The setback is the open strip that must be left between the building and each boundary. What sets it varies by state — usually the size of the plot, the height of the building, or the width of the road outside.
2.5 m for D1 category authorities and 2.0 m for D2 and below. The road-side margin is set by the width of the road the building unit abuts — and where a plot abuts two or more roads, it applies on every one of those sides.
CGDCR-2017 Part II, Regulation 6.7.1, Table 6.24 — and 39 related rules below.
2.5 m for D1 category authorities and 2.0 m for D2 and below. The road-side margin is set by the width of the road the building unit abuts — and where a plot abuts two or more roads, it applies on every one of those sides.
| Road width up to (m) | 7.5 |
| Front setback (m) | 2.5 |
2.5 m for all categories at this road width.
| Road width from (m) | 7.5 |
| Road width up to (m) | 9 |
| Front setback (m) | 2.5 |
3.0 m for D1 authorities, 2.5 m for D2 and below.
| Road width from (m) | 9 |
| Road width up to (m) | 12 |
| Front setback (m) | 3 |
3.0 m across all categories.
| Road width from (m) | 12 |
| Road width up to (m) | 15 |
| Front setback (m) | 3 |
4.5 m for D1 authorities, 3.0 m for D2 and below — the widest gap between categories anywhere in the table.
| Road width from (m) | 15 |
| Road width up to (m) | 18 |
| Front setback (m) | 4.5 |
6.0 m for D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 and D7(A); 4.5 m for D7(B) and D8.
| Road width from (m) | 18 |
| Road width up to (m) | 30 |
| Front setback (m) | 6 |
7.5 m for D1 and D2 authorities; 6.0 m for D3 to D7(A); 4.5 m for D7(B) and D8. For Rajkot (D1-RUDA) it is 6.0 m where the building unit is up to 1,000 m² and the height up to 25 m.
| Road width from (m) | 30 |
| Road width up to (m) | 45 |
| Front setback (m) | 7.5 |
9.0 m for D1 and D2 authorities, 6.0 m for D3 to D7(A), and 4.5 m for D7(B) and D8.
| Road width from (m) | 45 |
| Front setback (m) | 9 |
12.0 m, whatever the road width.
| Front setback (m) | 12 |
The road-side margin required by the road width and the margin required by the building height are both computed, and the higher of the two applies. A tall building on a narrow road takes the height figure, not the road one.
No rear or side margin required, for a ground plus one floor building only.
| Plot area up to (m²) | 25 |
| Rear setback (m) | 0 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 0 |
For non-dwelling, non-industrial buildings up to 16.5 m in height: 3.0 m rear and 3.0 m side. Above 16.5 m and up to 25 m: 4.0 m rear and 4.0 m side. Where the plot is 750 m² or less, 3.0 m applies for building heights up to 25 m.
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
4.5 m for buildings up to 16.5 m in height, 6.0 m up to 25 m, 9.0 m up to 45 m and 12.0 m up to 70 m, in D1 and D2 categories. The margin from a common plot is 3.0 m for buildings up to 25 m in height, and 6.0 m above that, in every category.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is excluded from the margin tables that cover the rest of Gujarat and has its own, Tables 6.28 to 6.39. The difference is not only the figures but what they are keyed on: elsewhere the road-side margin comes from the width of the road, while in GMC it comes from the size of the plot, crossed with whether the road is a Town Road or an Interior Road, and crossed again with the residential zone — R1, R2 or R3.
GMC's tables quote plot sizes as single figures — 50, 70, 81, 90, 135, 200, 250, 330, 504 and above — because these are the standard plot categories of the city's layouts rather than bands. An end plot whose area differs from its category still takes the margins of that category. Categories from 750 m² upward apply to Residential Zone 2 only, and 504 and above to R1 and R3.
6.0 m along a Town Road, for every plot category in Residential Zone 1 and Residential Zone 2. It does not vary with plot size at all — the road type alone decides it.
| Front setback (m) | 6 |
3.0 m along a Town Road in Residential Zone 3 — half what R1 requires on the same road.
| Front setback (m) | 3 |
1.5 m along an Interior Road, in both R1 and R3. Row and twin plots of 81 m², and 90 m² plots, take no interior road margin at all.
| Plot area up to (m²) | 70 |
| Front setback (m) | 1.5 |
Rear 1.5 m in R1 and R3, with no side margin required. A balcony of 1.2 m may project across 5 m of frontage on a 50 m² plot and across 7 m on a 70 m² plot.
| Plot area up to (m²) | 70 |
| Rear setback (m) | 1.5 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 0 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 0 |
4.5 m road-side margin on a road under 24 m, and 6.0 m on a road of 24 m or more. Minimum 4.5 m on the remaining sides either way.
| Road width up to (m) | 24 |
| Front setback (m) | 4.5 |
| Rear setback (m) | 4.5 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 4.5 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 4.5 |
9.0 m road-side margin for plots abutting a road of 30 m or more, and 6.0 m below that. All side margins are 3.0 m for every plot.
| Road width from (m) | 30 |
| Front setback (m) | 9 |
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
12.0 m road-side margin for plots abutting a 'J' road and 9.0 m otherwise, with 3.0 m on all sides. A minimum margin of 30.0 m applies from a river edge — by far the deepest single setback anywhere in the Gujarat regulations, and it is environmental rather than dimensional.
| Front setback (m) | 12 |
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
Road-side margin: on a road up to 12 m it is simply the side margin; 6.0 m on a road of 12 to 18 m; 7.5 m on 18 to 30 m; and 9.0 m above 30 m. Side and rear margins do not follow the road at all — they are 4.5 m for a plot up to 1,000 m² and 6.0 m above it, at every road width.
| Plot area up to (m²) | 1000 |
| Rear setback (m) | 4.5 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 4.5 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 4.5 |
For Dwelling-1 and Dwelling-2 building units: rear margin 2.25 m at every size up to 500 m². The side margin is what moves — not required up to 150 m², 1.5 m on any one side from 150 to 300 m², and 3.0 m on both sides from 300 to 500 m².
| Plot area up to (m²) | 500 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2.25 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
Table 6.40 sits immediately after the GMC tables and belongs to Category D9, a separate authority category with its own road-side margins: 1.5 m up to a 7.5 m road, 3.0 m to 12 m, 4.5 m to 20 m, 6.0 m to 30 m and 7.5 m above. No road-side margin at all is required for plots of 25 m² on roads up to 7.5 m wide. For industrial and commercial development the front margin runs 3.0 m for plots of 50–100 m² and 4.5 m from 101 m² to 500 m². Recorded here so the table is not mistaken for Ahmedabad's, which is the mistake its position invites.
1.0 m on any one side, including the rear side. The rule leaves the choice of which side to the design.
| Plot area from (m²) | 25 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 80 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 1 |
1.5 m on any one side, including the rear side.
| Plot area from (m²) | 80 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 150 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 1.5 |
Rear 2.0 m for both. A row plot needs no side margin; a twin plot needs 2.0 m on one side. Row plots take a 0.45 m projection across 4 m at the front and rear; twin plots take it at the side and rear.
| Plot area from (m²) | 81 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 81 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 2 |
Rear 2.0 m at 90 m² and 2.15 m at 135 m², with 2.0 m on one side in both. A 135 m² plot may also take a 1.20 m balcony across 4 m at the front and a 0.45 m stair landing.
| Plot area from (m²) | 90 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 135 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 2 |
2.5 m along an Interior Road, in both R1 and R3.
| Plot area from (m²) | 135 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 135 |
| Front setback (m) | 2.5 |
2.0 m rear margin, and 1.5 m on any one side.
| Plot area from (m²) | 150 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 300 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 1.5 |
3.0 m in R1 and 4.0 m in R3 — one of the few places in the table where R3 requires more than R1 rather than less.
| Plot area from (m²) | 200 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 250 |
| Front setback (m) | 3 |
Rear 2.0 m, with one side margin of 2.5 m at 200 m² and 3.0 m at 250 m². The rear stays fixed while the side widens.
| Plot area from (m²) | 200 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 250 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 2.5 |
3.0 m rear margin, and 2.0 m on both sides — the first band where both sides must be kept open.
| Plot area from (m²) | 300 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 500 |
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 2 |
3.0 m in R1 and R3, and 5.0 m in R2. This is the smallest category where R2 appears at all.
| Plot area from (m²) | 330 |
| Plot area up to (m²) | 330 |
| Front setback (m) | 3 |
In R1 and R3: rear 2.0 m and sides 2.0 m from 330 m² upward, rising to rear 3.0 m and sides 2.0 m at 900 m². In R2 the figures are far larger and climb steadily — rear 3.0 m with 2.75 m sides at 330 m², reaching rear 8.0 m with 6.0 m sides at 1,650 m² and above. No balcony is allowed on any plot of 504 m² or more.
| Plot area from (m²) | 330 |
| Rear setback (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 2 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 2 |
3.0 m rear margin and 3.0 m on both sides.
| Plot area from (m²) | 500 |
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
For building units above 500 m² other than Dwelling-1 and 2, the margin follows the height of the building. Up to 750 m² of unit area: 3.0 m for buildings up to 25 m. Above 750 m²: 3.0 m up to 15 m of height, 4.0 m from 15 to 25 m, and 6.0 m from 25 to 45 m.
| Plot area from (m²) | 500 |
| Rear setback (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 3 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 3 |
| Height limit (m) | 15 |
4.0 m in R1 and R3, and 6.0 m in R2. In Residential Zone 2 the interior-road margin keeps climbing with the category: 7.0 m at 750 m², 8.0 m at 900 m², 10.0 m at 1,100 m² and 12.0 m at 1,650 m² and above.
| Plot area from (m²) | 504 |
| Front setback (m) | 4 |
Front 10.0 m, rear 8.0 m and sides 8.0 m on a 2,500 m² plot (50 × 50); 8.0 / 6.0 / 6.0 at 1,250 m²; 6.0 / 6.0 / 6.0 at 1,000 m²; 6.0 / 4.0 / 4.0 at 600 m²; and 5.0 / 2.5 / 2.0 at 200 m². Ground coverage is 40% in every band. The plot sizes are as allotted by the government, and an end plot differing in area from its category still takes that category's margins.
| Plot area from (m²) | 2500 |
| Front setback (m) | 10 |
| Rear setback (m) | 8 |
| Side setback 1 (m) | 8 |
| Side setback 2 (m) | 8 |
| Ground coverage (%) | 40 |
Official text: Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations, 2017 (CGDCR-2017) — Part II, Planning Regulations ↗
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