Ahmedabad: The officials of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) are facing embarrassment over mismanaged land deals. It has come to light that AUDA sold a land plot in Chandkheda, but officials realized only a year later that the sale had inadvertently included land earmarked for a service road.

In a case that has raised eyebrows, 21,685 sq m of prime land adjoining SP Ring Road in Chandkheda was auctioned to a developer for Rs 166 crore. Nearly a year later, officials in the estate department discovered that the town planning department had reserved part of the land for a 9-meter-wide service road, which had been mistakenly included in the sale.

In the wake of this realization, officials during a board meeting on September 30 proposed granting the chairman authority to issue a Rs 12.7 crore refund to the developer to correct the mistake. The board approved the refund, though members expressed disappointment over the oversight.

The refund of Rs 12.13 crore was issued for the 1,589 sq m that was inadvertently sold, along with Rs 58.43 lakh from the interest collected, bringing the final plot area to 20,096 sq m. DeshGujarat