Cannot take back Emaar land, panel tells state government

Hyderabad: The state government's attempt to find a legal way out in the Emaar Properties issue is not possible at this stage, opined a committee of IAS and law officers. It said since CBI cases were pending in courts and the trial was yet to begin, the government cannot take back valuable land in Manikonda from Emaar on the ground that it is unused.

The committee suggested that the government make efforts to revive the 100-storey Reliance Towers and Jubilee Hills Landmark projects instead of exiting from these public-private partnership projects. “In Emaar-MGF, the villa plots and flats have been sold and have changed hands multiple times over the last ten years. It’s not possible to resume the land at this stage. In the case of Reliance Towers, the company had paid over Rs 250 crore to the government in 2007 for 76 acres. In the case of the Landmark project, the realty firms paid Rs 335 crore to the government in 2006. All these projects are mid-way and cannot be scrapped at this stage,” official sources said.

The 535-acre Emaar-MGF project to construct a residential township comprising luxury villas and flats, a golf course etc was approved by the TD government in 2003. The controversial dilution of APIIC’s stake happened during the Congress regime, in 2005, which led to CBI cases in 2010, halting the project. The government initiated the process to take back 200 acres lying unused from Emaar. The apartments were constructed on 14 acres of land, but they remain incomplete, causing a loss of around Rs 300 crore to buyers. Villa plots occupied an area of 100 acres. Nearly 210 buyers are believed to have bought flats for Rs 1.80 crore each.