Mohali-Rajpura rail link: Stung by Centre’s rap, Punjab clears decks for land acquisition

Stung by the Centre’s sharp reprimand over months of bureaucratic inertia, the Punjab Government has finally cleared a critical bottleneck in the land acquisition process for the long-awaited, fully Centre-funded Mohali-Rajpura new railway line project (18.11 km), submitting the mandatory 20-A land acquisition schedules of all three defaulting Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) to Northern Railway — a key step that paves the way for the formal land acquisition proceedings to begin on the Rs 443-crore project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gift to Punjab.

In a significant parallel development, Punjab has also nominated the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA) and Arbitrator for the Rajpura Bypass line for the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) — a strategically interconnected 13.46-km Northern Railway project running from New Shambhu to Kauli station — removing yet another procedural bottleneck in the region’s rail infrastructure push.

A senior government functionary confirmed both developments to The Tribune.

Punjab submits action taken report

In its Action Taken Report to Northern Railway, the Punjab Government informed the Chief Engineer (Construction/Special), Northern Railway, New Delhi, that all three pending SDMs had since dispatched the requisite 20-A schedules.

The Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, confirmed that SDMs of Bassi Pathana and Fatehgarh Sahib had forwarded the schedule. The Deputy Commissioner, Mohali, confirmed that the Mohali SDM had also submitted the schedule.

Copies of the official communications are with The Tribune.

With the 20-A schedules now in Northern Railway’s hands, the Railways has initiated formal land acquisition proceedings, putting the long-stalled project firmly back on track.

What triggered the turnaround

The action follows a Centre-state confrontation over the Punjab Government’s failure to ensure timely compliance. In a strongly-worded memo last month, Dilip Kumar Mishra, Chief Engineer (Construction/Special), Northern Railway, had formally flagged to Punjab’s Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Anurag Verma that despite repeated follow-ups by Railway officials, signed 20-A schedules from SDMs of Fatehgarh Sahib, Banur, and Bassi Pathana remained pending for months, causing significant delay in land acquisition and adversely affecting the progress of the project.

Acting on the complaint, Verma had on April 13 directed the Deputy Commissioners of Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali to personally intervene and get the formalities completed within a week — triggering the eventual compliance.

Rajpura bypass line: officials nominated

In a related development, the Punjab Government has also nominated officials for land acquisition under the Rajpura Bypass line for DFCCIL (New Shambhu to Kauli station, 13.46 km) — a project interconnected with the Mohali-Rajpura rail link in the broader Tricity rail connectivity matrix.

Punjab has recommended that the SDM, Rajpura Sub-Division, be notified as CALA by the Ministry of Railways under clause (7A) of Section 2 of the Railways Act, 1989, to perform the functions of Competent Authority. The Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, has been recommended as Arbitrator under clause (6) of Section 20F of the Railways Act, 1989.

Ministers welcome breakthrough

Speaking to The Tribune, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “The Mohali-Rajpura rail link is Prime Minister Modi’s promise to the people of Punjab. The Centre has gone the extra mile by funding not just construction but also land acquisition — something unprecedented. Now that Punjab has cleared the key procedural hurdles, the Railways will move swiftly to complete the land acquisition and begin ground work so that this transformative project is delivered to Punjab’s farmers, industries, students, and pilgrims at the earliest.”

Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu said: “Prime Minister Modi has treated Punjab with extraordinary generosity on this project — the Centre is bearing every single rupee of the cost, including land acquisition. The completion of these critical formalities is a welcome step, and I urge all officials on both sides to now maintain this momentum so that ground work on this 50-year-old dream begins without any further delay.”

Project background

The Mohali-Rajpura broad-gauge rail link was formally sanctioned on September 23, 2024, after gathering dust in railway blueprints for over five decades. PM Modi committed to fully funding the Rs 443-crore project — including land acquisition costs ordinarily borne by the state — in an unprecedented gesture that removed Punjab’s long-standing excuse of financial constraints.

The 18.11-km line will for the first time provide a direct rail connection between Punjab’s Malwa region and Chandigarh, eliminating a circuitous 66-km detour via Ambala. The project covers villages across Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Patiala districts, requiring acquisition of approximately 53.84 hectares of land.

With the 20-A schedule bottleneck now cleared, the project — which once risked joining the long list of sanctioned-but-stalled rail links — has moved a decisive step closer to the ground. If land handover proceeds without further delays, the line could be operational within two to three years, transforming connectivity between Malwa and Chandigarh, easing chronic congestion on the Chandigarh-Patiala highway, and cutting travel time and cost for thousands of daily commuters, farmers, traders, and pilgrims.