If you are planning to set up a manufacturing, assembly or industrial unit in Mohali, the process has changed meaningfully in the last year. Punjab has moved from a scattered, department by department clearance system to a time bound, single window model – and where you choose to locate your unit now directly affects how fast you get approved. 

Step 1 – Choose Your Land – PSIEC Estate or Private Industrial Park 

This is the first decision and it shapes everything after it. 

PSIEC (Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation) estates are government developed industrial focal points and estates. Plots here are allotted by the corporation, generally at rates and terms set by the state, with infrastructure built and maintained by the government agency. 

Private Industrial Parks – like JLPL’s Sector 82 in Mohali – is developed and maintained by a private promoter but still functions as an  “Approved Industrial Park” under state policy once notified, which brings them under the same fast track approval framework as PSIEC estates. Punjab law defines an Approved Industrial Park broadly to include industrial areas, focal points, estates, mixed use industrial parks, SEZs and IT parks approved by the competent government authority. 

The practical difference – a private park like JLPL’s typically offers more built-up/ready-to-move options, private facility management and often has its core statutory clearances (land use, environmental categorization) already secured at the park level – which shortens what an individual unit still needs to apply for. A PSIEC estate may offer lower plot cost but slower turnaround on maintenance and infrastructure requests since it runs through government processes. 

Neither route skips approvals – both require the sequence below. The difference is speed and who you are coordinating with. 

Step 2 – Change of Land Use (CLU) 

CLU converts agricultural or non industrial land into land legally usable for industry. If you are buying a plot inside an already notified industrial park or estate (PSIEC or a private park like JLPL’s) this step is typically already complete at the park level – you inherit cleared land use rather than applying for it yourself. 

CLU only becomes your problem if you are buying standalone land outside a notified park and converting it yourself, which involves a separate application to the local development authority (GMADA, in Mohali’s case) and is considerably slower. This is one of the strongest practical arguments for buying inside a notified park rather than assembling your own plot. 

Step 3 – In Principle Approval Under the Right to Business Act 

This is the newest and most important part of the process. Punjab’s Right to Business Act – significantly amended in 2025-26 now governs how fast a new unit gets its first approvals. Under the amended Act, a new green category industrial unit located in a notified focal point or industrial park now gets all necessary approvals within 5 days, while a unit set up outside a notified industrial zone gets deemed approval from Invest Punjab within 15 days and a brownfield expansion gets clearance within 18 days. 

This is where being inside a notified park – PSIEC or private – pays off directly : you are on the 5 day track, not the 15 day one. 

Under this framework, entrepreneurs no longer need to visit the Forest Department, PWS, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Rural Development and Panchayats Department and the District Fire Office separately – all clearances and NOCs are processed under one roof through the Right to Business Act mechanism, applied for via the pbindustries.gov.in portal. The state has also built in accountability on delay : officials face disciplinary action if approval timelines slip and the project is deemed approved automatically once the stipulated period passes. In principle approval is not the finish line, though – units approved this way are required to obtain their full, regular approvals within the follow up window after starting operations, generally cited as around three to three and a half years. 

Apply through the state’s single window portal – Invest Punjab’s Business First web portal is the designated single window online system for anyone setting up a business in Punjab. 

Step 4 – PPCB Consent to Establish (CTE) 

Before you start any construction, you need Consent to Establish from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. This is statutory requirement under Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and section 21 of the Air ((Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and PPCB uses a common application form for large, medium and small scale industries, though consent is granted separately for each. 

Your unit gets classified into a pollution category – broadly green, orange, red or white – based on the nature of your operations and this category determines documentation depth and scrutiny level. Most light manufacturing, assembly and IT/office operations fall in the green or white category, which is exactly the category that benefits from the fastest RTB Act timeline above. 

One practical point worth knowing, for industries set up within a designated or approved area – an industrial estate, focal point, or approved industrial park – PPCB decides the Consent to Establish application without requiring separate site clearance under Section 41(A) of the Factories Act. Another reason a notified park location saves you a step. 

Step 5 – Fire NOC 

Fire safety clearance is now folded into the same single window mechanism rather than requiring a separate visit to the fire department. The unified approval framework explicitly covers fire safety clearances alongside building plan approvals, pollution consents, factory licenses and electricity and water connections – all through one digital gateway. You will still need to meet the underlying building and fire safety code requirements (access, hydrants, extinguishers, exits sized to your building’s use), but you are not chasing a separate department for the paperwork. 

Step 6 – Consent to Operate (CTO) 

Once construction is complete and you are ready to run machinery or begin operations, you convert your Consent to Establish into a Consent to Operate from PPCB – confirming your actual pollution control measures (effluent treatment, emission control, waste handling) match what was approved on paper. This is renewed periodically and is the document you will be asked for in any future inspection or audit. 

Step 7 – The Remaining Registrations 

Once the above is in motion, a few standard registrations complete the picture – 

• Factory licence (if applicable, under the Factories Act) – routed through the same unified platform. 
• PSPCL power connection for your sanctioned load. 
• Udyam registration (if you qualify as an MSME) and GST registration. 
• Labour and shop/establishment registrations where applicable. 

None of these points are newly introduced by Punjab specifically – they are standard for any Indian business – but they are worth sequencing alongside the above rather than treating as an afterthought, since your power connection and factory licence timelines often depend on your building plan approval finalised first. 

Conclusion 

The clearest takeaway from this sequence is that your approval timeline is decided less by paperwork skill and more by where your plot sits. A unit inside a notified industrial park – PSIEC or Private – starts on the fast track, inherits cleared land use and skips duplicate site clearances. A standalone plot outside a notified zone means doing CLU yourself and settling for the slower approval window.