Owing to the high cost of land acquisition for the expansion of Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City, the state government has entrusted the development of the four villages earmarked for GIFT’s expansion to the Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority (GUDA).

This signifies that the surrounding area of GIFT City will become a real estate project.

Out of the 1,065 acres of GIFT City, 741 acres is government land, and most of the land in the expansion area is private.

Since the total 741 acres of land in GIFT City is a government wasteland, there was no special expense in land acquisition.

However, since most of the land in the four villages - Shahpur, Ratanpur, Lavarpur, and Pirojpur - is private, the acquisition cost is likely to increase. GUDA will now develop the land in these four villages.

According to a public notice issued by the state’s urban development department, GUDA will now implement its town planning scheme and new zoning plan covering the area outside GIFT City.

GIFT City’s expansion is slated to include 2,300 acres of new land from its current area. The government has undertaken this step over numerous complaints and suggestions regarding building heights and Floor Space Index (FSI).

The overnight change made by the state government may plummet the skyrocketing land prices around GIFT.

Notably, the builder-developer lobby has purchased land at towering rates after GIFT City’s expansion was rolled out, which may now prove to be a jolt.

This is the largest expansion of GIFT City since its planning in 2007. A senior GIFT City official said, “The expansion of GIFT is necessary due to increasing demand. Ahmedabad-based urban planner and architect Bimal Patel, who designed and constructed the new Parliament building in Delhi, has been tasked to prepare the master plan for this proposed expansion.”

Moreover, the Ahmedabad Riverfront project is one of the projects coming up at GIFT City, alongside the metro rail.

Land utilisation in GIFT City: