Telangana eyes Annapurna studio land

Hyderabad: The Telangana state government is all set  to acquire a half-acre portion of land of the Annapurna Studios in Banjara Hills, owned by Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, for road widening. The road widening works have been pending for more than three years.

The management initially refused to part with the land, but agreed to it later. The acquisition got delayed as there was no clarity on how the studio would be compensated. The government is now planning to offer transfer of development rights instead of paying cash.

The TDR will entitle the land owners to transfer development rights and use it in any other property that he or she may own or transfer it to any other person for a consideration. The government planned to widen road from Banjara Hills Road No. 2 to Jubilee Hills Road No. 5 and the Krishnanagar Junction via Annapurna Studios to ease traffic congestion.

Khairatabad MLA C. Ramachandra Reddy, under whose constituency the Banjara Hills area falls, met the management along with GHMC officials and persuaded them to give up the land. He told them that the measure would save tens of houses in nearby slums from demolition. Officials remained tight-lipped on the compensation issue.

One argument goes that there is no need to pay compensation since the land was allotted by the government for a nominal price in 1975. The management argues that the studio contributed to the growth of Telugu film industry in Hyderabad, after shifting from Chennai, and provided huge revenue to the government and employment to thousands of people.

Annapurna Studios managing director Y. Supriya said, “We never opposed handing over some portion of land for road widening in the public interest, we gave an undertaking three years ago. There are certain structures on the site. We just sought precautionary measures to ensure that there is no threat to these structures.”.

However, the 'political clout' enjoyed by the management seemed to have worked out as the TS government is learnt to have offered TDR as compensation, which the management can utilise to develop property in the same or other locations with relaxed norms.

Annapurna Studios was founded by late Tollywood actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. The government had allotted 22 acres in Banajara Hills for the promotion of the Telugu film industry in Hyderabad at a nominal price ranging from Rs 7,500 to Rs 8,000 per acre. The land is now worth up to Rs 30 crore per acre.