Sridhar Babu counters KTR’s charges on industrial lands

Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu dismissed BRS allegations on the Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation Policy, saying the government was only collecting conversion fees and not selling lands. He justified the fee structure, denied political beneficiaries and accused the BRS of misleading people

Hyderabad: The State government has dismissed as “baseless” the charges made by the BRS on the Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation Policy (HILTP) 2025.

Addressing a press conference hours after BRS working president KT Rama Rao made the allegations, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu described them as an attempt to mislead people. He said the government was not selling any industrial lands but was only collecting conversion fees for freehold lands that were owned by industrial managements. This move was intended to benefit all stakeholders, including industries, the general public and the government, he claimed.

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The Minister avoided responding directly to KT Rama Rao’s allegation that the government was planning to collect conversion fees based on the Sub Registrar Office (SRO) value, which is far lower than the market value. He sought to justify the 30 per cent to 50 per cent conversion fee, stating that even this was “considerable” and had been decided after a meeting with stakeholders.

He said polluting industries would be relocated beyond the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Residents living around these units would get relief from pollution and the government would gain revenue, he explained.

The State government identified 9,292 acres of land within the ORR for conversion under HILTP. Of these, 4,740 acres comprised plotted areas and the remaining land had been utilised for infrastructure development such as roads, drains and parking.

The government was facilitating the freehold landowners to convert their lands into residential, commercial or institutional developments. Through conversion fees, the State government expected to generate Rs.4,000 crore to Rs.5,000 crore, he said.

There was no compulsion on landowners to apply for conversion. If they did not apply, the government would not get any revenue. However, the HILTP policy aimed to unlock the value of these underutilised assets by permitting land conversion, he maintained. Responding to the allegation that several persons close to the Chief Minister and the Chief Minister himself would benefit from the policy, Sridhar Babu asked the BRS to produce proof.

The TGIIC had already sold these freehold lands to industries and the government could not take them back, the Minister stressed. “This is not a new practice. The BRS government in the past collected conversion fees for lease lands. Now, KT Rama Rao is making baseless charges against the Congress government,” Sridhar Babu said.

He criticised Rama Rao for what he termed “threatening developers and builders” to stop them from procuring freehold lands from industries, adding that the BRS should not create obstacles to the State’s development.

On Rama Rao’s comments that the Congress government could not arrest him in the Formula E race case, the Industries Minister said, “Our intention is not to arrest but to follow the rules. We will abide by the law and will not indulge in vendetta politics.”