Telangana government out to mop up revenue from sale of costly lands in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: After mobilising funds from the financial institutions mainly RBI in the lockdown period, the Telangana State government is getting ready for the sale of costly lands mainly in Greater Hyderabad limits to meet the financial requirements in the current financial year.

While the government has already identified litigation free lands worth nearly Rs 30,000 crore which are ready for sale in the State, the authorities are studying the market price and demand for the land in the crisis time. In the wake of reports that the land prices are going down slowly, the HMDA, which is the official agency for the protection of costly lands in Kokapet and parts of old Rangareddy district , is preparing ground to the sale of lands.

Aiming to generate Rs 3,000 crore in the first phase, the government has already decided to dispose off the assets owned by the debunked Rajiv Swagruha Corporation and constituted a three-member official committee.The corporation has been floated by the then Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in 2007. The corporation had planned for 32 projects, consisting of about 46,565 units to construct about 4 crore square feet with an estimated cost of about Rs.8,504 crores. The corporation had constructed apartments aiming to provide affordable housing to the middle classes in Bandalguda, Jawahar Nagar, Pocharam in Hyderabad and independent houses in the major municipalities like Khammam, Warangal and Karimangar. Most the units were not sold due to various reasons.

After Telangana Formation, the State government cleared bank loans and released all projects from mortgage. The government's efforts to sell the properties did not receive positive response till today. Officials said that the committee will review the status of the Swagruha properties and finalise the market price. The realty companies will also be invited to take over the lands and the apartments. Soon after the disposal of the corporation properties, officials said that the government will start selling open lands in the open auction on the lines the Uppal Bhagat lands were sold fetching nearly Rs 1,500 crore revenue to the State exchequer recently. Nearly 1,000 acres of vacant lands were identified in the possession of State Housing Board. Official figures said that in Rangareddy and Hyderabad districts, the board was possessing 640 acres and another 350 in the other districts.

Government has got legal clearances and owned 4,000 acres of costly land in Kokapet, Puppalaguda and Mokilla, Pratapasingaram and in some places in the Medchal district. These lands alone will generate more than Rs 10,000 crore as the land values have gone up manifold in the Greater Hyderabad limits.

In the corona crisis, State revenues dropped all time low and the major fund resources is the sale of costly lands to spend money on various welfare and developmental programmes in the next three quarters of the financial year.