The North News
Chandigarh, December 24
Punjab’s Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said on Tuesday that 2025 saw a series of citizen-focused reforms aimed at resolving long-pending housing issues, tightening checks on illegal development and accelerating industrial growth. The minister said the department introduced an Amnesty Scheme to provide long-awaited relief to plot holders unable to pay instalments, complete construction on time or deposit non-construction fees. The move, he said, was designed to settle legacy disputes while safeguarding planned urban growth.
A major change to the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA) has allowed buyers in unauthorised colonies to register their plots without obtaining a no-objection certificate, while penalties and fines for illegal developers have been increased to deter unauthorised construction.
To ease pressure on developers and encourage investment, the government permitted partial surrender, suspension and cancellation of licences, particularly for industrial park projects. Deadlines for completing mega and PAPRA-licensed projects were extended until December 31, 2025, with a one-time provision allowing extensions of up to five years thereafter.
Mundian said the Building Rules, 2025 have been notified following public consultation, providing a fresh push to construction activity. A new standard operating procedure for granting colony licences, with a fixed 60-day timeline, has also been introduced to cut delays and improve predictability.
In a bid to expand affordable housing, the department notified a policy to monetise land reserved for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), with proceeds earmarked exclusively for EWS housing and welfare. Amendments to the rental housing policy now allow standalone rental projects in industrial and mixed-use zones of SAS Nagar and New Chandigarh.
On the industrial front, an Integrated Manufacturing Cluster at Rajpura, under the Amritsar–Kolkata Industrial Corridor, received environmental clearance from the Union environment ministry, the minister said. Urban planning rules were also amended to mandate electric vehicle charging infrastructure in all categories of buildings.
Approval processes have been decentralised, empowering urban development authorities in Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala and Bathinda to issue key certificates. For standalone industries outside municipal limits, building plan approvals and completion certificates have been delegated to the Director of Factories to reduce multiple clearances.
Further steps include regularisation of unauthorised constructions at notified rates, an online building plan approval system for standalone industries, and a single-window portal to process NOCs for plots in illegal colonies.
The minister said a 15 MGD sewage treatment plant with ultra-filtration has been commissioned at Sector 83, SAS Nagar, to promote water reuse, while a dedicated email helpline and mega clearance camps were launched to resolve pending cases of allottees, promoters and developers.
