Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has sought reports from revenue officials, the Ranga Reddy district administration and the TS Industrial Infrastructure Corporation on irregularities in land allotments to the Gitanjali Group owned by Mehul Choksi.
The company did not fulfil its promise and also failed to utilise a major portion of the land allotted even after a decade, and instead got Rs 120 crore from the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) by mortgaging the land.
Official sources in the revenue department said that the company made use of only 30 acres and 65 acres is lying vacant. The government plans to take back the vacant land which now costs Rs 1.50 crore per acre.
The company was allotted land for just Rs 4 lakh per acre in 2007 when the market price was Rs 50 lakh per acre. The government has the power to take back unutilised lands from industries by issuing notices.
The Congress government had allotted 4,000 acres mostly on the city’s outskirts for Special Economic Zones and industries. Many industries failed to take off or used the land for other purposes.
The government took back 448 acres from 95 industries and another 250 acres allotted to Indutech SEZ was cancelled.
Nearly 700 acres has been taken back from 205 industries and another 600 acres is in the process of being taken back from another 150 industries.
“We are inquiring into the details of the terms and conditions set for allotment of land in 2007, how the allotted land is being used now and what procedures were followed for registration of land in 2014. We will seek legal opinion on how to go forward in resuming the unutilised lands from the Gitanjali Group” said E.V. Narasimha Reddy, vice chairman, TSIIC.
Though the land was allotted to Gitanjali in the Rajiv Gems Park SEZ in 2007, it was registered in the name of the company in a hurry just before the bifurcation of the state in 2014, which raises suspicion about what prompted the officials to expedite the process, and that too is being inquired into.
The company promised to provide employment to 3,500 people but provided jobs to just 2,000 people in the beginning, which has come down to about 900 people now.
