CHANDIGARH, July 9 — Once celebrated as India’s best-planned city, Chandigarh today finds itself weighed down by decades of delayed dreams and stalled development. From the long-awaited Metro to an unrealised FilmCity, ambitious projects have remained confined to government files, choked by bureaucratic inertia, policy indecision, and lack of political will.
The most glaring example is the Chandigarh Metro — first proposed in 2009 but repeatedly shelved due to funding hurdles and opposition from political figures including former BJP MP Kirron Kher. Though given a fresh go-ahead by the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) in June 2024, which deemed it economically viable, the project remains far from realisation. Estimated to cost between ₹25,000 crore and ₹30,000 crore, its first phase is expected only by 2032, assuming construction begins in 2027.
“Had the follow-up work on the metro project been done after 2014, it might have seen the light of day by now,” said Pawan Kumar Bansal, former Union minister and senior Congress leader. He warned that without a rapid mass transit system, Chandigarh will continue to suffer from worsening traffic and declining urban mobility.
A similar tale of delay clouds the Tribune Chowk flyover project. Sanctioned in 2019 for ₹184 crore, the flyover, rotary, and underpass project was stalled following a court stay. Though the stay was vacated in 2024, the UT administration submitted a revised cost estimate of ₹245 crore. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is now reinviting bids for construction of a six-lane, 1.6-km flyover on one of the city’s busiest intersections, crossed by over 1.43 lakh vehicles daily.
“From day one, expensive proposals have been pushed forward without any supporting studies. It reflects the short-sightedness of UT officers,” said road safety expert Navdeep Asija.
Beyond infrastructure, Chandigarh’s dream of becoming an academic hub through its Education City project has all but evaporated. Proposed in 2006 across 150 acres, the project has seen only one institute set up in nearly two decades. Early discussions with institutions like IIT Ropar and IIM Amritsar collapsed due to stringent licensing conditions and bureaucratic stagnation.
“The youth of Chandigarh and nearby states deserve access to premier education facilities. This opportunity was lost due to sheer administrative indifference,” said Vivek Atray, former director of IT and tourism.
The city’s industrial prospects haven’t fared better. Conceptualised in the 1970s, the 150-acre Phase 3 of the Industrial Area remains mostly undeveloped. Though detailed planning was undertaken in 2003, only three plots have been allotted due to lack of infrastructure, zoning issues, and outdated leasehold policies.
“Phase 3 Industrial Area will remain a pipe dream unless the administration scraps its outdated leasehold policy,” said Naveen Manglani, vice-president of the Chamber of Chandigarh Industries. “Unlike Mohali and Panchkula, where industry thrives, Chandigarh suffers from a lack of visionary leadership.”
Meanwhile, the failed FilmCity project in Sarangpur has become a cautionary tale of bureaucratic delay. After winning a ₹191 crore bid in 2007, Parsvnath Film City Ltd paid ₹47.75 crore upfront, but the administration failed to deliver encumbrance-free land or a timely demarcation plan. The Supreme Court, in March 2025, held the administration accountable and ordered it to compensate Parsvnath with ₹118 crore.
“Had FilmCity come up, it could have transformed the creative industry in this region,” said actor-director Darshan Aulakh, who originally proposed the idea with support from the late Yash Chopra. “But bureaucratic apathy killed it before it could take off.”
As Chandigarh grapples with surging traffic, limited industrial expansion, and a brain drain of students seeking better opportunities elsewhere, these abandoned blueprints now stand as a stark reminder: grand plans alone don’t build great cities.
