two-year "sahuliyat certificate" ... for granting them exemption from stamp duty and providing them other advantages when they use the proceeds from developed plots acquired under the land pooling policy to purchase agricultural land.

A follow-up amendment dated 25 July 2025 added specific subsistence-allowance rates: Rs. 50,000 per acre per annum from the time of issue of LOI up to the date of taking possession of land by the Authority, and Rs. 1,00,000 per acre per annum with 10% increase per year from the date of taking of possession of the land to the date of offer of the Developed land to the land owners, along with a rule that for the Acquisition of 50 Acres land External Development Charges only shall be payable by the land owners and no other charges shall be payable.

The policy hit a legal wall — and was rewritten

The June 2025 policy was compulsory: the first Land Pooling Policy-2025, notified on June 4, 2025, proposed pooling 65,533 acres statewide — compulsorily. Farmers were told their land would be taken and developed plots returned in lieu, whether they agreed or not. That triggered pushback. The Punjab and Haryana High Court issued an interim stay. By August 2025, facing the combined weight of judicial intervention, political opposition and mass farmer agitation, the government withdrew the policy entirely.

The government returned with a revised version months later. In November 2025, the government returned with a revised policy — structurally identical in its plot entitlements but transformed in one critical respect: it was now optional. Every farmer in the acquisition belt could freely choose between developed plots under the policy or statutory cash compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. Cabinet-approved amendments reported in late November 2025 apply not only to future projects, but also to ongoing works in the remaining pockets of developed sectors, specifically including GMADA projects in Sectors 84 and 87 in Mohali, and revised the entitlement for industrial/institutional land: a landowner whose one acre is acquired for mixed use, exhibition, industrial or institutional projects, may now choose either a 1,000 sq yd residential and 200 sq yd commercial plot, or a 1,600 sq yd residential plot in an adjoining residential sector.

Later reporting also describes further sweeteners agreed after continued farmer protest (a Pucca Morcha dharna outside GMADA's Sector 62 headquarters): the commercial plot entitlement in the mixed use category was raised from 200 to 210 square yards per acre; the residential category entitlement from 1,600 to 1,630 square yards. Oustee quota certificates with plots at scheme price ... were extended to all farmers including those opting for cash. The Sahuliyat Certificate validity was doubled from two to four years.

Where Sector 87's acquisition actually stands (as of June 2026)

GMADA's own notice board shows the Sector 87 commercial-infrastructure acquisition and the Sector 101/103 industrial-park acquisitions moving through statutory land-acquisition steps rather than pure land pooling consent, i.e., notices for acquisition of land setting up Commercial Infrastructure in Sector 87 at SAS Nagar Hearing of Objections U/s 15 ... Acquisition of land setting up of Industrial Park in Sector 101 Hearing of Objections U/s-15.

A Section 11 notification for the Sector 87 and Sector 101 acquisitions was issued on 9 March 2026, and public hearings on objections under Section 15 were scheduled for 8 and 9 June 2026 at PUDA Bhawan, Sector 62 — for Sector 87 (village Manak Majra, Nanu Majra, Sohana, Sambhalki) and Sector 101 (village Dhurali) respectively, per public-notice trackers citing GMADA's official notices. This confirms the acquisition process for the commercial Sector 87 land was still in the objection/hearing stage — not completed — as of mid-2026.

Important naming clarification: this is not the same project as GMADA's "Eco City-4" township

Some secondary sources and search aggregators use "Eco City-4" loosely to refer to this Sector 87/84/101/103/120-124 acquisition. That is inaccurate. GMADA's actual, distinctly-named Eco City-4 project is a separate residential township: 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, notified on June 2, 2026. This is a different acquisition, in a different tehsil, notified roughly a year after the Sector 87 announcement covered in this record. Readers researching "Eco City-4" should not assume it refers to the Sector 87 commercial hub described here.

Practical effect for landowners and investors

• For affected landowners: Compensation is now optional between developed plots (residential/commercial/industrial, per the entitlement tables above) or statutory cash compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
• For the commercial Sector 87 land bank: No completed acquisition award has been confirmed in the sources reviewed; as of June 2026 the process was at the Section 15 objections-hearing stage following a Section 11 notification dated 9 March 2026.
• For buyers/investors: Any "pre-launch" or plot-booking offers referencing Sector 87 commercial plots or an "Eco City-4 Sector 87" project should be treated with caution until GMADA issues its own award and layout/auction notices — no such retail product has been confirmed as launched in the material reviewed.