KTR's In Tight Spot With Misleading Claims On Land Conversion
The government had earlier alloted these land parcels on lease; the land was to revert to the government after the expiry of the lease period.
Hyderabad:The previous BRS government had gifted valuable government land in a few industrial estates in the city, including at Azamabad near the RTC crossroads, to the existing occupants on a platter by converting their lease into freehold after charging a meagre fee.
The government had earlier alloted these land parcels on lease; the land was to revert to the government after the expiry of the lease period. But, the previous BRS government gave permanent ownership rights to the land worth Rs 50 crore to Rs 60 crore per acre after charging less than Rs 15 crore.
Ironically, it was BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao who facilitated this bonanza by enacting an amendment to The Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) Act, 1992 in the Assembly on September 12, 2022, in his capacity as IT and industries minister.
Rama Rao on Friday accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of indulging in a “`5 lakh crore scam” by permitting industrial units located within the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to convert their industrial land to multiple use by charging 30 per cent of the basic market value of the respective plots.
In his eagerness to position the BRS government on a high moral pedestal, he claimed that the BRS administration had fixed 100-200 per cent of the basic value, against 30 per cent fixed by the present Congress government.
Inquiries by Deccan Chronicle revealed that the 100 per cent fee that Rama Rao was referring was not for converting the land use but to give away ownership rights over leased land holdings. “The previous government’s decision was indeed more beneficial to the lease holders of industrial units,” said a senior industries official.
For instance, in the Azamabad industrial area, the prevailing open market value, even according to Rama Rao’s assertion in his press conference on Friday, was Rs 50 crore. The basic market value in the area was Rs 15,000 per sq yd or Rs 7.2 crore per acre. Even after charging 100 per cent of basic value, as per the BRS government’s scheme, the lease holder would pay less than Rs 15 crore per acre and gain ownership rights for the land worth at least `50 crore per acre.
“If there was any scam, it was during the BRS regime. KTR gave absolute ownership to the lease holders,” said IT and industries minister D. Sridhar Babu, explaining the difference. “We are levying conversion charge of 30-50 per cent of the basic market value for industrial land already owned by the private parties.”
The Hyderabad Grid (Growth in Dispersion) policy brought out by the previous BRS government in 2020 also exposed chinks in Rama Rao’s argument. The then government allowed change of land use for industrial units provided they allocated 50 per cent built-up area for IT purposes. Under this scheme, the then government fixed 30 per cent of the basic market value as conversion fee.