Congress charges baseless, targeting me due to my popularity: Rupani on Rs 27,000-cr ‘land scam’ in Surat

According to Congress, Rupani signed the note on November 21, 2019, giving instruction to reserve 75.35 lakh square metres of land, out of the 1.66 crore square metres proposed to be kept reserved under civic amenities as per the development plan prepared by SUDA. The remaining land worth Rs 27,000 crore was given to private builders, Congress said.

At a press conference in Gandhinagar, Rupani said, “Congress has been out of power in Gujarat for 27 years and perhaps due to lack of their experience in governance, they did a press conference on Wednesday in over-enthusiasm. I am honest and I have saved SUDA land. It doesn’t suit for a party like Congress which has corruption in its blood, to make allegations of corruption.”

“I request my friends in Congress to do proper research before shooting wild allegations that make them look comical. My popularity and my relationship with the people have rattled the Congress party that is attempting to malign my reputation. These allegations are political in nature and have been made in the context of the coming elections,” said Rupani.

Rupani said SUDA was formed in 1971 and its first DP was approved on March 3, 1986, under which 182 land plots in Surat were put under the reserved category for civic amenities such as drainage, water, hospital, schools, gardens among others.

“In 2004, for the first time, the DP was revised and 285 plots were put under the reserved category in SUDA. During my tenure, on October 10, 2020, the DP was again revised in which 201 plots were reserved. Matters related to land reservation are sensitive in nature therefore at that time, it was felt that more research was required on the DP revision. To ensure that development projects in Surat are not halted because of the delay, permission was granted for DP in unreserved lands,” he said.

To further study the reserved lands, the state government on January 22, 2019, formed a consultative committee under the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, Rupani added.

“On November 18, 2019, a first notification was brought out in Surat where it was decided that such land plots where reservation and acquisition have begun will continue to be under the reserved category. However, there are also land plots under the reserved category since 2004 where no work has been initiated. The Supreme Court in its verdict in the Bhavnagar University versus Palitana Sugar Mill 2002 observed that if the process of reservation has not started in 10 years, all such land should be returned to its owner. Therefore only such land plots were returned to their owners in Surat,” added Rupani.