ATS Infrastructure Limited was founded in 1998 by Getamber Anand as a residential developer focused on Delhi and the National Capital Region, and it has since grown into a company that has delivered close to 4.6 million square metres of built space, with another 3.7 million square metres under construction and more than 35,000 customers across its portfolio. Its footprint has expanded well beyond its NCR origins to Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, the Yamuna Expressway, Indirapuram, Derabassi, Mohali and Dehradun, and the developer has carried that same template into Himachal Pradesh with a project in Shimla's Mashobra belt.
That project, ATS Mashobra Hills, is positioned in Bell Villa, Mashobra, on the outskirts of Shimla, and is designed by architect Hafeez Contractor as a low-density luxury residential development offering 2 and 3 BHK apartments. For a company whose core body of work is built around gated townships on the plains of NCR and Punjab, a hill development of this kind in Mashobra marks a deliberate extension into India's second-home and hill-retreat market, following the same logic that had already taken ATS into Dehradun.
Mashobra sits roughly 10 to 15 kilometres from central Shimla along the Shimla-Naldehra road, in a belt of oak, cedar, pine and deodar forest that has historically served as the quieter, less commercial counterpart to the Mall Road and Ridge area of the city. The town is close to Wildflower Hall, the colonial-era retreat that now functions as the President of India's summer residence, and is within a short drive of the Naldehra Golf Course, one of the oldest golf courses in India, laid out under Viceroy Lord Curzon in the early 1900s and still run by Himachal Tourism today. This combination of forest cover, colonial-era institutional neighbours and a working 18-hole golf course is what distinguishes Mashobra from the denser, congested core of Shimla town, and it is the setting ATS has chosen for its entry into the state.
Shimla's property market has been on a distinct upward trajectory. Recent tracking shows that premium micro-markets like New Shimla saw prices rise by close to 12% in a single year, while the wider district average appreciated by over 20%, and property prices across the city have climbed by roughly 11.72% year-on-year, a pace that outstrips many larger plains cities. Surrounding areas such as Bharari have touched land rates as high as ₹8,500 per square foot, while more accessible pockets like Chotta Shimla remain closer to ₹5,106 per square foot, illustrating the wide spread between Shimla's premium and entry-level micro-markets.
That appreciation is underpinned by a genuine supply constraint rather than speculative demand alone: roughly 78% of the Shimla Planning Area's green belt is designated forest or open space, and the state's hilly terrain and strict environmental controls place a hard cap on how much new construction can come to market. Tourism adds a second demand layer on top of resident housing needs — Shimla remains Himachal Pradesh's most visited destination, drawing tens of thousands of foreign visitors annually alongside its much larger domestic footfall, and this tourism base sustains steady demand for both second homes and long-stay rental accommodation.
Access to Shimla is being reshaped by the under-construction Chandigarh-Shimla Expressway, a four-laning of the roughly 120-km National Highway 5 corridor that includes eleven tunnels between Maliana and Kothi and is expected to cut the Chandigarh-Shimla run to around two hours once complete, with Delhi-Shimla travel time falling to about six hours. The Himalayan Expressway stretch of this corridor, connecting Zirakpur, Panchkula and Parwanoo, is already operational and has already trimmed travel time by helping commuters bypass the congested towns of Kalka and Pinjore. Within the city itself, the state government has been tendering ropeway and urban transit lines under the Shimla Smart City programme, aimed at easing road congestion between the Old Bus Stand, Sanjauli and the Ridge — infrastructure that, over time, improves last-mile movement for residents living in outlying belts such as Mashobra.
A buyer looking at ATS Infrastructure's Shimla project is essentially evaluating an NCR-scale developer's first hill-market product rather than a long-established Himachal specialist. The company's track record is built on its Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Dehradun portfolio — projects such as those in Indirapuram, Greater Noida and Mohali — and Mashobra Hills represents the same design and delivery discipline applied to a smaller, low-density format suited to a forested hill site rather than a flat, high-rise NCR township. Buyers should also factor in the regulatory context specific to Himachal Pradesh: under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, non-residents are restricted from directly buying agricultural land in the state, though they can purchase constructed apartments and plots from licensed developers in urban areas, which is the route a project like ATS Mashobra Hills is structured around.
Beyond tourism, Shimla's broader demand base includes a large student population — the district is home to dozens of colleges — which supports long-term rental demand even outside the peak May-June and December-January tourist seasons. For second-home buyers, the appeal of a Mashobra address lies in its combination of forest seclusion, proximity to a historic golf course, and closeness to institutional landmarks like the President's retreat, while still being a manageable drive from Shimla's Mall Road, railway station and ISBT for day-to-day access.