Anar Patel's associates in Gujarat got their land at a 91.6% discount

The Gujarat government sold 422 acres of land at Amreli, near the Gir forest reserve, to business associates of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel's daughter, Anar Patel, at Rs 15 per square metre, showing a 91.6 per cent discount on the government's stamp duty rate of Rs 180 per square metre, reports The Economic Times.

However, the cow protection group, Muralidhar Gau Seva Trust, which had also applied for land in the same area, was quoted Rs 671 per square metre when the stamp duty rate for that plot was Rs 190 per square metre.

The two proposals had been considered by a state government committee during the same meeting.

The land sold to Dakshesh Shah and Amol Sheth, business associates of Anar Patel, was developed as Wildwoods Resorts after receiving permission to change the land use category from agricultural to non-agricultural.

The stamp duty price, or jantri, of the land occupied by Waldwoods was confirmed by Gujarat government officials who said that the sale of the land had followed due process and that there is often a gap between the jantri rate for land and the actual market price.

"The jantri rate is a ready reckoner but it isn't the market rate," said the state government official. "While evaluating the price of land, the jantri rate is just one input. Many other factors such as the proximity to roads, development, etc, also come into play. Land price is determined at market rate and not the jantri rate."

The official added: "No political pressure was put and all decisions were taken by the officers themselves. The reports on the evaluation of the land did not even make it up to the level of the then revenue minister (Anandiben Patel) and was handled at the secretary level itself."

The decision to sell the land to Wildwoods was taken after considerations from the deputy town planner, a committee headed by the local collector, the chief town planner and a committee comprising finance, revenue and urban development secretaries.

"The committee of secretaries met twice to validate the price. The chief town planner had suggested a price of Rs 15 per square metre for 16 hectares of land and Rs 6 per square metre for the remainder, which the committee enhanced to Rs 15," said the official.

The Muralidhar Gau Seva Trust on the other hand, said the official, was quoted a different price because the plot it wanted is located 30 km away from the Wildwoods plot.

In a 2014 report, the local range forest officer had said that he had found forest activity in the land allotted to Wildwoods in 2010. That year, two km around the Gir Forest Reserve was marked as an exclusion zone. The Wildwoods plot was within that zone.

However, in 2015, that exclusion zone was reduced to 1.5 km, taking Wildwoods out of the zone.

Wildwoods was given the land on the conditions that the ownership would not change and that the resorts would be ready for tourism within five years. However, the ownership of the land changed from Sanjay Dhanak to firms owned by Dakshesh Shah and Amol Sheth, and the project has yet to begin.

The state government official said that the revenue department was looking into possible violations of these conditions. He added: "Wildwoods submitted an application in September last year seeking an extension on the time frame for project completion. We are mulling over it. There has been no unusual haste on our part to accede to their request."