AHMEDABAD: In a major move, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation‘s standing committee has banned residential construction on plots intended for sale of development rights on Sabarmati Riverfront. As a result, auctions for development rights on two plots on the riverfront have been cancelled.
On Dec 20, 2024, SRFDCL floated a request for proposals to auction development rights for a plot near Lemon Tree. The plan was to sell 41,385 sq m of development rights on a 3,045 sq m plot, with the price per square metre set at Rs 20,833. The last date for submitting proposals for the auction was Jan 21, 2025.
The tender allowed bidders to construct up to 67.25m, with permission for commercial construction up to five floors and additional residential construction. Although mixed-use construction was approved for this plot, the standing committee did not approve the proposal on Jan 9, 2025.
Separately, on Dec 28, 2024, SRFDCL requested proposals for selling development rights for a plot near Keshavnagar in the western part of the riverfront, with a submission deadline of Jan 31, 2025. The plan was to sell 59,384 sq m of development rights on a 5,710 sq m plot, with a price set at Rs 21,691 per square metre. Construction was permitted up to a height of 52.17m, with approval for mixed-use construction.
However, as the tender for the plot near Lemon Tree hotel was cancelled, and the proposal for the Keshavnagar plot was not submitted to the standing committee for approval.
A member of the standing committee, requesting anonymity said, “SRFDCL officials floated tenders approving residential use on the plot near Lemon Tree without any discussion, and then directly submitted the proposal to the standing committee. We are not in favour of approving residential construction on riverfront plots, so we rejected the proposal and ordered the tenders to be re-floated with revisions.”
An SRFDCL official, also speaking anonymously, said, “The mayor, and the standing committee chairman are directors on the SRFDCL board. They were present at the meeting during which the decision was taken to approve mixed-use construction on the plot near Lemon Tree hotel. But, when the proposal went to the standing committee, it was rejected, leading to the cancellation of the tender.”
