Surat: The Gujarat Congress party today alleged a multi-crore land scam in Olpad taluka of Surat, claiming that family members of state minister Mukesh Patel were also involved in the irregularities. According to the allegation, land was acquired in a different village than the one originally designated by the Power Grid Corporation of India for setting up a substation, resulting in a huge financial loss to the state exchequer.

Addressing a press conference, the Leader of the Congress Legislative Party in the Gujarat Assembly, Dr. Tushar Chaudhary, said, “On August 6, 2025, the Senior General Manager of Power Grid Corporation wrote to the Mamlatdar of Olpad for land acquisition in Takarama, Gola, and Rajnagar villages for setting up a power station. However, on August 20, 2025, when the notification was issued, the substation location was moved to Olpad village instead of these three villages. The Jantri rate in these three villages was ₹200, whereas in Olpad village, the rate is ₹600.”

The Congress claims that within a 14-day period, 87 bigha of land plots were allegedly converted to non-agricultural (NA) status. Due to this, earlier, the Power Grid had to pay ₹59 crore, but after the land was made NA, the Power Grid Corporation had to pay around ₹175 crore — an extra payment of approximately ₹116 crore.

The Congress has alleged that the land was purchased by politically influential individuals and relatives, including the brother of Olpad MLA and state minister Mukesh Patel. The party claims that these individuals, having prior knowledge of the substation project, purchased land cheaply, converted it into NA plots, and forced the government to pay inflated rates for acquisition — causing a loss of approximately ₹116 crore to the state treasury.

The Congress has demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged scam. It has also sought the immediate dismissal of the minister for a fair inquiry, as well as an investigation into similar past cases and the alleged sudden rise in the wealth of those involved.

Meanwhile, Minister Mukesh Patel refuted the allegations, saying that the Congress is making false claims. “My brothers and I live separately, and this is not new. The company involved is a private company,” he added. He also stated that the Power Grid actually witnessed a profit during the land acquisition instead of a loss. DeshGujarat