Ahmedabad: In a major oversight, the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) sold a commercial plot worth ₹149.73 crore to Lulu International Shopping Malls Pvt. Ltd. without checking that a 12-metre-wide service road and a vital water feeder pipeline passed through the site—rendering construction unfeasible.

As per a news report by TOI, the issue came to light after Lulu Group took possession of the 18,693 sq m plot near SP Ring Road in Chandkheda and found that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had already begun laying a water pipeline through the property. The pipeline, running beneath a service road, was originally part of Town Planning Scheme No. 44—information that was not disclosed to the buyer. This road occupies 2,947 sq m of the land purchased by Lulu.

Following this, a joint site inspection involving officials from Lulu, AUDA, and AMC confirmed the mistake. Therefore, with adjacent plots unavailable and no alternate land offered, AUDA approved a ₹23.6 crore refund, marking a costly correction to the bureaucratic lapse. DeshGujarat