Telangana R&B department plans asset monetisation to boost revenues

The Roads and Buildings (R&B) department in Telangana, facing budgetary shortfalls, is exploring monetisation of its lands and guest houses to meet revenue needs. Officials said the initiative aligns with the state’s goal of achieving a three trillion USD economy.

Hyderabad: The cash-starved Roads and Buildings (R&B) department is exploring the possibility of monetising its lands and assets, particularly guest houses, to meet its growing revenue requirements.

The move is in line with the State government’s plan to transform Telangana into a three trillion USD economy, according to officials.

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The R&B department is responsible for laying roads and maintaining them. However, it does not generate any revenue from either new road works or routine repairs, including wear and tear maintenance.

Besides this, annual budgetary allocations of Rs. 2,000 crore to Rs. 3,000 crore fall short of the department’s actual requirements. As a result, it has begun exploring the monetisation of its lands and assets to bridge the gap.

The department owns about 1,700 acres of land across the State. In addition, it has nearly 100 guest houses, of which around 40 to 50 per cent are defunct and in a dilapidated condition.

“Many guest houses have remained closed for a long time due to failure in paying power bills,” a senior department official said.

As part of the initiative, the R&B department is planning to develop its guest houses on the lines of the Tourism department’s Haritha hotels. After reconstruction and development, the guest houses would be rented out on a daily basis, similar to the model followed by the tourism department, the official explained.

The department also owns large extents of land, protecting them from encroachments has emerged as a major challenge for officials. Most of these lands have remained unused for years.

To put the lands to optimum use, officials are planning to involve private agencies and execute projects under the Public Private Partnership mode.

“But to execute these plans, agencies have to be roped in and all possibilities of monetisation have to be explored. The R&B department has to contribute its part to the government’s three trillion USD economy plans and, to do so, asset monetisation is inevitable,” the official said.