AMC withdraws slaughter house proposal from draft budget after BJP MLA objects

Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) presented a massive draft budget of ₹17,108 crore for 2026-27 on Wednesday. However, one particular provision in the budget sparked intense political controversy – ₹32 crore allocation for a new, modern slaughterhouse. Faced with strong opposition from an MLA of the ruling party itself, the corporation announced withdrawal of the decision.

After the budget was presented by Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani, on Wednesday a high-level meeting was held at the Mayor’s residence. The meeting was attended by the Mayor, the Chairman of the Standing Committee, MLAs, and party office-bearers. BJP leaders expressed anger at the proposal for a new hi-tech slaughterhouse in the Shahwadi-Behrampura area in South Zone.

Taking strong objection to it, they stated, “Allocating the budget for slaughterhouses meant for the killing of innocent animals is absolutely unacceptable. We do not agree with this decision at all.” Respecting party pressure and public sentiment, Standing Committee Chairman Devang Dani assured that the proposal would be scrapped.

The project proposed in the budget aimed to be highly modern. It planned to allocate approximately 15,882 square meters of land at TP-32 (Shahwadi–Behrampura). The proposal included 24x7 veterinary doctors for animals, an ante-mortem room, chilling facilities, and air-conditioned vehicles. It also planned provisions for a rendering plant for blood treatment and an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). The slaughterhouse was to be developed as a modern facility in accordance with Supreme Court and Central Government guidelines.

According to sources, earlier in a coordination committee meeting, MLA Imran Khedawala had suggested that the existing slaughterhouse near the ST stand should be shifted towards Piplaj, and that a party plot for citizens should be developed at the current site. However, the BJP later linked the issue to animal cruelty and put a halt to the project.

Despite allocating more than ₹17,000 crore for Ahmedabad’s development, the ‘slaughterhouse’ issue has generated the most discussion in the entire budget. For now, with the decision being put on hold, the political controversy has subsided.