Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, owner of several properties where popular establishments are located, used to shell out big amounts due to illogical rental agreements that were made in the past.
But not anymore. The urban body revisited all its rental agreements, some of which are stuck in legal hurdles, after their tenures ran out.
The earlier parties made efforts to create legal hurdles in the urban body’s path, but the urban body put up a relentless fight in courts, some of which were taken till the Supreme Court.
Take the case of a popular hotel having several branches in the city and famous for serving biryani. A private group got the tender at Rs 7 lakh per month and they gave a sub-lease to the hotel for Rs 16 lakh rent per month.
Also, a group that was running Yogi Bear Park next to Sanjeevaiah Park that has inbuilt recreational activities for children and also two halls for hosting birthday parties and functions was paying Rs 1.8 lakh per annum rent.
And the rent the private group collected for a party conducted on the premises for a few hours was a very high Rs 70,000. So one can get an idea how private individuals minted money while the property owner was left with peanuts.
According to HMDA commissioner T. Chiranjeevulu, public money that was lost due to very low rental tariffs for properties in prime areas have been rectified.
“The urban body got a hundred per cent increase in rentals that are under Buddha Purnima Project Authority (BPPA). Earlier, the rents received was Rs 4.5 crore, now it has gone past Rs 9 crore.”
Meanwhile, chief relations officer B. Suresh, who worked on fresh rentals, stated that they also revised rentals for parking lots, canteens, security agencies, and it boosted revenues to the HMDA.
