Palampur’s tourism boost: Multi-storey parking project gets Rs 70 crore funding

The state government has sanctioned Rs 70 crore for the construction of a multi-storey parking project in Palampur town. Announcing the development on Tuesday, local MLA Ashish Butail said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had fulfilled the long-pending demand of Palampur residents.

The funds, released under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) tourism projects, are part of ongoing initiatives to promote tourism in Himachal Pradesh. Butail noted that since CM Sukhu has declared Kangra as the tourism capital of the state, strengthening tourism infrastructure in the district — particularly parking facilities — remains a top priority. The proposed parking complex will accommodate up to 300 vehicles.

The project, however, has a long history of delays. Although the Palampur Municipal Corporation transferred 8 kanal of land to the State Urban Development Department back in 2009, the plan remained stalled for 16 years. The foundation stone was laid twice — first by former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2008 and later by Virbhadra Singh in 2014. An earlier attempt to execute the project under the public-private partnership (PPP) model also failed due to a lack of political and administrative will.

The decision has been widely welcomed. Gopal Nag, Mayor of Palampur Municipal Corporation, thanked the Chief Minister and MLA Butail for pushing the long-awaited project forward. Sanjiv Soni, president of the Palampur Beopar Mandal, credited Butail’s persistent efforts for securing the funds.

With vehicle numbers in the region increasing by 5,000-7,000 every month, parking has become a critical issue. Currently, Palampur can only accommodate about 100 vehicles in designated spaces, forcing residents, students, businessmen and tourists to resort to parking in “no-parking” zones.