The AMC's budget will prioritize renewable energy and the use of electric vehicles

Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Lochan Sehra proposed a solar rooftop incentive programme and incentives for the use of electric vehicles in the draught budget for 2022-23, which was tabled on Wednesday, in an effort to boost the use of electric vehicles and renewable energy.

The budget, which was presented during election season, recommended no increases in property taxes, water and conservation taxes, or vehicle taxes.

The commissioner has presented a draught budget of Rs 8,111 crore, an increase of Rs 636 crore from the previous year.

In the draught budget, it is requested that 300 places for electric car charging stations be identified, as well as a separate budget for EV charging infrastructure.

"To create an EV charging infrastructure, AMC will provide land at a token rate of Rs 1 per square metre per month along with exemption from town planning and any other development costs. Also, the land used as charging station will be exempted from property tax for three years," the commissioner announced during a virtual presentation of his draft budget Wednesday.

These EV charging stations will be GIS mapped after they are installed, and the list will be uploaded to the AMC website, app, and updated on a regular basis.

In order to improve urban mobility, an additional 100 EV AC buses have been planned in addition to the existing fleet of 200 EV buses.

Furthermore, in addition to the existing 60 e-rickshaws on ten routes, additional 600 have been suggested for 100 routes for last-mile connectivity.

A 10% property tax rebate has been offered to owners of plotted housing schemes under the solar rooftop incentive plan, which will be implemented on April 1,2022.

"For group housing societies, a competition has been proposed where the society has installed rooftop solar along with rainwater harvesting and segregation of wet and dry waste. In each ward, first winner will be awarded Rs 3 lakh, second Rs 2 and third Rs 1 lakh," Sehra said.

"Being the last year for Smart Cities Mission, AMC seeks to complete ongoing initiatives as well as propose new ones," Sehra stated, referring to the 'Smart City' project.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner requested a Rs 53 crore allocation for the 'Smart City' initiative in his draught budget, more than tripling the previous allocation of Rs 25 crore for the year 2021-22.

New projects, such as a 'Youth Town Plaza' under the 'Eat Smart' project, have been suggested for the city as part of the Smart City project, in addition to continuing work.

There will also be a creative activity and a game zone for children. Under the Smart City initiative, Ahmedabad also intends to build a wind power facility.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation wants to implement an automated land encroachment monitoring and prevention system employing geo fencing at a cost of Rs 16 crore to address the issue of encroachment on public land, especially open plots.

This will feature a camera mounted on a pillar inside the plot that will be controlled by a mobile SIM card and will send an alarm to the ward estate inspector in charge.

LED Variable Message Displays will be deployed at 26 of the 126 strategic locations under the integrated command and control centre (ICCC) by March 2022.