Builders feel cheated

• Land sold by APIIC to a company is earmarked as heritage land
• Govt. refuses to allot alternate land or pay back the money
• Court litigation is not disclosed before auctioning the land
• Brand Hyderabad is taking a severe beating
• Builders all over the country are fearing to come to Hyderabad
• Govt seeks to give away a land, that was sold to others long back, to a new company on the basis of nomination

Hyderabad: “It is downright cheating”, thunders the industry as the State Government stakes its claim over the land that was sold in a clean deal by public auction to facilitate establishment of an integrated I T project park in Hyderabad involving the private investors. Industrialists and institutions of repute that bought 424.13 acres of government land that was declared surplus in Survey No. 83 of Raidurga (V) in Serilingampally mandal of Ranga Reddy district were in for a rude shock as the AP Industries Infrastructure Corporation Limited (APIIC) hurriedly got the stone laid for Gaming and Entertainment (GAME) Park by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday in the same land. The move to go ahead with the GAME park project ignoring the rights of the entrepreneurs who paid over Rs 2000 crore to the government towards the cost of the land allotted to them way back in 2007 snowballed into a major controversy.

Adding salt to the injury, the industry representatives, who sought to lodge their protest in the presence of the Chief Minister were caned and literally necked out of the function.

The APIIC fetched Rs 20 crores to Rs 22 crores per acre by auctioning the land without spelling out the real status of the land. It was part of the land that was listed a heritage precincts in 2003. The Chief Minister was visibly embarrassed when J. Rameshwar Rao, chairman of My Home Industries Limited, who stood up from the audience for voicing his anguish over the way the government sold the disputed land to the industry by taking Rs 2000 crores. Rameswar Rao who paid Rs 600 crores for his share of land in the auction was annoyed as he was prevented from speaking. He later told the media persons that the government is indulging in cheating and they have no faith in the State government.

The government collected huge money and then allots the lands to someone else, refused to show alternate land or pay back the money. Dr Rameswar Rao happened to be the highest tax payer in the state and one of the biggest industrialists from the south. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who had all the appreciation for the role played by him in industrial growth of the region, got him inducted as one of the Task Force member of Rajiv Yuvakiranalu, his favourite programme, along with Mallikharjuna Rao of GMR.

Those who got the land allotted in the same survey number by taking part in open auction included the State Bank of Hyderabad, the ITC, DLF and Purvankars. Representatives of the Industry took up the issue with the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, well before the Game Park was proposed reportedly with the special initiative of the Minister for Information Technology, Ponnala Lakshmaiah. Industry representatives were reportedly denied proper audience and even snubbed by the Information Technology Minister when they sought to prevail on him stressing the legalities involved in the issue. A technical committee was constituted involving representatives of different agencies and universities at the behest of the Chief Minister as they represented the issue to him to study scope for utilization of the land carrying the heritage tag. In fact the government had appointed a committee of officers and a technical committee.

The technical committee has submitted its report and the report of the officials’ committee is due. Without waiting for the committee’s report the function to lay the foundation for the gaming park was organized.

Same experience was in store for the builders who purchased land in the government auction more than twelve years ago. The land had a litigation, a fact that was not disclosed before the auction. When the land owners wanted permissions to develop the land, the litigation came in the way. The cases pertaining the lands are still in courts.

The injustice meted out to the builders is peculiar to Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. In no State would this kind of thing happens. The government auctions the lands, collects money and registers the land. Then it says the land is part of heritage land. It refuses to provide alternate land or give money. When the builders approach court of law which directs the government to pay their money back or allot alternate site. Instead of implementing the High Court directive, the government files a Special Leave Petition in the apex court. All the reputed builders across the country are vexed with the government and are afraid of investing in Hyderabad, according a senior builder. Some of the builders approached Chief Secretary Mohanty and requested him for justice. Mohanty had asked the concerned officials to get back to him with details. The builders are unnerved and seething with indignation.