Ahmedabad Air Funnel Zones: Building Height Restrictions

Ahmedabad has a documented, not theoretical, demolition problem. Following a 2022 aeronautical survey, the DGCA issued 46 demolition notices in January 2024 under the Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions) Rules, 1994. As of November 2025, 13 of those structures are being razed by AMC because the owners did not comply. Investigators found that most violations arose from a specific and avoidable error: builders declared incorrect plinth elevations, which made their AMSL height appear compliant when the actual structure was not.

DGCA and AAI now require AMC and AUDA to conduct physical on-site elevation checks before issuing any Building Use (BU) permission near SVPIA. The table below shows the six color-coded height-control zones that now govern all construction around the airport.

The trap most buyers fall into: the permissible height shown in the CCZM is measured in meters above mean sea level (AMSL), not above ground level. A plot on raised ground near the runway approach path may appear in a green or blue zone yet carry only a few meters of usable building height once site elevation is subtracted. Any developer who cannot give you a signed site elevation certificate from a licensed surveyor with WGS84 coordinates is not in compliance with current AUDA requirements, and that project cannot legally receive BU permission.

SVPIA sits at Hansol, approximately 9 km north of Ahmedabad's city center. The runway runs northeast to southwest, which concentrates the most restrictive funnel zone over localities aligned with those approach and take-off paths. Corridors directly under the approach funnel carry the sharpest height caps: at 1,000 meters from the runway edge, the maximum permissible height is just 20 meters above ground.

The table below maps sourced locality data against zone risk for buyers.

The most misread corridor is Chandkheda. Brokers routinely market it as fully outside the airport zone. It is not; it sits in a transition between yellow and pink zones, meaning mid-rise projects above 95 meters AMSL still require a separate AAI NOC. For reference, Ahmedabad's ground elevation is roughly 53 metres AMSL, which means a Yellow-zone plot in Chandkheda yields about 42 meters of buildable height before an NOC is required, fewer floors than many projects in that market currently advertise.