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New Chandigarh-Baddi rail link to boost industry in Himachal Pradesh
Having a June 2025 deadline, the 30.29-km broad gauge line from Chandigarh to Baddi in Himachal Pradesh is being laid at a cost of ₹1,540 crore
Construction on the long-demanded railway line connecting Chandigarh with the industrial town of Baddi in Himachal Pradesh is going full steam ahead.
Having a financial outlay of ₹1,540 crore, the project to lay the 30.29-km broad gauge line commenced in early August with a June 2025 deadline.
The railway line will connect Chandigarh with the Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor, thus giving fillip to the industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in Asia.
At least seven lakh people living and employed with the medical units here were awaiting the railway project since industries started setting up here in the early 2000s.
Officials from the Northern Railway Headquarters said the tender to carry out civil engineering infrastructure works on the Himachal side was floated on April 14 and awarded to Singla Constructions Limited, Chandigarh, on July 21.
Tender for other works like railway overhead equipment (OHE), and signal and telecommunication (SnT) was floated in September and for civil work on remodeling of Chandimandir yard in October, but both remain under evaluation with the committee concerned and are yet to be awarded to any firm.
Will cover 30 villages
The rail line will have one station at Nanakpur and cover a total of 30 villages, including 21 in Haryana’s Panchkula, a railway spokesperson said.
Sanctioned in 2007-08, the project had run into hurdles due to several reasons, primarily those concerning land acquisition. To overcome these roadblocks, the railways had accorded it the “Special Railway Project” status under the Railways Act, 2008, on June 20, 2019.
Hoping that the project will be completed in a time-bound manner, state president of Himachal Drug Manufacturers’ Association, Dr Rajesh Gupta said the reliance of pharma industries in Baddi/BBN area on road transportation will be reduced with the new rail link.
“Many employees here commute to work from other towns and cities. Once the railway link is established, their day-to-day dependency on cars and other transport options will decrease,” he said.
According to Gupta, there are around 350 cosmetics and drug formulation units in the BBN region, with an estimated annual business of ₹30,000 crore, both domestic and international.
