The North News
Shimla, January 5
The Himachal Pradesh government has announced plans to develop a new city, ‘Him Chandigarh’, near the Baddi industrial area along the Chandigarh border, promising world-class urban infrastructure and services. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made the announcement while inaugurating the state’s first ‘Him Seva Suvidha’ at the Peterhoff in Shimla during the Swachh Shahar–Samriddh Shahar Citizen Connect Programme-2.
The proposed city will be spread over around 20,000 bighas of land. The Chief Minister said the government was committed to developing a modern, planned urban centre equipped with global-standard facilities. Of the total land, about 10,000 bighas of forest area will remain untouched. Land from three panchayats will be acquired under a land pooling model, to which the panchayats have agreed.
Sukhu said around 3,400 bighas of land have already been transferred to the housing department, while nearly 3,700 bighas are already with the state government. The remaining land acquisition process is expected to be completed within the next two months, after which a consultant will be appointed to prepare the city’s master plan.
Earlier, the Chief Minister launched the Him Seva Suvidha, a digital platform aimed at delivering multiple government services to urban residents through QR codes and mobile phones on a single interface. The programme, organised by the urban development department, also saw the signing of several memoranda of understanding and the launch of new welfare initiatives.
As part of the announcements, the Chief Minister unveiled a relief scheme for small shopkeepers, under which loans of up to ₹1 lakh will be waived. In cases where a loan of ₹1 lakh has grown to ₹2 lakh, the government will bear ₹1 lakh, with the remaining amount to be paid by the shopkeeper.
The government said the initiatives were aimed at improving urban governance, boosting economic activity and providing relief to small businesses, while laying the foundation for a major new urban centre near the state’s industrial hub.
