Telangana to milk ‘cash cow’ Rangareddy to mop up funds

HYDERABAD: Faced with a worrying economic scenario, the Telangana government has decided to fall back on erstwhile Rangareddy district — a cash cow for previous regimes — to bail it out from further slipping into a financial crisis. The government is planning to fill its coffers by auctioning prime land in various locations, especially in the western and eastern parts of Hyderabad.

Government land in surrounding areas of Hyderabad — especially Kokapet, Madhapur, Nanakramguda, Manikonda, Khanamet, Narsingi, Gachibowli, Uppal Bhagat, Mokila, Poppalguda, Budwel and Miyapur — will be up for grabs.According to industry insiders and senior officials, each acre is likely to fetch Rs 15 crore to Rs 30 crore.
Though land auctions are being planned in the entire state, the authorities are mainly depending on the erstwhile Rangareddy district, which contributes 30% revenue to the registration and stamps department’s earnings.
It may be recalled chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had announced that the government would sell land parcels and deposit the amount earned in the auction in the special development fund (SDF) to utilise it for completing irrigation projects like Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy. “We are collecting details on the availability of government land in every district and its status,” special chief secretary (revenue) Somesh Kumar told STOI.
Departments like HMDA, Telangana Housing Board and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation have land parcels of about 20,000 acres. TSIIC has lands in Khanamet, Raidurg, Manikonda, Madinaguda and Gachibowli.
These departments had earlier auctioned land to individuals and institutions and deposited the amount to the government under resource mobilisation scheme.
Of the total 9,500 acres, around 3,000 acres has either been sold or allotted to various institutions by HMDA in the last one decade. Recently, it auctioned a developed layout at Uppal Bhagat near Nagole, which fetched Rs 670 crore. There are two developed layouts at Uppal Bhagat and Kokapet.
“Instead of small land parcels (less than 1,000 square yards), we may opt for large parcels — 5 to 25 acres — in Kokapet. In Uppal Bhagat, the plot size will be more than 1,000 sq yards and up to one acre, which will come in handy for shopping malls, IT towers and residential complexes,” a senior HMDA official told STOI.