Industries in Telangana seek more time to sit on pricey land
Companies have cited various reasons to not start work on the land allotted to them.
Hyderabad: Industries that have failed to commence operations several years after being allotted land by the government are now seeking another extension of the deadline citing demonetisation and the resultant cash crunch for the delay.
Twenty-eight industries hold over 100 acres each on the city’s outskirts and the land commands huge real estate value. Many others hold smaller plots.
These industries were allotted land by previous Congress governments between 2004 and 2014. Industries had to commence construction within six months of allotment of the land.
The companies secured periodic extensions from the government under different pretexts, which were as varied as the global recession, the China economy nosedive and the statehood agitation.
After the state was formed in June 2014, the TRS government reviewed the land allotments made by the AP government and decided to take back unused lands. It was found that over 7,000 acres allotted to nearly 250 industries was lying unused.
Some 230 of them have now requested the government to extend the deadline for a third time by six months to a year. The second deadline exp-ired in December 2016. These land parcels are located mostly on the city's outskirts covering old Ranga Reddy, Mahbubnagar, Medak and Nalgonda districts.
The industries department is not buying the demonetisation argument since the lands have been in the possession of the owners for 10 years and demonetisation occurred just three months ago.
Minister K.T. Rama Rao has convened a meeting with industry and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corpo-ration officials to discuss how to proceed further.