New Secretariat to free land parcels in govt buildings, help TS mop up revenue
HYDERABAD: The state government's office buildings with large parcels of land located in prime areas of the city could be sold or leased to generate significant revenue once the Secretariat, which is being constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 650 crore, opens after Sankranti in January 2023.
Currently, the offices of the commissionerates and directorates of various departments are housed in government buildings across the city. All of them will be relocated to the Secretariat which will be an integrated complex from which ministers and heads of all departments will work to facilitate better coordination and speed up service delivery to people.
Most of these buildings with a sizable chunk of land are located in the heart of the city, such as Erramanzil, Basheerbagh, Masab Tank, Saifabad, Urdu Galli, BRKR Bhavan, and others.
The Hyderabad district administration is in the process of listing these buildings and the extent of land they own and submit a report to the government. Official sources said the government had directed the Hyderabad district administration to submit the report within a month.
According to sources, the issue was recently discussed at a Cabinet subcommittee meeting on resource mobilisation chaired by finance minister T.Harish Rao. Among those on the committee are municipal administration minister K.T. Rama Rao.
With the Centre imposing restrictions on Telangana’s market borrowing for three financial years beginning this year, citing massive off-budget borrowings, the state government is seriously exploring various option to raise funds to fund welfare schemes.
Through the HMDA and the TSIIC, the government has auctioned government land parcels. Auctions were also held in a few districts to sell land parcels and open plots owned by the Rajiv Swagruha Corporation, with more auctions planned in the coming months.
With the Assembly elections approaching, the government is in desperate need of funds to implement welfare schemes. The crop loan waiver was promised in the 2018 Assembly polls, but due to financial constraints, the TRS government was unable to fulfill this promise even after four years.
