State to earn 20 times more than BRS’ GRID policy
Hyderabad: The state government on Tuesday asserted that it would earn Rs 10,776 crore through the Hyderabad Industrial Land Transformation Policy (HILTP) by relocating pollution-causing industries from the GHMC limits to areas beyond the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and by permitting the conversion of vacated industrial lands for residential and commercial purposes.
The government said, the state would have earned only Rs 574 crore — 20 times less — from industrial land conversions under the previous BRS regime’s GRID policy.
Replying to a debate on the HILTP and the Telangana Rising 2047 vision document in the Legislative Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the policy was designed not only to generate substantial revenue for the state exchequer but also to transform Hyderabad into a clean, green and pollution-free global city.
He explained that the government had fixed an average Development Impact Fee of Rs 7 crore per acre for industrial land conversions under the HILTP, ensuring a uniform and transparent mechanism.
Bhatti strongly rejected allegations by BRS leaders that the HILTP was a Rs 5 lakh crore scam, stating that it was the previous government that had indulged in irregularities by granting permissions for land conversions selectively and without a comprehensive policy framework.
In contrast, he said, the Congress government had introduced a bold and transparent policy that balanced urban development with environmental protection. He made it clear that the government would implement the HILTP irrespective of political opposition, as it was in the larger interests of Telangana and the residents of Hyderabad.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the government was open to any inquiry if opposition parties genuinely believed the policy involved irregularities. He challenged BRS and BJP leaders to formally seek an investigation, adding that the government was prepared to order a probe by any agency, covering land conversions carried out since 2014 during the BRS tenure as well as those proposed under the current policy.
Industries minister D. Sridhar Babu, responding to the debate, dismissed Opposition claims that the government was selling land at throwaway prices under the HILTP. He said the policy was formulated after detailed consultations with experts and a careful assessment of ground realities by a Cabinet sub-committee.
The conversion fee, he said, was fixed strictly in accordance with rules and after due deliberations, ensuring complete transparency in implementation.
Sridhar Babu clarified that participation in the HILTP was voluntary and time-bound, with industrial owners required to apply within six months if they wished to convert their land. He said that the government was considering making relocation mandatory for highly polluting red and orange category industries within GHMC limits, following consultations with all political parties at an all-party meeting.
Terming the criticism by BRS and BJP as baseless, the minister accused both parties of spreading deliberate misinformation. He noted that industrial associations had welcomed the policy and had, in fact, sought such a framework for years. He also recalled that as early as 2013, a mandate existed to shift polluting industries beyond the ORR, which the subsequent BRS government failed to implement.
Questioning the Opposition’s credibility, Sridhar Babu referred to decisions taken during the previous regime, including the granting of freehold rights on government-leased land and attempts under the GRID policy to transfer government lands to private individuals, and asked why opposition parties had remained silent on those issues.
