Cash-strapped Telangana Congress govt eyes Rs 3,500 cr through land, flats auction

Residential plots, unsold flats under Telangana Housing Board and Rajiv Swagruha Corporation to go under the hammer

Hyderabad: The cash-strapped Congress government is set to raise over Rs 3,500 crore by auctioning residential plots and unsold flats under the Telangana Housing Board and Rajiv Swagruha Corporation across the State. A notification for these auctions is expected next month.

Nearly 1,400 open plots, ranging from 100-500 square yards, are located in well-planned layouts at 41 locations, including Chandanagar, Gajularamaram, Kundanapally, Kurmalguda and Bahadurpally, in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) area and various other districts, including Karimnagar, Khammam, Gadwal and others.

---

Additionally, 361 unfinished houses will be put up for sale. These follow earlier auctions where 3,444 plots and 195 houses were sold.
Efforts are also under way to sell around 700 unsold flats at the Rajiv Swagruha gated townships in Pocharam, Bandlaguda near Nagole, Jawaharnagar and Gajularamaram, among others. Many of these properties have remained unsold since the scheme’s launch in 2007 in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, despite six previous auction phases.

The move comes amidst fiscal challenges, including poor revenue collections for the State during the current fiscal, compared to the last financial year. Telangana’s revenue receipts stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore by November this fiscal, compared to Rs 1.11 lakh crore during the same period last year.

While total receipts are around Rs 1.41 lakh crore against expenditure of Rs 1.38 lakh crore, another Rs 2,621 crore was spent towards loans and disbursements at November-end. As a result, the State faces a revenue deficit of Rs 14,288 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 37,850 crore. This auction aims to bridge the widening fiscal gap.