What is GMADA?
GMADA is the authority that plans, develops and sells land in Greater Mohali. If you buy a plot, a house or a flat here, you will deal with it or with a property it has sold. This guide explains what GMADA does, what it approves, how its auctions work, and where its job ends and other offices begin. It is general information, not legal advice.
What GMADA is
GMADA stands for the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority. The Punjab government constituted it on 14 August 2006 under Section 29(1) of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995. Its headquarters are in Sector 62, Mohali.
It looks after planning and development in nine areas:
- Mohali
- Zirakpur
- Banur
- Kharar
- Dera Bassi
- Mullanpur (New Chandigarh)
- Fatehgarh Sahib
- Roopnagar
- Mandi Gobindgarh
The Act lets GMADA acquire land and property, and hold, plan, develop, mortgage or sell it. Its stated functions include preparing and carrying out regional, master and township plans, developing urban areas and building housing, and providing urban amenities and services.
GMADA, the Municipal Corporation and Punjab RERA
Three bodies matter to a buyer in Mohali. They do different jobs, so a paper from one is not a paper from another.
| Body | What it does | When you deal with it |
|---|---|---|
| GMADA | Plans the area, develops sectors, sells land by e-auction, permits a change of land use (CLU), sanctions building plans and gives permission to transfer a property it allotted. | Buying a plot or house in a GMADA sector, buying or selling a GMADA allotment, building on a plot, or changing land use. |
| Mohali Municipal Corporation | Runs civic services in the city. Sectors 76 to 80 were handed from GMADA to the Corporation in 2020-21. | Property tax, sanitation and local civic matters, and water and sewerage in the sectors handed over to it. |
| Punjab RERA | Registers real estate projects and checks their finances and delivery. It does not check the title of the land. | Buying a flat in a project, or a plot in a colony that must be registered. Its office is at Mandi Bhawan, Sector 65-A, Mohali. |
A project may need approvals from more than one of them. The buyer's checklist shows which paper to ask for.
What GMADA does for buyers
GMADA runs a set of online services on its website, gmada.gov.in. These are the ones a buyer is most likely to need.
| Service | What it is for |
|---|---|
| E-auctions | GMADA sells plots, SCOs, booths, group housing sites and other sites by online auction. |
| E-CLU | Permission to change the use of land, for example from agricultural to residential or commercial. |
| Building plan sanction | Approval of a building plan before you build. |
| Permission to transfer | GMADA's permission (an NOC) to sell, gift or transfer a property it allotted. Its NOC form shows a transfer fee of 2.5% of the allotment or auction price for sites and 5% of the allotment price for houses, when permission is sought before the conveyance deed. Fees are subject to revision at the start of each financial year, and GMADA's own documents give timelines of 21 working days (NOC form) and 15 days (Single Window list). |
| Certificates | Plinth level, occupation and demarcation certificates. |
| Property status | The "Know Property Status" and "Know My Property Details" pages let you look up a GMADA property. |
| Grievances, RTI and single window status | Lodge a complaint and track a grievance, a Right to Information request or an application. |
| Regularisation of unauthorised colonies | An online route for applications under state regularisation laws. See the note below. |
Service names are taken from GMADA's website. Fees and timings change, so confirm them with the GMADA office before you agree a price.
Regularisation is not a safety net. In early July 2026 the Punjab cabinet widened the rules for regularising unauthorised colonies, but colonies under the GMADA regional plan were left out, and the application deadline of 30 September 2026 has passed. Do not buy in a colony on the hope that it will be regularised later.
Master plans and what a zone means
GMADA's website lists approved master plans for Banur, Kharar and Zirakpur (to 2031), New Chandigarh (2008 to 2031), Fatehgarh Sahib and Mandi Gobindgarh (2010 to 2031), Dera Bassi, Lalru and Mullanpur, and a GMADA Regional Plan.
A master plan marks each piece of land for a use, such as residential, commercial, industrial or agriculture. This is called the zone. A house can only be built where the zone allows it, and land in an agricultural zone cannot be used for housing without a change of land use. So before you pay for a plot, ask which zone it is in and ask for that in writing. Our guide to agricultural land in Punjab explains more.
How GMADA auctions work
GMADA sells land by e-auction on its website. It has used e-auctions since 2017. The notice for each round names the sites, the reserve prices and the payment terms, so read the notice before you bid.
- September 2024. GMADA earned Rs 2,505 crore from a round that included sites in Sector 62, Eco City-1, Eco City-2, Medicity, Aerocity and Sector 66, with 16 SCOs and 12 booths (The Tribune, 18 September 2024).
- August 2026. 27 of the 37 lots offered were sold for about Rs 5,391 crore (The Tribune, 21 August 2026).
- October 2025. A 430 sq yd residential plot in Sector 68 sold for Rs 8.86 crore, about Rs 2.06 lakh per sq yd (a trade press report).
Rounds differ in size and in the kind of sites offered, so do not read these figures as a trend. Prices for commercial, hotel and hospital sites are not a guide to what a home buyer will pay. And not every lot sells: 27 of the 37 lots offered in August 2026 were sold, and trade press reported in October 2025 that six commercial sites in Sector 62 had gone unsold in three consecutive auctions.
GMADA names you will hear
- Aerocity. By the airport. GMADA sells plots, SCOs and group housing sites here.
- IT City. A large planned IT and mixed-use zone. Sources differ on exactly which sectors it covers.
- Eco City-1, Eco City-2 and Medicity. GMADA sold sites in all three in its September 2024 round. Medicity, in New Chandigarh, has the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital.
- New sectors. In June 2025 GMADA planned nine new sectors on 6,285 acres: Sector 84 (institutional), Sector 87 (commercial), Sectors 101 and 103 (industrial) and Sectors 120 to 124 (residential). Timelines are uncertain because land policy has changed more than once. See the Mohali property guide 2026.
In the news: the ED investigation
This is a fast-moving story, so we give only what was reported by early October 2026. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating alleged money laundering linked to irregularities at GMADA, and carried out a search at GMADA's offices that was reported to have lasted about 50 hours (The Tribune, 26 September 2026). The allegations include irregularities in land acquisition, auctions and change of land use approvals. The Punjab government has denied wrongdoing. The investigation is ongoing, and the reports we read on these searches mention no charges or convictions. Earlier, on 7 May 2026, the ED searched 12 locations in Mohali and Chandigarh in a separate case about land use (CLU) licences obtained from GMADA (All India Radio news).
What this means for a buyer. An investigation of this kind can slow approvals, auctions or projects. It does not change the checks you should make. Confirm each approval with the office that issued it, check the latest news before you commit, and do not rely on an advert, a signboard or a broker's word.
Dealing with GMADA: a short list
- Ask the seller for the allotment letter, and ask the GMADA estate office whether the seller is the allottee on record.
- Look the property up on GMADA's "Know Property Status" page and ask for the No Due Certificate.
- For a transfer, get GMADA's written permission before the conveyance deed, and confirm the fee first.
- Before you build, get the building plan sanctioned.
- For a project, check its Punjab RERA registration as well.
- Ask a lawyer to check the title. GMADA's records do not replace that.
The full list, with where to check each item, is in what to check before buying property in Mohali.
Questions we are often asked
Is GMADA approval the same as RERA registration?
No. GMADA's approvals are about planning and land: the layout, the change of land use, building plans and transfers. RERA registration is about a project's finances and delivery. A project may need both, and neither one checks the title for you.
Does GMADA sell directly to buyers?
GMADA sells sites by e-auction. Many properties on the market were allotted earlier, which is why GMADA's transfer rules refer to an allotment price or an auction price.
Where is GMADA's office?
Its headquarters are in Sector 62, Mohali. Its website is gmada.gov.in.
Does "GMADA approved" mean a plot is safe to buy?
Not by itself. "GMADA approved" is not one document. Ask which approval is meant (the colony licence, the CLU, the layout plan or the RERA registration), ask to see the paper, and check it with the office that issued it.
Can Weaver Estates help with GMADA paperwork?
We can tell you what to ask for and where to check it, and we stay with you through the process. We are not lawyers, so we will also tell you when a lawyer should look at the papers.
Talk to us
Call or message Weaver Estates. We will answer your questions, and we can take you to see a property.
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Sources and notes
Compiled on 4 October 2026 from GMADA's website, The Tribune and other news reports, and Punjab RERA. Rules, fees and news change. Confirm them with the office concerned and take legal advice on the title.