Mountain City (Jubbarhatti Township) — Land Acquisition Status

What this project is called

The township has gone by several names as it has moved through state and central schemes: it began as the Jathia Devi satellite/mountain township, was pitched to the Centre as a Shimla Counter-Magnet Township, and was rebranded 'Mountain City' when HIMUDA's board cleared land acquisition in October 2023 as a counter-magnet city to decongest Shimla. The Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) received the green light from its Board of Directors to acquire land for the establishment of new township 'Mountain City', near the Jubbarhatti airport, as a counter-magnet city to decongest Shimla city.

A two-decade history of stalled acquisition

Land assembly at this site has failed to conclude multiple times under different governments. As far back as 2007, 5,227 bighas of land had been identified by Himuda, of which barely 1,692 bighas belonged to the government while 3,018 bighas was under private ownership, with another 517 bighas set aside for IT-based industry, but nearly four years had lapsed in identifying the requisite land as it met with massive opposition from villagers.

A later attempt under the Virbhadra Singh government saw about 400 bighas acquired at Jathia Devi, about 17 km from Shimla, and experts from Singapore visited Jathia Devi and prepared a master plan, with an agreement signed with a Singapore company for the township. The previous BJP government subsequently abandoned the satellite township proposal, and the project became unviable after restrictions were imposed on construction and the number of floors that could be built within the Shimla Planning Area.

By around 2015, HIMUDA had acquired 35 hectares at Jathia Devi, 13 km from Shimla, though around 100 hectares more would have to be acquired for a full-fledged self-sustaining township. The project was revived again in 2023 under the current government as 'Mountain City'.

Acquisition model: consent first, compulsion held in reserve

The state's stated approach has shifted over time between negotiated purchase and a compulsory fallback. In one round of talks, a meeting with landowners was held to decide circle rates on the basis of the base price fixed by HIMUDA, and officials noted that if consensus could not be forged, HIMUDA had the right to acquire land under a special section. Deputy Commissioners at the time also asked HIMUDA to keep landowners fully informed to avoid disputes: officials directed that complete information about land to be acquired be given to owners so they had no doubts, which would also reduce revenue-related disputes.

More recently, the government has publicly committed to a purely consent-based model. Himachal Pradesh Public Works and Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh said in January 2026 that no compulsory or forceful land acquisition would be carried out for the township, and that not even an inch of land would be taken without public consent. He said resolutions passed by village panchayats opposing forced land acquisition would be respected.

Villages covered, by district

Two distinct village counts appear in official records — one for the broader planning jurisdiction, another for the villages directly facing acquisition notices.

• Planning area (notified 23 January 2024): The Town and Country Planning Department constituted the new Jathia Devi Planning Area by including 177 revenue villages, falling in the Shimla and Shoghi Planning Areas in Shimla district and Kandaghat tehsil of Solan district. Specifically, 106 villages earlier falling under Shimla Planning Area, 21 villages falling under Shoghi Special Area, and 50 villages that were part of Kandaghat tehsil in Solan district were excluded from the Shimla Planning Area to create this new planning area.
• Villages directly facing land acquisition notices (as of Dec 2025–Jan 2026): Residents from nine villages — Shilibhaghi, Anji, Majhola, Chanal, Panti, Danukhri, Shirdu and Kyari under Baghi Panchayat of Shimla district, plus Majhiyari village of Solan district — registered objections at a public hearing.
• Earlier acquisition rounds: 250 bighas had already been acquired after signing an agreement with residents of Chanan and Majhola villages, while discussions were ongoing with residents of Anji village for the acquisition of a further 400 bighas.

Compensation rates and demands

No fixed, published per-bigha or per-hectare compensation rate for the current acquisition round has been reported. What is on record instead are the negotiation terms and demands:

• Circle rates for land were to be decided jointly with landowners on the basis of a base price fixed by HIMUDA.
• In one panchayat's case, local leaders asked that landowners of Anji village be paid a higher per-bigha rate than the amount already paid to Chanan and Majhola landowners.
• In the current round, villagers submitted a memorandum categorically opposing acquisition under the present terms and demanded compensation at factor-2 rates in line with the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, or else a complete rollback of the acquisition.

No official rate schedule matching this factor-2 demand has been published as of the time of writing; this page will be updated once a notified compensation rate is confirmed in reporting.

Budget

Cost estimates have varied across stages of the project:

• Whole-project DPR (2023): the estimated cost of the Mountain City project was approximately Rs 1,373 crore. A related report put the figure at Rs 1,374 crore, sent to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for approval.
• Central funding sought: Of the total project cost, the state government was to provide Rs 300 crore on its own or through private players, while the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had appreciated the DPR but had yet to approve it, with Sikkim, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh competing for the same central scheme.
• HIMUDA Phase-1 (Feb 2026): In the first phase of the Jathia Devi project, HIMUDA would develop 919 residential units on 21 bighas of land with an estimated investment of Rs 1,327 crore.
• Latest filed sub-project (Jul 2026): A Jathia Devi township component covering 20.35 hectares, with a built-up area of 1,85,650.75 sq m, carries an estimated cost of ₹568.75 crore, for which environmental clearance is being sought.

Disputes and farmer/panchayat resistance

Opposition has intensified through late 2025 and early 2026. The Town and Country Planning Department's move to initiate the land acquisition process after years of uncertainty sparked sharp resistance from local villagers, who feared loss of land and livelihoods. A delegation of residents from Jathia Devi and adjoining villages met Urban Development and PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh, urging him to intervene and halt the acquisition process.

At a formal public hearing, residents from nine villages registered their objections and suggestions to the acquisition, with more than 500 villagers attending and submitting written objections. Local leaders said due process had been skipped: Baghi pradhan Des Raj said people were not informed about the land acquisition earlier and a notice was issued only on December 24, with nobody told how much land was to be acquired across the eight revenue villages. The SDM assured villagers that survey shortcomings — including unrecorded water kuhls, temples and a gurdwara — would be addressed.

The dispute escalated to a formal panchayat resolution in January 2026. Amid mounting opposition to the proposed Rs 1,374-crore Jathiya Devi satellite township, Gram Panchayat Bagi formally refused to part with any land for the project, with the resolution passed by an overwhelming majority at a Gram Sabha meeting. The resolution was submitted to the Governor and Chief Minister, seeking immediate cancellation of the proposed acquisition and citing threats to livelihoods, agriculture and local infrastructure, and was passed at a special Gram Sabha attended by residents of eight villages.

Current stage (as of mid-2026)

As things stand, the project is administratively moving forward on paper while facing active local opposition on the ground:

• Planning: the Jathia Devi Planning Area (177 villages) has been in force since January 2024, giving the TCP Department regulatory control over the wider zone.
• Corporate/board approvals: HIMUDA's board has cleared a Phase-1 residential component — 919 units on 21 bighas at an estimated Rs 1,327 crore — alongside other township initiatives, including a Him Chandigarh Township at Baddi and new townships planned at Morni Hills and near Kangra Airport, for which the board approved an initial allocation of Rs 5 crore.
• Environmental clearance: a 20.35-hectare Jathia Devi Township component with an estimated cost of ₹568.75 crore was listed as seeking environmental clearance as of mid-2026, still at the conceptual/planning stage.
• Ground-level acquisition: the government says close to 1,200 bighas is still required and will only be taken with the consent of local villagers, but at least one affected panchayat (Bagi/Jathiya Devi) has formally rejected participation, and objections from at least nine villages remain unresolved as of the most recent reporting.

In short: notified planning area — yes; board-level project approvals — yes, in phases; completed, uncontested land acquisition — no, not as of the latest available reports.