BRS demands Assembly session to debate controversial industrial land policy

BRS leader T Harish Rao criticised the Congress government’s Hyderabad Industrial Land Conversion policy, calling it a major land scam. He sought an immediate Assembly session, a full probe and answers to key questions on revenue loss, land valuation and alleged favours to builders.

Hyderabad: Demanding an immediate Assembly session to enable full debate on the controversial Hyderabad Industrial Land Conversion policy of the Congress government, Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) senior leader T Harish Rao on Saturday sought an immediate probe into what he called collusion with real estate interests and pre-arranged deals.

Addressing a news conference at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao and other party leaders also demanded complete suspension of the policy until all allegations were clarified and questions answered.

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Harish Rao posed eight pointed questions to the Congress government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, seeking immediate answers on the controversial new industrial land conversion policy that allows payment of just 30 percent of the land value instead of the higher rates followed during the previous BRS regime. Calling the policy the ‘biggest land scam in the country’, he said it would lead to a huge revenue loss running into lakhs of crores to the State exchequer and would amount to favouring select builders and industrialists.

Harish Rao asked why the Congress government was accepting only 30 percent of the lower Sub-Registrar Value instead of the much higher TGIIC rate (two to three times SRV) that the previous BRS government applied to increase State revenue. He wanted to know from the government, which has repeatedly promised to revise market values soon (first inside ORR, then outside), why there was undue haste to bring this policy before revising the rates, which would have given several times higher revenue to the State.

“When the BRS government charged up to two hundred percent premium in some cases for land conversion, why has the Congress government reduced it to a mere 30 percent, effectively giving away lakhs of crores of public money? Chief Minister Revanth Reddy once strongly opposed the layout regularisation scheme (LRS) saying it burdened the poor. But now the government has decided to charge poor homeowners 60 to 80 percent fees under LRS while giving industrialists prime land at just 30 percent,” he said.

“The new policy states that the 30 percent payment includes all processing fees with no separate CLU, NALA or HMDA charges. Does this not deprive HMDA of an estimated Rs 13500 crore in legitimate conversion fees? Does the policy quietly benefit lands around the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and not just those inside it, as officially claimed?” he asked.

“Was the policy prepared six months ago with pre-arranged agreements for favoured builders, especially the Anumula brothers? Will the projected Rs 5000 crore collection from this policy be used for developing new industrial corridors, or will it be diverted to clear pending bills of select contractors after taking commissions?” he asked, warning that the BRS would not remain silent while “ancestral assets belonging to four crore people of Telangana” were being sold to “fill private pockets”.