Punjab Development Authority Plots: PUDA, GMADA and How Allotment Works

Search for a plot sold by a Punjab development authority and you will get a confusing mix of results: GMADA draws, e-auction notices, half-remembered schemes from three years ago, and agents promising allotments they cannot deliver.

Here is the structure underneath all of it, where the official information actually lives, and what is genuinely open right now.

PUDA is the parent, not a separate seller

This is the single thing that clears up most of the confusion.

PUDA is the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority, headquartered at Puda Bhawan, Sector 62, SAS Nagar, Mohali. It is the state-level Punjab development authority, and underneath it sit the regional bodies. On PUDA's own citizen portal you select which one you are dealing with before anything else:

• GMADA — the Mohali region
• GLADA — the Ludhiana region
• BDA — Bathinda
• JDA — Jalandhar
• ADA — Amritsar
• PDA — Patiala

So when someone tells you about a PUDA plot scheme in Mohali, what they usually mean is a GMADA housing scheme, floated by the regional Punjab development authority under the PUDA framework. Both statements are true at once, which is exactly why the search results look contradictory.

Practically: identify which Punjab development authority covers the city you want, because that is who floats the scheme, holds the draw or auction, and issues the allotment letter.

Is a PUDA plot scheme open right now?

At the time of writing, the official PUDA portal shows no current announcements under its Notices and Advertisements section.

That is worth saying plainly, because a great many pages online imply a scheme is live in order to collect your phone number. If a broker is telling you a PUDA or GMADA scheme is open, ask them for the advertisement number and the authority that issued it, then check it against the portal yourself.

Schemes appear in three places, and these are the only three worth watching:

• The Notices and Advertisements section of the PUDA portal
• The New Schemes section, after selecting your authority
• Newspaper advertisements, which are still how a scheme is formally published

The two ways Punjab development authority plots are sold

Every Punjab development authority scheme you will encounter is one of two things, and they suit completely different buyers.

Allotment by draw of lots. The authority announces a scheme with a fixed price per square yard, invites applications with an earnest deposit, and if applications exceed plots, allotment is decided by a public draw. You pay the notified rate. You cannot outbid anyone, and you cannot choose your exact plot.

E-auction. Plots are listed with a reserve price and sold to the highest bidder online, a process we walk through in the GMADA e-auction guide. You know exactly which plot you are bidding for, and you can lose to someone with deeper pockets.

The practical difference is price certainty. A draw gives you the notified rate if luck goes your way. An auction gives you the plot you want at whatever the market decides on the day, which in good locations is routinely well above the reserve.

How to apply when a scheme opens

1. Read the advertisement itself, not a summary of it. The advertisement carries the eligibility, the plot sizes, the rate or reserve price, the deposit, and the closing date.
2. Select the correct authority on the portal before you start, since each one runs its own schemes.
3. Check eligibility carefully. Schemes frequently carry conditions, including reserved categories, and applying under a category you do not qualify for wastes both the deposit and the wait.
4. Arrange the earnest money in the form the advertisement specifies, and keep proof.
5. Apply before the closing date, not on it. Portals are slowest on the last day, every time.
6. Keep your application number. Everything afterwards depends on it.

Tracking your application

The PUDA portal has a Know your Application Status facility: enter the application number, verify by OTP, and see where the file has reached.

The portal also publishes a live applications dashboard showing volumes received, disposed and pending. It is worth a glance simply to see how busy the system actually is before you assume your file has been singled out for delay.

Your Unique Property Number, and why it matters

If you already hold an authority property, PUDA identifies it by a Unique Property Number, or UPN.

Two things on the portal run off it:

• Your Property Details — see outstanding dues and pay them online, after verifying with the mobile number registered against the property
• Link mobile number with your property — necessary if the registered number is old, or belonged to the previous owner

There is a Know your UPN lookup if you do not have the number to hand. If you have bought an authority plot from someone else, updating the registered mobile is the first housekeeping job, not the last. Dues notices go to whatever number is on file.

Checking that a colony is actually approved

This is the part that saves people real money, and it applies whether or not you ever buy from a scheme.

PUDA publishes a list of colonies on the same portal. Before buying a plot in any private colony in Punjab, check it against that list rather than taking the seller's word.

Plots in schemes floated by a Punjab development authority are approved by definition. Plots in private colonies are not, unless the colony holds a licence, and buying into an unapproved colony creates registration, building sanction and utility problems that follow the property rather than the seller.

Before you apply or bid

• Visit the site. A sector on a layout plan and a sector on the ground can be years apart in development.
• Check what infrastructure exists today — roads, water, sewerage, power — rather than what is planned.
• Read the payment schedule. Authority plots are usually paid in instalments, and interest on delay is not negotiable.
• Understand the construction obligation. Allotments commonly carry a period within which you must build, with charges if you do not.
• Check transfer rules if you intend to resell before taking possession, since transfers carry their own conditions and charges.
• Budget beyond the plot price for registration, and later for building sanction.

The construction obligation is the one buyers most often forget. A plot bought purely to hold can quietly accumulate extension charges.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a PUDA plot scheme open in 2026?
At the time of writing the PUDA portal shows no current announcements. Schemes are published on the portal and in newspaper advertisements, so verify against those rather than relying on a broker.

What is the difference between PUDA and GMADA?
PUDA is the state-level Punjab development authority. GMADA is the regional authority for the Mohali area operating under that framework, and it floats its own schemes. GLADA, BDA, JDA, ADA and PDA do the same for their regions.

Are authority plots safer than private colony plots?
On approval and title they are considerably more straightforward, because the layout is sanctioned and the seller is the authority. That does not make them a better investment automatically, which depends on location and price.

How do I find my UPN?
The portal has a Know your UPN lookup, and a facility to link your mobile number to the property.

Can I apply for more than one scheme?
Read each advertisement. Schemes commonly restrict multiple applications, and breaching that can cost you the deposit.

The practical takeaway

Work out which Punjab development authority covers your city, watch the portal and the newspapers rather than the brokers, and read the advertisement itself when a scheme opens.

And treat anyone currently promising you a PUDA plot scheme allotment with real suspicion, because as things stand there is no announcement on the official portal to promise you.

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Scheme availability, rates, eligibility and charges are set by the relevant development authority and change without notice. Always verify against the official advertisement and the PUDA portal before applying or paying anything.