The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has returned a proposal to change the designated use of a 2,608-square-metre parking plot at the HiramanI School campus near SG Highway, with the land now expected to be placed before an evaluation committee before any public auction decision is taken.
The proposal was submitted by the Jan Sahayak Trust, which runs HiramanI School, seeking to convert the civic plot from a parking and social infrastructure purpose to an educational use. The plot has been used for parking for several years and is currently leased to the trust at an annual rent of Rs 2.44 lakh, according to a report by Divya Bhaskar.
The proposal was returned by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Town and Planning Committee after controversy over the proposed change of use and the terms under which the land could have been allotted. The report said the plot’s market value was estimated by sources at more than Rs 65 crore, although the supplied material does not identify the valuation document or the basis for that estimate.
Under the proposal described in the report, a change of use for educational purposes could have enabled the plot to be allotted at 50% of its value. This raised concerns that the corporation could receive substantially less than the land’s prevailing market value if the proposal was approved under those terms.
Town and Planning Committee chairman Bhagyesh Patel said the proposal concerning the disposal of the 2,608-square-metre corporation plot in Chharodi-Ognaj had been withdrawn for now. He said an appropriate decision would be taken in the coming days. The report did not specify a date for the evaluation committee’s meeting or the likely auction schedule.
The plot was reportedly acquired by the AMC as a social infrastructure and parking plot through land deduction provisions in the area around SG Highway. It is located within the HiramanI School campus associated with former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Narhari Amin. The trust has been paying annual rent for the plot, and that arrangement will continue for now, according to the report.
The episode places two competing municipal priorities in focus: preserving land earmarked for public parking and enabling educational infrastructure through changes in land use. A change in purpose can affect both the financial return to the civic body and the availability of parking in a rapidly developing corridor such as SG Highway. In this case, the proposal’s return means the current parking designation and lease arrangement remain in force until the corporation takes a further decision.
The next step is for the AMC to place the plot before its evaluation committee, determine its value and decide whether it should be disposed of through public auction. The committee’s valuation and the eventual terms of any auction will determine how the corporation proceeds with the land.
