The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Ahmedabad has launched a formal investigation into suspected gross irregularities in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's (AMC) high-profile ‘Mission 4 Million Trees’ campaign. The probe was triggered after the project's cost inexplicably more than doubled, ballooning to Rs 131 crore from an originally approved budget of Rs 64 crore.
How the Tree Plantation Budget Spiralled Out of Control
Under the ambitious initiative, the AMC had announced plans to plant 40 lakh trees across the city in 2025. The civic body issued tenders for planting and maintaining approximately 20 lakh trees, awarding contracts to three contractors. The standing committee of the AMC had sanctioned an expenditure of around Rs 64 crore for this specific component.
However, in a startling development, the contractors proceeded to plant nearly 29 lakh trees—exceeding the approved target by a whopping 9 lakh trees. This unilateral increase in scale led to a projected expenditure of Rs 131 crore, imposing an additional burden of Rs 67 crore on the public exchequer without due approval.
A Procedural Twist and Subsequent Scrutiny
The sequence of events reveals a complex procedural journey. Initially, on June 18, 2025, the garden department officials proposed a single consolidated contract for tree plantation, labour, and maintenance worth Rs 69 crore. This proposal would have attracted about Rs 5 crore in GST.
The AMC standing committee intervened and amended the proposal. It directed that separate tenders be floated for tree procurement, plantation, labour supply, and maintenance. This move was seen as a corrective measure that avoided the GST liability, ultimately bringing the officially approved cost down to Rs 64 crore.
Despite this, the contractors later exceeded the plantation target massively. Crucially, they did not seek prior approval from the municipal commissioner or the standing committee for this overrun. When a subsequent file seeking approval for the Rs 131 crore payment was submitted, the municipal commissioner refused to clear it and instead formed a separate committee to scrutinise the proposal, paving the way for the ACB's involvement.
ACB Investigation Focuses on Lapses and Corruption
The ACB has now stepped in to examine the entire episode. The bureau has written to the principal director of the AMC's garden department, demanding the original files and all documents related to the tenders issued under the campaign.
Officials familiar with the probe stated that while AMC norms permit a 10–20% increase over the original tender amount under specific circumstances, a near 100% escalation without mandatory approvals is highly irregular. The ACB aims to ascertain whether this massive cost overrun points to serious administrative failures, procedural violations, or outright corruption.
The investigation will meticulously scrutinise:
- The tendering process and award of contracts.
- The role and decisions of garden department officials.
- The justification and authorisation for exceeding the plantation target.
- The overall sequence that led to the doubling of project costs.
The outcome of this probe is keenly awaited, as it involves a significant sum of public money allocated for a critical environmental initiative in Gujarat's largest city.
