Revenue Department Begins Mutation of 7,042 Bighas for Him-Chandigarh Township in Baddi

What Was Decided

The Himachal Pradesh Revenue Department has initiated the mutation of 7,042 bighas in favour of the Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) to expedite land consolidation for the proposed Him Chandigarh satellite township at Sheetalpur in Baddi.

The Revenue Department has initiated the mutation of 7,042 bighas in favour of the Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) to expedite land consolidation for the proposed Him Chandigarh satellite township at Sheetalpur in Baddi. This is a mutation entry — a formal revenue-record update transferring recorded ownership/possession to HIMUDA on land already identified for the project — rather than a fresh acquisition notification covering new territory.

Envisaged as one of the region's largest planned townships in terms of the land area, the project has generated considerable interest among realtors and investors.

How the Decision Was Reached

The mutation order sits at the end of a chain of decisions stretching back to early 2026:

• January 2026 — Cabinet approval: the Chief Minister said that about 3,400 bighas of land have already been transferred to the Housing Department, with approval granted by the previous cabinet, and that additional land will be acquired through land pooling, while around 10,000 bighas of forest land will remain protected. The state cabinet approved the acquisition of 3,400 bighas of land for the project, with three panchayats already willing to contribute through land pooling.
• January 2026 — Cabinet sub-committee report: Sukhu said a Cabinet sub-committee was constituted to explore the feasibility of developing the township and that its report has now been approved by the Cabinet, with three panchayats agreeing to provide land through land pooling and the Cabinet approving transfer of 3,400 bighas of land to the housing department.
• February 9, 2026 — HIMUDA Board approval: Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani chaired the HIMUDA Board meeting to discuss major housing and township initiatives, and the Board approved preliminary steps for several key projects including the proposed Him Chandigarh Township at Sheetalpur, with an initial funding allocation of Rs 5 crore.
• Mid-2026 — Drone survey completed: A drone survey has already been completed, creating accurate digital maps of land parcels to facilitate identification, consolidation and preparation of the master plan, and officials said the digital records would minimise disputes and speed up infrastructure planning.
• July 30, 2026 — Mutation begins: The Revenue Department starts converting the identified 7,042 bighas into HIMUDA's name in land records.

Operative Details: Area, Boundaries and Land Type

The area now under mutation (7,042 bighas) is roughly double the figure originally cited when the project was announced. Initially, about 3,400 bighas of government land from the Baddi, Sandholi and Bhud patwar circles were identified for the project. A related field report similarly noted that so far, 3,428 bighas of land have been identified, while over 5,000 bighas from common land pools are reportedly available.

The township footprint also touches private and forest land beyond the initial government-land tranche. The township would be spread across three patwar circles of Baddi, Sandholi and Bhud with both private and government land being covered under it as per the initial proposal. Separately, the government has indicated plans to pool village panchayat land across the border while preserving roughly 10,000 Bigha of forest area to maintain ecological balance.

No per-bigha rate, compensation schedule or RERA registration number has been published for this project as of the mutation report; none should be assumed until officially notified.

Practical Effect of the Mutation

For HIMUDA, the mutation converts land already earmarked on paper into land it formally holds in revenue records, which is a precondition for master-plan preparation and any subsequent infrastructure tendering. Planning consultants will soon be appointed to prepare the master plan and oversee infrastructure development.

The intended function of the township is described in official statements: according to HIMUDA officials, the township is envisioned as a well-planned urban hub with residential, commercial and civic infrastructure on the lines of other satellite cities, and once developed, it is expected to ease pressure on Chandigarh while creating fresh economic and employment opportunities in Himachal Pradesh. It is also positioned as a connectivity project: it is expected to strengthen connectivity between the Baddi-Nalagarh industrial corridor and the Tricity while providing affordable housing and promoting planned urban development.

For residents and landholders in the affected patwar circles, the mutation signals that the state intends to move from planning to on-ground consolidation, even though a public master plan, phasing schedule and compensation/land-pooling terms for private holdings have not yet been released.

Opposition on the Ground

The decision has not gone unchallenged locally. The farmers of Sheetalpur, Malpur and Kishanpura have opposed the township, saying it threatens the area's only remaining green belt, and maintain they are not against development but will not part with their fertile agricultural and forest land, which sustains their farming and animal husbandry-based livelihood.

This is not the first round of protest. An earlier march over the same project drew a similar complaint: affected villagers registered their protest against the state government as well as the Doon MLA for supporting the move, lamenting that all housing projects developed by HIMUDA in this industrial belt for which their land was acquired were in shambles. Villagers have also flagged a phased-acquisition concern: according to the villagers, in the first phase government land is being acquired while in the subsequent phase private land would be acquired.

Precedent: Why Sceptics Point to Waknaghat

The Tribune report on the mutation itself flags an unresolved credibility question by referencing an older, unrealised HIMUDA project. Whether the ambitious township materialises remains uncertain, as an earlier attempt to develop a satellite township at Waknaghat in Solan district failed to take off.

That episode illustrates the gap that can open between announcement and delivery: even after HIMUDA began acquiring land, the state's first planned satellite township, slated to be set up at Waknaghat in Solan district, was shrouded in uncertainty with the state government indecisive on the land-use option, and though HIMUDA was at an advanced stage of acquiring land, there was little hope of the project coming through — it was ultimately overtaken by a competing SEZ proposal for the same land. Himachal's other long-pending satellite township, Jathia Devi near Shimla, took well over a decade to move from cabinet approval to phase-one construction, underscoring that mutation and cabinet approval are early, not final, steps.