Hyderabad: The state government is making an attempt to utilise the Supreme Court’s recent judgement to sell the valuable Kokapet land to raise an estimated Rs 15,000 crore for the improvement of infrastructure in the city.
The government has sought legal opinion on the possibility of declaring the Kokapet land auction conducted by the Congress government in 2007 as invalid and putting the land up for auction again, to raise money. This money will be used for the development of infrastructure which is in dire need of attention because of the impact of Metro Rail works, heavy rains and waterlogging, and the frequent digging up of roads by various utility agencies over the past three years.
The Congress government had allotted 623 acres of land in Kokapet to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to raise money for the development of the city. The HMDA auctioned 166 acres of the land for Rs 1,760 crore in 2007 and allotted 50 acres to an information technology special economic zone.
Firms that purchased the lands only paid the government Rs 660 crore. When the government sought the balance amount, some individuals approached the court claiming ownership of the land in question. The firms then refused to pay the balance amount claiming that the government had tried to sell them land parcels that were under dispute.
The SC recently ruled that the lands do belong to the government.
State for cancelling auctions
The state government wishes to utilise this opportunity to declare the previous auction as invalid on the grounds that the firms had failed to pay the full amount even after nearly a decade. The case is expected to be heard by the Supreme Court this week.
Municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao held a meeting with senior officials on Monday to finalise the arguments to be submitted by the government before the Supreme Court when the case comes up for hearing.
According to official sources, the government will push for the cancellation of the previous auction.
If the top court approves the cancellation, the state government will put the entire land parcel up for auction afresh. The land is expected to fetch over Rs 15,000 crore. Even if there is a delay in these plans, the government wishes to auction the previously un-auctioned 407 acres of land, which could fetch up to Rs 12,000 crore at the current market rate of Rs 25 crore to Rs 30 crore per acre.
