The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has withdrawn a proposal to change the use of a 2,608-square-metre civic plot near SG Highway and allocate it for educational purposes to Jan Sahayak Trust, which runs HiramanI School. The plot will now be placed before the civic body’s valuation committee, after which the corporation is expected to decide whether to dispose of it through public auction.
The proposal was submitted to change the plot’s designated use from parking to educational purposes. The land is located within the HiramanI School campus area in the Chharodi-Ognaj region and has been used for parking for several years, according to the report by Divya Bhaskar.
The plot was received by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as part of a land deduction for social infrastructure. It measures 2,608 square metres and is currently leased to the trust at an annual rent of ₹2.44 lakh. The existing lease arrangement will remain in place for now, the report said.
The proposal became controversial because the plot was sought for educational use at 50% of its applicable value. According to sources cited by Divya Bhaskar, the land’s market value is estimated at more than ₹65 crore. If the change of use and discounted allocation had been approved, the corporation could have received a lower amount than the plot’s prevailing value, potentially reducing municipal revenue.
The proposal had been placed before the Town and Planning Committee by BJP corporators. It followed a representation from Jan Sahayak Trust–HiramanI School seeking a change in the plot’s purpose and its allocation for educational use. The proposal was subsequently withdrawn after the controversy surrounding the proposed terms.
Bhagyesh Patel, chairman of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Town and Planning Committee, said the proposal concerning the public auction of the 2,608-square-metre corporation plot had been withdrawn for the time being. He said an appropriate decision would be taken in the coming days.
The next step is the valuation process, which will determine the value assigned to the land before any public auction decision. Until then, the plot’s current parking-related use and the trust’s annual lease arrangement will continue. The case places the focus on how municipal land acquired for public or social infrastructure is valued, reclassified and transferred for alternate institutional uses.
