Sector 48 Airport Road Revived: What It Means for Property Prices in Sector 48, Chandigarh

What happened?

The Hindustan Times reported that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Punjab, Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL), GMADA, the UT administration and the Airports Authority of India to meet and settle an alignment for the shortest route between Chandigarh and the airport. The bench said the route should stay broadly as agreed earlier but leave out land earmarked for airport expansion up to 2047.

According to the report, the earlier plan starting at Sector 48 would cut the road distance from 11.5 km to 3.5 km, and the trip from 25 minutes to 5. The UT administrator gave an in-principle nod in 2022 and the Centre had cleared it. Punjab and then CHIAL changed their stand in 2023, saying part of the land is needed for expansion.

The Hindustan Times added that Punjab has instead proposed a 164-foot-wide parallel road from Bawa White House in Mohali's Phase 9, which the paper says gives little relief to Chandigarh and Panchkula travellers because the distance stays almost the same. The talks are set for October 27, and the outcome is due before the court on November 2.

Which sectors are affected?

• Sector 48, Chandigarh
• Southern Chandigarh–Mohali edge
• Chandigarh International Airport, Mohali
• Panchkula (airport commuters)
• Airport road (PR-7)

Potential impact

Nothing has been approved or built yet. The court has only asked for a meeting, and the sides have disagreed over the land for years, so a final alignment, funding and construction could take a long time or may not happen. Prices around Sector 48 should not be assumed to move on this news alone.

If a direct link does get built, the shorter airport trip could add to demand for homes in and near Sector 48, especially among frequent flyers and people working near the airport. Even then, the effect would depend on the final route, the timeline and the supply nearby. Our city-level figure for Chandigarh is about ₹12,000 per sq ft, and we have no locality-level data here to say how much any gain could be.