Harish urges SEBI to probe serious violations by TGIIC

Hyderabad: BRS senior leader T Harish Rao on Thursday urged Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to order an urgent investigation into serious irregularities and potential violations of SEBI regulations by the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) and the Government of Telangana.

The BRS leader wrote a detailed letter to the SEBI Chairman. In the letter, Harish Rao raised strong objections over the mortgaging of 400 acres of land in the Kancha-Gachibowli region, land which has been flagged by a Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee as ‘forest-like’ and environmentally sensitive. The same land has reportedly been used to raise large sums through Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), allegedly without disclosing its legal and environmental status to lenders or investors. “This is not just a financial violation; it is a betrayal of public trust and a misuse of natural resources for questionable financial engineering,” Harish Rao said.

Harish Rao also flagged the financial capacity of TGIIC, noting that its annual turnover was reportedly less than Rs 150 crore, while it is raising thousands of crores rupees through NCDs, a move that raises red flags over repayment ability and disclosure norms. He further questioned the recent conversion of TGIIC from a private limited company to a public limited company, alleging that this structural change may have been carried out without full regulatory transparency or compliance with the Companies Act and SEBI guidelines.

Rao further said that merchant bankers were paid over Rs 169 crore plus GST to structure these transactions, despite the questionable status of the land used as collateral. “This issue concerns not only regulatory compliance, but also environmental responsibility and public interest,” he wrote, urging SEBI to investigate the entire chain of transactions and hold all parties accountable.