In an unprecedented move, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is preparing to make an official exception to its land deduction rules for town planning schemes, aiming to benefit a select group of plot owners within the city.

The issue at hand pertains to the deduction of only 25 per cent instead of the obligatory 40 per cent of land from private plot owners during the formulation of TP Scheme 32 for the Shahwadi-Behrampura area. This particular town planning scheme encompasses an area of 228.9 hectares. The proposal will be presented to the TP committee of the AMC and, upon approval, will be forwarded to the state government for further consideration.

The deduction of land from private plot owners within TP schemes serves the purpose of aggregating land for communal facilities and readjustment, creating space for public amenities like roads, parks, utilities, and social infrastructure.

Typically, the local urban authority engages in negotiations with landowners to consolidate their lands and subsequently returns a smaller plot after deducting a specified percentage. In this case, adhering to the 40 per cent rule would result in the AMC acquiring 91.60 hectares. However, with the proposed 25 per cent deduction, the AMC would only secure 57.25 hectares for public purposes.

Given the current market rates, Shahwadi-Behrampura plots are valued at around Rs 50,000 per square metre. If the AMC's TP committee approves the 25 per cent land deduction, the corporation would lose land worth approximately Rs 17 billion. Initially, on April 5 of last year, the AMC drafted TP Scheme 32 with a 40 per cent deduction, encompassing 24 survey numbers in Behrampura and three survey numbers in Shahwadi. In December, the first draft of the scheme was submitted to the state government for approval. Subsequently, a letter from the state government instructed a reduction to 25 per cent.

Back in 2016, the AMC had approached the Supreme Court to ensure a 40 per cent deduction from plots owned by farmers within the city's green belt. The farmers had argued for a deduction of 20 per cent to 25 per cent but eventually agreed to the 40 per cent deduction.

Previously, the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda) had formulated two TP schemes for Bodakdev, where the deduction was set at 30 per cent. Additionally, in the case of four TP schemes in Vejalpur and Prahladnagar, the standard deduction was 50 per cent.

"Apart from these instances, a 50 per cent deduction was implemented for plot owners within TP schemes of the Sola-Science City zone. However, following several requests, the deduction was reduced to 40 per cent. If certain plot owners are now favoured with a 25 per cent deduction, it is likely to lead to controversy," stated a senior AMC official.